Kansas City Chief Dontari Poe challenges students, startups with new contest
December 9, 2016 | Meghan LeVota
Veteran Kansas City Chief Dontari Poe is hosting a competition that bridges young Kansas Citians and entrepreneurship.
Set for Dec. 13 at Think Big Coworking, Poe Man’s Challenge will pair nine local startups with 30 Kansas City high school students and pitch the companies to a panel of celebrity judges, including Poe and his teammates. Participating students will receive coaching from startup founders and then pitch the company as if it is their own.
Poe said he’s excited to acquaint more young Kansas Citians with entrepreneurship.
“It’s important that kids get exposed to what startups are all about. It will put them in a good position,” Poe told Startland News. “I feel that they’ll be ahead of me, at my age, if they start now. … Even if they never do a startup, learning how to pitch is an important life skill. We are always pitching ourselves for all sorts of things.”
Poe recently made his first tech investment in Lab Sensor Solutions, a company based in Redwood City, Calif. He hopes that Poe Man’s Challenge will inspire students to gain an entrepreneurial mindset in students, thus making an impact in Kansas City.
Mark Nolte, the founder of Start Talking, said he’s participating in the event to help educate the next generation of entrepreneurs.
“The more these students can learn now, the better they will be prepared to be entrepreneurs,” he said. “I hope we will see more events like this in Kansas City in the future.”
Below are the participating Kansas City area startups. To learn more or to purchase tickets for the event,click here.
- 2020 Adventures
- Blooom
- Dreams KC
- FEWDM
- Idle Smart
- PreScreend
- Start Talking
- The Selling Company
- Super Dispatch
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Fund Me, KC: UMKC alums aim to transform recycled plastics into functional home décor
Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for business owners and innovators — like Nicole Dover and Tony Jordan, and their newly launched venture, Recyclverse — to share their crowdfunding stories and potentially…
New in KC: Elizabeth Pishny treks from farming to human trafficking, Facebook to Google, Austin to KC
Editor’s note: New in KC is an ongoing profile series that highlights newly relocated members of the Kansas City startup community, their reasons for a change of scenery, and what they’ve found so far in KC. This series is sponsored by C2FO, a Leawood-based, global financial services company. Click here to read more New in KC profiles. While Elizabeth Pishny is…
WATCH: Master craftsman builds on military career — a catalyst to avoid wasted opportunity
Tony Bien cuts lumber. He might even cut into a melon. But service in the Kansas Army National Guard taught the hands-on force behind Swell Spark’s in-house design workshop to avoid cutting corners. “I’ve been very blessed in my career with the Army and with what I am doing now,” said Bien, who serves as…
Blockchain to beef: Why one serial innovator traded the slow pace of corporate life for another muzzle
Shekhar Gupta learned early that life comes with two approaches for overcoming challenges: accept the problem and move on or figure out a better way of solving it. The Kansas City serial entrepreneur has no shortage of ideas for finding solutions, but he keeps moving nonetheless. As COO of Blockchain Initiatives, Gupta has his hands…