Founded 2016: Puzzle Rides Turns Arizona’s Historic Streets Into a Moving Puzzle Adventure

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Based in Scottsdale and Prescott, Arizona, Puzzle Rides is an experiential entertainment and team-building company that turns the streets of two quintessential Arizona towns into guided puzzle adventures. Participants explore Old Town Scottsdale or historic downtown Prescott by golf cart, working alongside a puzzle master to solve clues as they visit landmarks and local shops.

The company traces its roots to 2016, when Founder and Owner Katie Dufort launched Ride Prescott. Over the next several years, Dufort experimented with different tours and business ideas before finalizing the concept that would become Puzzle Rides.

That evolution came with a significant challenge: building the company without meaningful working capital. Because Puzzle Rides was bootstrapped, “We had to fund each stage of growth with the revenue we had already earned,” Dufort said. “That forced us to be extremely creative and resourceful, but it also made every mistake more expensive and every growth opportunity more difficult to pursue.”

The experience changed how Dufort thinks about financing and growth. While limited capital forced her to be resourceful, it also taught her how important working capital can be when a business is ready to experiment, respond to changes in the market, or pursue a new opportunity.

“A business can have a strong concept and real demand, but without sufficient working capital, it can still struggle to take advantage of the opportunities in front of it,” Dufort said.

That lesson has shaped how Dufort approaches entrepreneurship today. She believes access to capital gives business owners room to test ideas and respond to what customers want rather than forcing them to make every decision based solely on the cash that is available.

For Dufort, experimentation was particularly important during the early years of Puzzle Rides. When the company began as Ride Prescott in 2016, she didn’t immediately know what the business would ultimately become. It took nearly three years of trying different tours, testing ideas, failing, changing, and trying again before the market responded to the concept.

The experience also shaped Dufort’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Don’t be afraid to use outside capital responsibly when it can help you preserve cash and give your business room to experiment.

“Use someone else’s money when you responsibly can,” Dufort said. “Preserve your own cash, seek appropriate financing, and make sure the business has enough working capital to survive the experimentation required to find what truly works.”

Dufort’s journey also reinforced another lesson: Entrepreneurs have to remain flexible enough to change their strategy without abandoning their larger vision.

She points to the company’s experience opening The Puzzle Shop as an example. The business initially launched with a specific concept guiding how the store would operate, but customers were confused by the idea. Instead of expecting customers to adapt, Dufort changed the store, clarified the concept, and built it around how people actually wanted to shop.

That willingness to listen to the market has become a guiding principle for Puzzle Rides.

“Never giving up does not mean stubbornly repeating the same strategy,” Dufort said. “It means remaining committed to the vision while being willing to change anything that is preventing it from succeeding.”

Today, Puzzle Rides brings its combination of sightseeing, teamwork, and puzzle-solving to visitors and residents in Prescott and Scottsdale. The company’s evolution from Ride Prescott into Puzzle Rides illustrates the uncertainty that comes with building a business and the value of staying open to change along the way.

For Dufort, the lesson is straightforward: Entrepreneurs don’t always know exactly what their business will become when they start. The process of testing ideas, listening to customers, and adapting can be what ultimately reveals the right path.

The market, she says, will tell entrepreneurs what works and what doesn’t. The challenge is being willing to listen, experiment, and keep moving forward.

“Your first idea may not be the right one. Your fifth may not be either,” Dufort said. “The important thing is to remain willing to experiment long enough to discover the idea customers will embrace.”

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