Explore perspectives on the issues impacting business in Kansas City.
Hear from local entrepreneurs, innovators and community leaders as they share insights and commentary on topics impacting business and innovation.
The TAM Scam: Why the next economy won’t need your pitch deck’s market-size slide
For most of modern business history, directly observing economic activity was slow, expensive, or impossible. We developed proxies to compress uncertainty into numbers that executives, lenders, and investors could use. But as technology makes economic activity more observable, the proxies we built for an earlier era become harder to defend.
I was wrong about sports: Why KC’s ‘escape velocity’ keeps pointing back to 18th and Vine
Sports, music, and barbecue are not three separate Kansas City brands, writes urbanist and entrepreneur Kemet Coleman. “They are one story, and it starts at 18th and Vine,” the Vine Street Brewing co-founder explained.
300 pitches later, GIFT founder offers a cheat sheet for selling your vision (hint: it starts with the pitch deck)
“What does your business do? Tell me directly, clearly, and avoid unnecessary fluff,” writes Brandon Calloway in an open letter to entrepreneurs. “As someone making a snap judgment about your business, I need to quickly understand what it offers.”
Smart glasses at work: How employers using (or banning) the tech could face legal challenges
AI-enabled smart glasses take a step further than the traditional “body camera” surveillance footage, given the technology’s ability to retain and assess information, such as biometric information. That creates new concerns for employers who might want to implement the devices — or even keep them out of the workplace altogether, writes a team of attorneys from Polsinelli.
Missouri founders need rules for crypto, digital assets that protect infrastructure and consumers, advocate says
Congress should act quickly, writes Ryan Wright. If the United States waits too long, other countries will continue setting the standards for digital assets, AI provenance, and the next generation of financial infrastructure. Missouri should not be left reacting to that future. We should help build it.
Royals chose Crown Center; KC now must decide how 18th & Vine stays in the game
The Royals ballpark announcement was still eye-opening, because moments like this reveal what a city is actually willing to organize itself around, writes Kemet Coleman.
How can 90 days fix 18 months of revenue? Make trust and consistency your currency
Many leaders start buying marketing the same way they buy any other solution .. one need at a time. It’s not uncommon for one company to have a web vendor, a PR partner, a graphic designer, an email vendor, and so on. The hire is based on need, not strategy; and the real cost shows up in places most leadership teams don’t calculate.
Letter to the editor: What are Kansas City startups doing to connect with universities?
Editor’s note: The following letter was submitted to Startland News by Ben Williams, assistant director of the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The letter is in response to Startland Community Builder Adam Arredondo’s open letter to area universities on their engagement with the entrepreneurial community. Dear Adam, I’ve…
Roberts: Goal-setting is more than making a plan
I recently wrote a post about why I’m not setting a New Year’s resolution for 2016. In that post, I wondered if it’s time to try setting some real goals again after years of superficial goal setting and performance reviews left a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I…
5 reasons your startup isn’t attracting investors
Last week, Techstars managing director John Fein told us that one of the main complaints he hears from Kansas City investors is that there aren’t enough fundable startups. Investors may be right, but it’s not necessarily a lack of good ideas. Today, Kansas City investors are looking for more than the next big idea: they’re…
Arredondo: Area universities, startups must collaborate for talent pipeline
The following is an open letter from Startland News community builder Adam Arredondo to area universities. Dear Kansas City-area university leaders, I’ve spent a lot of time working with both students and representatives from many area universities over the last few years. It’s been an eye-opening, roller coaster of a learning experience which has driven…
Equity Donation: A “secret trick” of successful entrepreneurs
You’ve probably heard about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg giving away his wealth. Sure, he cares about the world, but he’s using a special strategy to make even more money. In this article we take a peek into how to make more money through business donation. We’ve worked with many founders and investors in Kansas City…
Techstars’ John Fein: Seed investments key to Kansas City’s startup community
I love Kansas City. I’ve lived here ten years and a big reason I love it is because of our startup community. I’m committed to building our startup community. It’s grown immensely in the past four years, but still has a ways to go. The purpose of this piece isn’t to propose specific measures for…