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Earn-out exit: Beware a startup sale price hinging on future performance, attorney cautions
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Todd McGuire is a partner at Stueve Siegel Hanson law firm in Kansas City. He focuses on cases involving business torts, contract disputes, employment matters and other civil claims. As an entrepreneur, you likely envision one day moving beyond your current business. But…
KCultivator Q&A: Karen Fenaroli orchestrates investment game from behind home plate
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by Plexpod, a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes. Long hours, frequent travel and tough decisions can mold who you are…
Kauffman Inclusion Open: Six KC grant winners ‘building an inclusive pathway to entrepreneurship’
Plans to educate, inspire, and assist entrepreneurs traditionally left out of small business conversations will ramp up for the Porter House KC — thanks to new support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s inaugural Inclusion Open. “We are so excited to be selected as one of this year’s grant recipients,” said Dan Smith, co-founder of the…
Catch the PokéBar: Pokémon-themed pop-up bar and burgers experience coming to KC
A newly crafted, immersive pop-up experience is set to present fans of Pokémon with the ultimate challenge — making its way to Kansas City in 2020. Launched in September in Los Angeles, PokéBar is set to evolve in the metro Feb. 8-9, offering fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove whether they really can “catch em’…
Natural fit: Ruby Jean’s opening new juicery inside busy Whole Foods
The fresh-pressed, multi-year deal to open a brick-and-mortar Ruby Jean’s Juicery inside a high-traffic Whole Foods location puts Chris Goode in a position to scale his clean concept even further beyond Kansas City, he said. “We’re in the healthy food space and Whole Foods has cornered that market pretty broadly. With its parent company now…
Major Kansas City grocery chains stock SERV Nutrition less than a year into business
Doing good is more than just a motto for SERV Nutrition — it’s the state of the startup’s operation seven months into business, Isaac Collins said as the company’s patented protein pods hit shelves at Price Chopper and Hen House stores across the metro. “Online sales have been going well, but we saw a great…
KCMO turns to entrepreneurs for new ideas on budget support; Advocates to rally at work sessions
Raised voices and a commitment to civic engagement earned entrepreneurs an additional $350,000 in city support for the 2019 budget year and a second attempt is about to begin, explained Rick Usher. “It really goes back to when the resident work sessions started in 2018,” Usher, KCMO assistant city manager for entrepreneurship and small business,…
Biotech firms: Health innovation can’t grow in KC with wet lab space in such short supply
ELIAS Animal Health is advancing a technology that can fundamentally change how cancer is treated in both humans and animals, said CEO Tammie Wahaus, yet finding lab space in the metro has been one of the biotech startup’s biggest tests. “We’re doing a lot of cell culture work, which requires wet lab space, but there…
Peek inside: Project Commons teen accelerator pilot aims for ‘innovation, collaboration, impact’
Innovation is growing on the third floor of Goodwill’s East Crossroads center, enabling Kansas City’s next generation to take ownership of their city. “We really wanted to sort of address their needs, hear more about their voice and engage with them,” William Dowdell, program director at Hire KC, said of the 21 students who make…
Two novice gardeners in an Olathe lab could harvest Kansas’ first legal hemp harvest
Potential for a high-yield payoff grows with each day as Michael Wilson and James DeWitt inch closer to their first hemp harvest — likely the first in the state in modern times, they said. “It’s the jumping off point to create a repeatable process,” said DeWitt, co-founder and CEO at United American Hemp. “We’ve learned…
