Recently I spoke with Jeff Saville, a seasoned entrepreneur and community builder with decades of experience creating and supporting startups. Jeff has launched multiple businesses, including ad agencies, a chocolate store, and marketing ventures like Blinker Media. Today, he leads the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation (CEI) in Phoenix, an incubator focused on workforce development and helping startups grow, particularly in the medical device, life sciences, and biosciences sectors. In this interview, Jeff emphasizes the importance of building a strong community, staying curious, leveraging data and AI, and always putting the customer first. He also explains how CEI supports founders with mentorship, resources, and cutting-edge tools, while fostering connections that spark innovation, job creation, and long-term growth.
Roots, Risk, and the Road to Entrepreneurship
Griffin Connolly: Welcome, Mr. Saville. To start off, could you tell me a little bit about your background—your education, your early career—and how you found your way into this world of community and entrepreneurship?
Jeff Saville: Absolutely. I graduated from Northern Arizona University and, at the time, all I really wanted was to stay in Flagstaff. It’s home for me. I’ve lived there, on and off, for more than 38 years. But we used to joke that Flagstaff was “poverty with a view”—beautiful, but tough to build a career in unless you created your own opportunities. Luckily, entrepreneurship runs deep in my family. My great-grandfather started a bank in the 1980s—First Federal Savings and Loan—which eventually became MeraBank out of Phoenix. So, I grew up with this constant entrepreneurial itch.
When I graduated, my wife and I realized the only way to stay in Flagstaff was to start a company. Honestly, she deserves the credit for so much of what we built. Together we launched seven different businesses over the years—everything from mailing and fulfillment companies to ad agencies, and even a chocolate shop we ran downtown for 11 years. All of that hands-on experience eventually brought me to the world of business incubation.
I was asked to explore the idea of building an incubator in Flagstaff, and that’s where everything clicked. Incubators are really about workforce development—supporting entrepreneurs who take massive risks and helping them create jobs for their communities. Once I saw that impact, I was hooked. Entrepreneurship got into my blood and never left.
Eventually, I came to Phoenix to help launch CEI. We opened the doors in 2012, did the ribbon-cutting, and I stayed for four years. And just recently—about a month ago—I returned to lead CEI again. It feels like coming home.
From UGGs to Analytics: The Marketing Mindset That Sparked Blinker Media
Griffin Connolly: So, I understand that you have a lot of marketing experience in your background, and one of the companies you’ve launched over your career is Blinker Media. Can you talk a bit about your motivation for that company and what you were trying to accomplish?
Jeff Saville: For sure. My marketing background really goes back to my time at Deckers Outdoor—the company behind UGG Australia, Teva sandals, and a skate shoe called Simple. I was their Consumer Direct Marketing Manager during the absolute heyday of UGGs. I still remember the Oprah moment—she announced on her Christmas show that everyone was getting UGGs, and it completely melted our servers. We were doing something like $2 million every six minutes. That’s the kind of power she had.
Marketing got into my blood the same way entrepreneurship did. My brain is constantly thinking about funnels, analytics, customer behavior—it’s just how I’m wired. And now with AI evolving so fast, it’s even more exciting. I literally just got out of a two-and-a-half-hour meeting about how we’re integrating AI into CEI’s incubator programs.
Blinker Media came from noticing a gap in the marketplace—specifically around data analytics. Anyone can send an email or run an ad, but if you’re not tracking return on ad spend, customer acquisition cost, conversions, all of it, then you’re just throwing money into the wind. Back at Deckers, my boss gave me a simple rule: if every $1 we spent brought in $5, I had an unlimited budget. But the second we dipped below that 500% return on ad spend, everything stopped. We’d pause campaigns, optimize landing pages, revise keywords, and then push again as soon as the numbers were right. At one point I was spending $700,000–$800,000 a month because our metrics were so strong.
That mindset—test, analyze, optimize, scale—is what led me to start Blinker. Marketing isn’t just something I do; it’s how my brain works every day.
Building an Ecosystem: Why Community Is the Backbone of CEI
Griffin Connolly: Community seems to be a huge part of your work—something you’ve been committed to for a long time. Since community is a major theme for my exploration of entrepreneurship, I’d love to hear how it fits into what CEI does and why it matters so much to you.
