Startups Stories
DEG execs reflect on $100M+ exit: Join an armada before success puts a target on your back
Riding into battle solo won’t help a company win the war that is business, Neal Sharma told a crowd of ACG Kansas City members gathered to hear details behind the exit of homegrown marketing giant DEG. “One of the things we realized three years ago — about DEG — is it was a completely successful, self…
Thirsty Coconut buys country’s worth of smoothie machines, hops state line
When opportunity knocks, entrepreneurs must throw risk out the window and do whatever it takes to open the door, said Luke Einsel. “[This was] really the deal of a lifetime,” said Einsel, founder and CEO of Thirsty Coconut, detailing a business deal he struck with 7-Eleven stores across Mexico late last year. The transaction saw…
WIRED together: How mentorship led 22 women to a million-dollar investment
Collaboration among like-minded women forms a dangerous advantage, said Sheryl Vickers and Audrey Navarro. The duo helped found WIRED — Women in Real Estate Development — to foster mentorship and investment among women in the male-dominated and individualistic commercial real estate world. “We believe we have a leg up in the industry because that siloed,…
Founder facing gender bias: Don’t call me a victim; call me investors
It’s like pulling teeth to get key investors and resource organizations to help push female entrepreneurs forward, said Carlanda McKinney, citing implicit bias and a lack of effective support mechanisms. “I don’t think it’s intentional at all. I think it’s a byproduct,” said McKinney, co-founder of Raaxo, an online tech platform used to design and…
Even gatekeepers struggle to bring KC’s women-led companies in from the cold
Female entrepreneurs are falling behind as a new generation of highly-scalable startups rises in the Kansas City, said Darcy Howe, reporting too few women-led firms even approaching KCRise Fund for investment. “My experience with those ‘Hey, I hear you have money’ calls that I do get [from female entrepreneurs] — many of them are not…
