
Before Pilot could earn a customer’s trust, Waseem Daher spent a third of its early funds on a name. The road to that decision runs through MIT, two acquisitions, and a stubborn belief that someone else should do the bookkeeping.

A childhood behind a sports-store counter led Travis Hawkes into business ownership and venture investing. From Meridian, he is working to give Idaho founders more people to call - and more reasons to stay.