Product Hunt enters KC market, offers onboard for entrepreneurs
June 22, 2015 | Startland News Staff
A popular international product discovery platform is hoping to engage more tech entrepreneurs in the Kansas City area.
Product Hunt — a website that features new products such as apps, hardware and other tech creations — recently launched a series of meetings in Kansas City in hopes of garnering more products from the area for its global-reaching platform.
Investors, journalists and many tech heavyweights frequent the site to keep up on the latest in new technology, products, startups and tools, said Bob Specht, host of the Kansas City Product Hunt meetup. Specht added that the platform offers local tech entrepreneurs opportunities to receive critical feedback and gain more exposure, with the end game being growth.
“Product Hunt has created a community within the startup community (composed of) people who make and desire to be on the forefront of emerging technology,” he said. “Bringing those builders together, with how many ideas they tend to have, is just a logical way to stoke the interesting conversations happening in our startup community.”
Product Hunt launched in 2013 as an email newsletter cataloguing applications and websites that 28 year-old founder Ryan Hoover found intriguing. It’s since rapidly grown and in 2014 closed a Series A of $6.1 million led by Andreesen Horowitz and complimented by Google Ventures, betaworks and Crunch Fund.
Members of the community submit new products using the title, URL and tagline. Once the product has been vetted and placed on the site, users can support it with an “upvote” and comment to provide feedback or support.
Specht hopes that the local Product Hunt meetings — hosted at Think Big Partners — will offer attendees a chance to share experiences and best practices on the site. The Product Hunt-sanctioned meetings are offered in other tech hubs such as Los Angeles, Boulder, Austin and Seattle. The group has yet to schedule its next summer meeting.
This article was written by freelancer Brandon Painter. Brandon is what some would call a “startup junkie,” but his Clark Kent day job is an advertising and marketing communications professional in Kansas City.
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Digital Sandbox helps entrepreneurs fight summer slump
With summer knocking at the door, Digital Sandbox KC is taking initiative to provide resources and instruction to keep entrepreneurs engaged and on-point. Digital Sandbox, a proof-of-concept program that expedites area businesses’ projects, will host the third-annual “Summer in the Sand Series” as a way of prompting discussion around relevant topics for entrepreneurs. “The Summer…
Techstars acquires UP Global, expands KC footprint
The global business accelerator firm that operates the Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator announced a major acquisition Tuesday that will expand its reach in Kansas City. Boulder-based Techstars reported Tuesday morning that it acquired UP Global, an international non-profit that fosters entrepreneurship with a variety of events and programs around the world. UP Global operates the…
Stackify continues global growth ahead of HQ move
Kansas City-based tech firm Stackify is posting a solid year of growth that’s leading it to hop the state line for more office space. Led by CEO Matt Watson, Stackify is moving its headquarters and 15 staff members from Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood to Leawood, Kan., for larger and swankier offices. Watson said that Stackify…
Mobile giving platform, Daily Deeds wants to help KC charities
“Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love,” Mother Teresa once famously said. That’s the spirit behind a new charitable crowdfunding platform that’s set to launch in Kansas City this Wednesday. Created by local attorney Tim Racer, Daily Deeds is a mobile donation platform that hopes…