Video: Foosball and whimsy are integral to the RFP365 ethos
April 4, 2016 | Bobby Burch
Kansas City foosball virtuoso Stuart Ludlow knows his way around the fútbol table.
With a strike rivaling a Black Mamba’s, Ludlow’s instincts and supple wrist on the foosball pitch puts to shame most any adversary. But perhaps equally as cunning is Ludlow’s savvy to integrate the table game into the workplace culture of RFP365, of which he’s a co-founder.
Founded in 2012, RFP365 created a software platform for issuers and receivers of requests for proposals — an often onerous process for organizations to solicit bids for commodities, services or assets. The company’s technology helps eliminate redundancies in the RFP process by providing streamlined tools to enable collaboration and improve workflow. It also allows RFP issuers to compare, track and monitor RFPs from respondents.
In 2015, RFP365 snagged the City of Kansas City, Mo. as a client, was named the 2015 “New Small Business of the Year” and raised $950,000 from regional angel investors.
As a small but quickly growing tech firm, RFP365 faces an ever-growing list of demands to juggle, creating stress that Ludlow and his co-founder, David Hulsen, aim to allay with foosball and a whimsical workplace. The company — which has seven employees and more than 200 customers in North America, Europe, Africa and Australia — recently moved to Kansas City’s Waldo District as part of an office expansion.
Check out the video below to learn more about the firm.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Pipeline receives up to $2M from Kauffman Foundation grant
Pipeline Entrepreneurs announced Tuesday that the fellowship program is deepening its relationship with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and receiving a challenge grant of more than $2 million over the next four years. The grant amount is dependent upon private fundraising with the foundation matching dollar-for-dollar, a release said. Launched in 2006, Pipeline offers an…
KC entrepreneurial educator: ‘Zip code shouldn’t determine success’
Entrepreneurship education should begin as early as kindergarten, said Rachel Foster. “The younger my students are, the more creative they are, and the less the world has had time to tell them that it’s ‘not possible’ or ‘you can’t do that,’” said Foster, entrepreneurship teacher at Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy. “If we are able…
Events Preview: Smart City Tech summit, Intentional Collisions
There are a plethora of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter, or curious community member — we recommend these upcoming events for you. Are you hosting a relevant community event? Add it to the KCSourceLink Calendar for increased exposure. Email info@kcsourcelink.com for assistance. Smart City…
Techstars KC demo day: How to build inclusive teams that give first
When Lesa Mitchell first learned she’d be managing director of the inaugural Techstars KC program, she thought to herself, “Wow, I’m going to have the most inclusive program in the world,” she said Thursday at the program’s demo day event. As it turns out, diversity and inclusion can be difficult to apply — even with…