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Aleh Manchuliantsau and Anastasia Tkacheva, Planetarians

Techstars Spotlight: Planetarians’ hunger for tasty snacks blooms with Sunflower State secret ingredient

It’s a simple solution: Eat your fruits and vegetables. Treating diseases caused by poor diet costs the United States about $1.4 trillion each year, Aleh Manchuliantsau said. “Fiber and plant protein have been shown to prevent diabetes, heart disease and obesity,” said Manchuliantsau, co-founder and CEO of Planetarians. “But despite the effort to get kids…

Spanish-language business law class targets KC resource gap

¡Llamando a todos los emprendedores! Language isn’t a barrier to entrepreneurial spirit, Adrienne Haynes said, and it shouldn’t prevent Kansas Citians from finding business success just because they don’t understand the nuances of startup lingo or legal processes. “Whether you’re a black- or brown-owned company, whether you’re woman-owned, whether Spanish is your primary language, or…

Tech startup TVWIZZ puts channel choice in consumers’ hands

You’ve heard it before: Millennials are killing the cable TV industry. With millions of young people “cord cutting” in lieu of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, traditional cable viewership has dropped by more than 40 percent, according to Nielson. For many, it comes down to price, said Michael Hockey, founder of TVWIZZ, a free,…

Diana Kander

KCultivator Q&A: Diana Kander on Pitbull, honey badgers, stand-up material

Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Check out our features on Victor & Penny’s Erin McGrane, SEED Law’s Adrienne Haynes, Code Koalas’ Robert Manigold,  Prep-KC CEO Susan Wally and community builder Donald Carter. Early in her career as an innovation coach, Diana…

April Boyd-Noronha

April Boyd-Noronha: 9 takeaways from KU’s GenCyber Summer Camp

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. I’m the product of two retired educators in the Kansas City metro area, so I know that learning is a lifelong process. The summertime, for many educators, is the perfect time for professional development. I applaud the efforts of the University of Kansas’…

Startup transforms students into teachers for educators’ diversity training

Conversations about race, power, privilege and oppression are being had across the country every day. And Kiara Butler believes there is no better group to lead these discussions than young people, she said. “Students are already having these conversations every day,” said Butler, co-founder and CEO of Diversity Talks. “It’s the adults that don’t necessarily…

TradeLanes

Sprint Accelerator alum trades Miami HQ for KC

TradeLanes’ move from Miami to the Midwest is about proximity. “In Kansas City, we’re closer to customers and closer to everyone on our list of prospective customers,” TradeLanes co-founder Vijay Harrell said. “The closer we are to our customers, the faster we can learn, spot their problems and then solve them.” The global trade firm,…

Eviction in Kansas City

With 42 KC evictions per day, civic hackers pinpoint action with data

Kansas City can be a leader on housing justice, Tara Raghuveer said. The details are in the data. Examining a Jackson County data set that included 173,720 eviction records spanning 17 years, Raghuveer, a Harvard-educated researcher and Shawnee Mission East High School graduate, confirmed a leading predictor of eviction in Kansas City: race. “It disproportionately…

Events Preview: Measuring social impact, Second Fridays

There are a plethora of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter, or curious community member — we recommend these upcoming events for you. Are you hosting a relevant community event? Add it to the KCSourceLink Calendar for increased exposure. Email info@kcsourcelink.com for assistance. Startup Rewind…

Denise Kruse

Denise Kruse: So your startup landed its first big client — now what?

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. As a startup, it takes hard work to get a potential client through the door. You have to get them to believe in your business model and product or service you’re offering; wow them with your expertise and industry knowledge; and finally, close the…