Jeff Saville: For me, the way you run an incubator is simple: you bring as much value to the community as possible. That means entrepreneurs in our program, mentors, students, partners—really anyone who touches the Arizona entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our role is to educate, support, and add value anywhere we can.
A great example is Venture Café. We host it every Thursday night year-round. It’s an incredible gathering. We average around 160 people each week: ASU students, NAU students, early-stage founders, and entrepreneurs who’ve already built successful companies. It’s a real cross-section of the startup world. And the heart of it is education. Every week we design programming around a specific theme. Last week was FemTech, and we featured four phenomenal female CEOs—most of them building medical devices—who shared not only their technology but their stories, challenges, and wins. Our job is to uplift them, to give them a platform, and to make sure they feel supported.
Because the truth is, entrepreneurs are the ones taking all the risk. They’re the ones creating the jobs that strengthen our communities. And I’ve been in their shoes. I missed payroll once right before Christmas, with 14 employees looking to me for answers. It was the worst feeling I’ve ever had. And what got me through it was my community. I called my banker, told him I needed an emergency line of credit by the next morning, and he made it happen. That support kept us alive.
So, when I think about CEI’s role, it’s not just running programs. It’s making sure no founder goes through those moments alone. Entrepreneurs build our communities—and in return, our communities have to show up for them.
Why the Numbers Matter: Measuring Impact at CEI
Griffin Connolly: Building off that, you mentioned your marketing background and how numbers drive a lot of your thinking. On the CEI website, you highlight some pretty striking statistics. Can you talk about the quantifiability of an incubator like CEI and why those metrics are important to you?
Jeff Saville: Absolutely. It’s a great question, because everything we do here is rooted in workforce development. When I say, “workforce development,” I’m talking about the full picture—not just supporting entrepreneurs themselves but also helping build opportunities for the employees they’ll eventually hire. We’re strengthening the ecosystem from both ends.
Those metrics on our homepage are critical because they’re how we’re judged. As an incubator, we don’t create jobs directly. We operate with a very lean team—four employees running this entire operation. But what we can do is support founders who do create jobs. And the way the federal government evaluates our impact is through those numbers.
We received several million dollars from the Economic Development Administration—the EDA—to build CEI. But to unlock that funding, we also had to raise several million in matching dollars locally. With that level of investment, transparency and performance matter. So, we track and report metrics like jobs created, company longevity, revenue generated, and more. The two biggest benchmarks are the number of jobs created by our startups, and/or the number of companies reaching 20 years of ownership.
We actually exceeded our job creation targets early—blew them out of the water, honestly. That’s why the numbers on the homepage look the way they do. And because those results are so strong, we’re now planning for expansion. We’re seriously considering opening a second incubator program because the demand is there and the impact data backs it up.
At the end of the day, the numbers tell the story: if our founders succeed, the region thrives.
Expansion, Stage Two Growth, and What Scaling Really Looks Like
Griffin Connolly: That was actually where I was going next. Are you looking to expand outside Arizona or open another incubator? Or is the focus still the Phoenix Valley?
Jeff Saville: We’re committed to Arizona. That’s home base. But we do operate an affiliate program where clients can join from anywhere in the country. Those companies participate through Zoom, and they still have to go through our full selection committee process. We’re strict about that. If a company isn’t going to create jobs, it’s not a fit for us. Forecasting matters. And I always say: everybody makes money in Excel. So we look hard at whether their technology is viable or whether we’d be wasting time and resources.
Right now, our incubator is about 54% full, which is exactly where we want to be. You never want a full incubator—you always leave room to flow companies in and out. But we’re full enough, and our results are strong enough, that we’re actively planning our next building. It’ll be right across the street and focused on what we call “stage two” companies.
These are founders who have outgrown the early-stage incubator but aren’t yet ready to go out fully on their own. For example, we have clients with large lab requirements—especially common in our core areas of medical devices, life sciences, and biosciences. These companies often need years to reach approval and commercialization. One client’s been here four or five years. They’re generating revenue and making huge strides, but they’re not ready to scale independently. Stage two gives them room to expand while still having us in their corner.
Griffin Connolly: When you talk about phase one versus phase two, is the difference just a slightly less hands-on approach?
