One such would-be magnate is Vipin Motwani, who has combined his MBA studies at Arizona State University in Phoenix with co-launching an Internet-based food enterprise.

CNN: The MBA entrepreneurs

Brodsky and Stephan, co-principals of Phoenix Partners, a new swaps brokerage, enlisted consultant Leslie Seff in their defamation suits against Cawley.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In his latest paper Drexler and co-author Chris Phoenix of the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) propose a manufacturing model in which nanomachines could duplicate themselves without the risk of runaway replication.

BBC: Nanomachine "factories" could one day sit on a desktop

One of Phoenix's major strengths is that it is a real co-operative effort and co-operation will be the key to Rover's future success.

BBC: Richard Burden: The hard work starts here

Ann Wheat is co-founder of the Lost Boys Center in Phoenix.

NPR: Revisiting Sudan's Haunted 'Lost Boys'

Alan Hald, another Tempe-based entrepreneur and co-chairman of the Arizona Partnership for the New Economy, points out that Phoenix lacks the venture capital that brings the whirr to other high-tech hubs, such as Austin, Los Angeles and New York.

ECONOMIST: Urban boosterism