Austin’s ‘hostile attitude’ toward innovation, startup hub trends

Regional Roundup

Here’s this week’s dish on lesson’s learned from Austin’s “hostile attitude” toward innovation, booming non-Silicon Valley startup hubs and what startups can do for the future workforce. Check out more in this series here. AustinInno: Austin just scared off 1 of its ‘biggest supporters’ in Silicon Valley The Austin, Texas City Council’s recent decision to…

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Events Preview: SMCKC gatherings, Lean Lab workshop

There are a boatload of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter or curious Kansas Citian, we’d recommend these upcoming events for you. WEEKLY EVENT PREVIEW SMCKC Breakfast When: March 4 @ 7:30 am – 9:00 am Where: Grand Street Cafe Hear Katie Leas, Online Marketing Manager of…

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PresentR taps the Kinect to boost public-speaking skills

A Kansas City startup is plugging into popular gaming technology to improve users’ public speaking skills. Founded by Tim Wikstrom, PresentR taps Microsoft’s Kinect to analyze a presentation, scrutinizing everything from poor posture to counting how many times you say “um.” Founded in 2013, PresentR’s tech evaluates a user’s eye contact, gestures, voice and posture to…

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Niall goes ‘all in’ on new retail location, high-tech pen

Well-known in Kansas City for gifting Royals manager Ned Yost a snazzy timepiece, Niall will soon be offering a host of new luxury products — including a high-tech pen — and a new store to feature them. Led by CEO Mike Wilson, Niall on Wednesday announced an expansion of its product line to include a…

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Is your pitch getting emotional? Because it should be

Grant Gooding pitch emotion

When it comes to selling your product or service, the devil truly is in the details. Despite what bad salesmen might tell you, people don’t buy based on features or price. Decision making is rooted primarily in the part of our brain that controls emotions. Science shows that regardless of whether we are buying a…

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