Jeff Saville: Great question. It is more hands-off, but not by much. These companies are growing quickly, so our support shifts. Instead of guiding them through early validation and product-market fit, we focus on helping them secure their next round of funding or find leadership talent. Founders eventually hit the ceiling of their own skill sets. Growth can kill a company if it outpaces the founder. So, in stage two, we often help them find the next CEO or build an executive team capable of taking the company further.
We’re in the trenches with them. Some days are incredible. Other days, it feels like everyone’s going broke. That’s startup life. But then there are moments that remind you why this work matters. Recently, one of our clients—originally out of Brazil—developed a technology here in our building that was used to 3D print a human cornea. They implanted it into a real patient in Brazil. That innovation started right here. It’s amazing. And that’s exactly why we do what we do.
The AI Revolution: How CEI Is Using Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate Startups
Griffin Connolly: Going along with some of those advancements, can you talk about the impact AI is having on the startup space and how you’re helping companies integrate its capabilities?
Jeff Saville: Yeah—this is the thing I’m most excited about right now. We’re building the CEI AI Innovation Lab, though we’re still finalizing the name. But imagine a lab built specifically to give founders an immediate, AI-powered advantage. In the bio, life sciences, and tech sectors especially, it’s crucial for companies to know what their top competitors are doing, what the market is saying, and whether the timing is right. That used to take us weeks or months manually. Now, AI can do it instantly.
We’re creating an AI agent that activates as soon as a founder applies to the program. It scans the entire market for their product. It scrapes Reddit for trending conversation. It checks insurance payer codes if it’s a medical device. It looks for existing patents. It searches university technology shelves for complementary research. All of this used to be manual—and incredibly time-consuming. Now it’s automated.
And the reality is this: AI is going to eliminate the need for many incubators. If founders adopt AI well, they can replicate most of what traditional incubators offer. Except community. That’s the one thing AI can’t replace—the hallway conversations that spark acquisitions, partnerships, and breakthroughs. Community is our differentiator.
We’re also building competitor-monitoring agents. If a competitor posts a job description, our system scrapes it. If they suddenly start hiring Python engineers, that signals a shift in their tech strategy. When new patents are filed, our agents download the full text to our database and tag it so we can track anything related to our clients. We’ll know in real time when a competitor moves, pivots, or innovates.
All of this accelerates the startup process dramatically. And we’re not stopping there. Every client who joins our program will be assigned their own AI agent—basically a 24/7 business mentor. They’ll have branded agents, business strategy agents, patent mentors, whatever they need. The agent will stay with them through the entire program and even after graduation. Because it already understands their business, it becomes a permanent companion.
AI is transforming startups faster than anything I’ve ever seen. I’m personally spending two to four hours every single day working on AI integration. The goal is simple: never let a competitor outrun our founders.
Final Advice for Budding Entrepreneurs
Griffin Connolly: I have one final question that ties everything together. With all of your experience in the startup space, what challenges did you encounter—or what would you do differently—that you’d pass on as advice to a young entrepreneur today?
Jeff Saville: A few things stand out. First, get a good accountant. Don’t mess around with your books, your taxes, or especially payroll taxes. It’s serious. Get professional help there.
Second, build your community. Find mentors, ask for help, and surround yourself with people who’ve done it before. A startup is incredibly hard. It’s not for everyone, and you shouldn’t try to do it alone.
Third—and this one matters more today than ever—stay curious. I dive down rabbit holes constantly. A new model drops, a new tool is released, and suddenly I’m an hour deep figuring out how it works. That curiosity has paid back tenfold. It helps me keep up with what incubators like Y Combinator are doing. I’m watching their pitches, scraping their site, learning every day. That’s how we keep accelerating what we do here.
Curiosity also sharpens your eye for problems. I’m constantly asking, “Why did they do it like that?” Not to question authority, but to understand pain points—because entrepreneurship is really just solving pain points. If something bothers you, ask whether it’s a problem worth fixing.
And finally, you have to go make a sale. Talk to your customers. Put yourself in their shoes. When I ran my own agencies, I would constantly ask myself whether I was truly providing value. That mindset matters.
Griffin Connolly: I appreciate that—especially the curiosity piece. Thank you for your time today.
Jeff Saville: You’re welcome, Griffin. Anytime you want to stop by CEI or come to Venture Cafe on Thursday nights you’re most welcome. Best of luck in all of your future endeavors.
Read last month’s interview with John Larson here.