Summary
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Derrick Reives and Venki Mandapati, Co-Founders of UpSquad, an on-demand engagement platform that helps organizations connect, communicate and collaborate. With over twenty-four years of experience working for Fortune 100 companies, Derrick serves as the CEO of UpSquad, and Venki is UpSquad’s CTO with over a decade of experience as a technology and data science leader. UpSquad’s custom, peer-to-peer platform assists nonprofits, schools and businesses in efficiently managing skill building, work-readiness, mentoring and more with shared equity that encourages support. Throughout the episode, James, Derrick and Venki discuss how UpSquad is advantageous to organizations, the startup path that led to UpSquad and how Bentonville is a positive place to work and live. 

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‍Show Notes
(0:54) Introduction to Derrick and Venki
(1:25) About Derrick
(2:53) About Venki
(4:21) The Ideation of UpSquad
(6:42) What UpSquad Provides and Who They Serve
(12:33) UpSquad’s Success
(16:38) From Corporate to Startup
(23:52) UpSquad’s Experience with Delta I-Fund
(33:22) UpSquad’s Participation in 1 Million Cups
(39:02) How Living in Bentonville Has Changed 
(46:19) #Bentonville Story
(50:15) Closing Questions
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‍Links
JAMES BELL‍‍
‍BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT‍‍‍
‍DERRICK REIVES
VENKI MANDAPATI
UPSQUAD
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Quotes
“What we do is take programs from nonprofits, schools, government agencies and businesses, and we put them in a virtual space. Virtual is the need of the hour, specifically hybrid where they can have both in-person and virtual activities going at the same time. We make it very easy for their members to collaborate in this innovative space.” – Derrick Reives, (6:55)

“That’s another milestone. As entrepreneurs we’ve had to learn to communicate what we’re doing and how it’s helping people. That’s priceless.” – Derrick Reives, (15:26)

“One of the main reasons we decided to open offices here in Northwest Arkansas and Bentonville is because we saw the entrepreneurial support for organizations like us. Not only that, but there’s this ecosystem across the entire state trying to pull in those that are out-of-state.” – Derrick Reives, (29:52)

“Entrepreneurship is difficult, and sometimes we need that environment to really succeed because it’s not going to be a day, it’s not going to be a month, it’s going to be years. We need to work together in order to really create something out of nothing.” – Venki Mandapati, (49:17)

Building Dynamic Ecosystems with UpSquad
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Derrick Reives and Venki Mandapati, Co-Founders of UpSquad, an on-demand engagement platform that helps organizations connect, communicate and collaborate. With over twenty-four years of experience working for Fortune 100 companies, Derrick serves as the CEO of UpSquad, and Venki is UpSquad’s CTO with over a decade of experience as a technology and data science leader. UpSquad’s custom, peer-to-peer platform assists nonprofits, schools and businesses in efficiently managing skill building, work-readiness, mentoring and more with shared equity that encourages support. Throughout the episode, James, Derrick and Venki discuss how UpSquad is advantageous to organizations, the startup path that led to UpSquad and how Bentonville is a positive place to work and live.‍‍‍
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Creating an Engaging Community
Since 2018, UpSquad’s mission has been to make the management of an organization’s members a seamless process. It offers unique solutions for member collaboration with meeting rooms, workshops, conferences and classrooms, as well as modern communication tools with social feeds and instant messaging. Furthermore, within the platform, individuals and groups are invited to join a community where the tangible growth of their online spaces is instantly measured for analytical purposes.
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“What we do is take programs from nonprofits, schools, government agencies and businesses, and we put them in a virtual space. Virtual is the need of the hour, specifically hybrid where they can have both in-person and virtual activities going at the same time. We make it very easy for their members to collaborate in this innovative space.” – Derrick Reives, (6:55)

Some features of UpSquad are video sharing, where users can capture video in-app and share it to a community social feed. There is also an UpSquad emotions wheel based on specific feelings that users can search through and react to content with. With UpSquad, organizations are able to streamline their digital presence and establish an online ecosystem to grow their operations.
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UpSquad’s Entrepreneurial Journey
UpSquad got its start at the University of Memphis, where the concept won an entrepreneurial pitch competition, and Venki was advised to apply to the Delta I-Fund. The Delta I-Fund was UpSquad’s first exposure to an Arkansas accelerator. It received five thousand dollars to build the first prototype, and once the prototype was completed, it was time to focus on customer discovery. Although UpSquad was not located in Arkansas at the time, two of its first clients were UAMS and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
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To date, UpSquad has over twenty organizations utilizing its platform and has raised more than one million dollars in funding. Currently, UpSquad is raising its next round of seed investment following the redesign of its website homepage to more accurately explain what it is UpSquad offers and who they help. UpSquad has expanded its offices to Bentonville and continues to reap the benefits of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem where the sky’s the limit.
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“One of the main reasons we decided to open offices here in Northwest Arkansas and Bentonville is because we saw the entrepreneurial support for organizations like us. Not only that, but there’s this ecosystem across the entire state trying to pull in those that are out-of-state.” – Derrick Reives, (29:52)
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Get Connected!
‍Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Bentonville Beacon! Join us weekly for more stories from entrepreneurs and business leaders who are making a positive impact on Bentonville’s culture, community, and lifestyle. Don’t forget, Bentonville is a place where you can have more of what you want and less of what you don’t!