Startland News hits the road to SXSW
March 10, 2016 | Bobby Burch
Load up the clown car — Startland is going down south.
Kansas City’s source for entrepreneurial and tech news is venturing to arguably the nation’s top conference for innovative ideas: South-by-Southwest Interactive.
The Startland team has a jam-packed schedule while at SXSW, mingling with techies, early-adopters and thousands of Austonians. Make sure you follow along on our social accounts — Twitter and Facebook — for all the updates.
There’s a strong Kansas City contingent that will be traveling to Austin, including folks from LaunchKC, the Kansas City Chamber, KC Digital Drive, the Kauffman Foundation and more. We’ll cover their presence there, in addition to other events such as President Obama’s chat with The Texas Tribune’s Evan Smith.
Kat and I are SXSW newbies, but have heard many stories about the revelry and serendipity that the conference affords. Just this morning, we RSVPed to an exclusive event with Coolio. I’ll be listening to the CTO of Amazon discuss innovation within his company. And I’ve a catalog of breakfast taco and pub recommendations.
We’ve been told that our plans will likely be demolished by the calamity that is SXSW. Apparently, Austin transforms into an amalgam of chaos and congestion. Regardless, we couldn’t be more excited to relay back to you some of the Kansas City-related news from SXSW.
Featured Business

2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Big wins up the odds: KC’s standing among Midwest peer cities rises in new M25 ranking
Headline-grabbing success stories and newly boosted state funding for startup support are a powerful combination, said Victor Gutwein, detailing Kansas City’s higher 2022 spot on M25’s annual ranking of Midwest startup cities. Kansas City rose to No. 11 of 59 in the deep dive report — which explores how micro-environments in the Midwest are performing…
They told him to build it in California; this agtech founder came back to Kansas instead
When it came time to plant Trevor McKeeman’s agtech startup, he refused to farm the groundbreaking company’s future out to the coasts — specifically California where potential funders said he could find “money and talent.” “I was actually in Boston at the time,” explained McKeeman, founder and CEO of HitchPin, a digital marketplace for farmers…
Stream smarter, safer: Former Cisco engineer aims to replace Zoom as top video conferencing platform
Kenneth Yancy has been live streaming since the early 2000s — a time when not many were interested in the technology, he said. But 20 years later, a virtual-hybrid work model featuring video conferencing is the norm. “In 2001, I was working for Cisco as an engineer. My team and I built the first live…
‘Fan favorite’ among KC startups joining Wichita cohort; the prize: a playbook for reaching corporate customers
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. WICHITA…
