Latest Stories
Sprint Mentor Network offering a leg up to startup founders
From newbies to seasoned veterans, each and every entrepreneur can benefit from a mentor. That’s why the Sprint Accelerator is offering Kansas City-area innovators the opportunity to tap its growing Mentor Network program. Now welcoming its fourth class, the free program connects entrepreneurs and corporate executives as part of a six-month learning experience that aims…
Infographic: Impact of the Kansas Angel Investor Tax Credits
Facing a massive budgetary crisis, the State of Kansas may be placing the Kansas Angel Investor Tax Credit program on the chopping block. The popular program — tapped by more than 300 startups in its 11 years — has had a tremendous impact on the area startup community but is scheduled to sunset after 2016. Since…
Holt: Early-stage capital isn’t Kansas City’s biggest problem
Rack your brain and create a list of local tech businesses that have successfully raised early-stage capital in Kansas City. The list is actually quite extensive. Now try to list the tech firms that have raised later stage capital in Kansas City — defined as closing a round of $5 million or more. It’s going…
Kansas City’s Smart City taking shape with kiosks’ arrival
The first physical elements of Kansas City’s Smart City project have sprung up in downtown. On Monday morning, the City of Kansas City, Mo. installed two digital kiosks on the 1300 block of Grand Boulevard. The seven-foot-tall, touchscreen kiosks — only two of 25 total — will provide users details on city services and real-time information…
Students’ skills gap dings the 21st century workforce
Whether openly acknowledged or silently understood, there is a growing awareness in the education community that students are not prepared for the 21st century workforce. Millennials nearly triple the current national unemployment rate and more than half of 2015 college graduates have no — none, zilch, nada — career prospects on the foreseeable horizon. …
Austin’s ‘hostile attitude’ toward innovation, startup hub trends
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…
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…
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…
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…
Is your pitch getting emotional? Because it should be
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…
