Opinion Stories

Chris Brown: How to split equity in your startup

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. This article is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. Readers with legal questions should consult an attorney. When founding a new startup it is common to have disagreements over how much equity each founder should receive. In this post, we will…

Idle Smart founder Jeff Lynch shares three lessons from an accelerator

I’ve been aware of accelerators for some time, but honestly never really thought of them for Idle Smart. We were so heads down trying to grow our own company that I didn’t really have time to learn about the advantages of a quality accelerator. Earlier this summer, however, we were connected to Village Capital through…

Mycroft AI

Montgomery: How to support KC startups with your IRA and 401(k)

Mycroft co-founder Joshua Montgomery recently appealed to the 1 Million Cups community to launch Initiative Six to foster more early-stage investment in Kansas City. The opinions in the commentary are the author’s alone. I recently read yet another article lamenting the lack of investment by Silicon Valley in the Midwest. The author stated how great…

With a halt on new overtime rules, what’s next for startups?

Disruption is good, right? Well, as the Game of Thrones memes say: “Brace yourselves.” The Department of Labor overtime rules that were originally scheduled to go into effect on Dec. 1 have now been indefinitely postponed due to an injunction issued on Nov.22 by U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant. These rules were set to nearly…

Roberts: Court action to make KC a patent troll haven will squash innovation

Editor’s note: Melissa Roberts is urging the Kansas City business community to sign a petition that aims to halt an effort to establish Kansas City as an area friendly to “patent trolls.” The commenting period on the proposed changes closes 5 p.m., Nov. 26. The opinions in the commentary are the author’s alone.  I used…