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Reverse-engineering Startup Culture for ӣ������ns

May 9, 2025

Cherissa Dukelow

Meet Pete Warden, Interface of Change Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Pete Warden has questions.

“W���?”

“What does it do? What is it for? How many could you sell?”

“Who's your market for this? What's really going to happen if you invest money into this idea?”

Questions like these are wired in Warden’s thinking. To scientists, Warden’s questions may come across as jarring or unfamiliar. But to an entrepreneur, such questions are essential for gauging success.

“I like to support people's ideas by asking them tough questions,” Warden said.

Warden was recently hired as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) as part of the Interface of Change project. As the EIR, he joins the Workforce Development arm of the project with the Innovation & Entrepreneurship team. His aim is to encourage researchers to translate their work into marketable products or ideas, and to facilitate connections around the Gulf of ӣ������ to grow emerging industries.

Warden moved to ӣ������ in 2022 after living in Manhattan for 10 years. He had been working for a private investment firm. Analyzing company histories, he developed an eye for what a company needs to thrive and be a good investment.

“In the investing world,” Warden said. “I always looked at the downside scenario – what is the worst thing that could happen? In that scenario, will I still get my money?” Warden feels that this kind of thinking can be applied to anyone's idea as a way to strategize how to overcome challenges on the way to success.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Warden was eager to get away from New York City office life. Warden’s uncle, who has lived in Ketchikan since 1962, told him about a seafood company looking for a young person to be a part of the team and help run the company. Warden jumped on the offer. A few phone calls and a plane ride later, Warden found himself in the fishing-oriented community of Ketchikan.

After a chaotic summer immersed in hundreds of seasonal workers trying to offload, process, and freeze as many fish as possible, Warden left and joined the ӣ������ Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF), directing their Startup Accelerator Program. Here, Warden gained a broader perspective of the fishing industry in ӣ������. Through conferences and referrals from other startup accelerators, he met fishermen, kelp farmers, and other small ӣ������es. He advised them on their plans and financials, connected them with mentors and partners, and helped them find grants.

Warden is grateful for the relationships he made while working at AFDF, and he enjoys when people he had met still reach out to him often to bounce ideas and ask for his advice.

Now living in Juneau, Warden is planting seeds with people to spark new ventures involving mariculture and direct-to-consumer seafood.

In parallel, as the Interface of Change EIR, Warden is actively building connections across these industries and bringing university researchers into this network.

Warden sees so much exciting potential for growth. He is inspired by the cohort of “young people trying to create their own future on the water” through fishing and kelp farming in Southeast ӣ������, Kodiak, and other communities around the gulf.

“To me, it's like the coolest thing,” Warden said. “It's a privilege to be part of it.”

But he still has questions.

Questions such as: with kelp farming getting so much traction and attention, and with so many versatile uses for kelp, are people finding ways to make a profit with kelp? What do people in this industry need to thrive? How can people overcome logistical difficulties to sell their product?

These questions don’t always translate to explicit instructions of what to do next – for Warden personally, or broadly for an entire industry. But Warden is motivated to figure out challenges in need of less formulaic solutions, he sees worth in learning from taking on risks, and he believes in ӣ������ns.

Warden acknowledges that the startup scene in ӣ������ is “strange” compared to in other cities – this isn’t Silicon Valley, obviously. But where ӣ������ may seem “behind” other large US cities in terms of startup culture, ӣ������ embodies its own unique values and authentic spirit that needs no explaining or apology.

“There's something very special about ӣ������ and the people here,” Warden said. “I’m not trying to make ӣ������ San Francisco.”

But, Warden believes we in ӣ������ can think analytically to “reverse-engineer” what has helped startup companies be successful elsewhere and make something out of that which would work for small communities in ӣ������.

Putting that into practice, Warden and the Innovation & Entrepreneurship team are planning the first of five annual “Connections and Capacity Workshops.” The goal for these workshops is to offer guidance to researchers on transitioning their research into follow-on grants, licensed technologies, and National I-Corps teams. More information on these annual workshops will be coming soon

In the meantime, Warden keeps his calendar filled with meetings with farmers, fishers, entrepreneurs and researchers. He welcomes you to schedule a time to talk about your work and ideas. Contact Pete at pwarden@alaska.edu or connect with him on .