Listen: Leaders analyze KC’s entrepreneurial milestones, assess challenges
June 22, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
To say that Kansas City’s entrepreneurial community has matured in the last 15 years would be an understatement.
Many leaders say that if you lived in the metro during the early 2000s and were to return now, you may not even recognize the place.
Taking a moment to reflect on how far Kansas City has come, Startland News and Think Big’s June Innovation Exchange used a historical lens to analyze Kansas City entrepreneurship.
Panelists shared their analysis on the metro’s entrepreneurial ecosystem — including growth, future opportunities and areas to be improved.
In the conversation, you’ll hear from entrepreneurial community leaders including:
- Joe Reardon, CEO of Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
- Toby Rush, CEO of EyeVerify
- Darcy Howe, Managing Director of the KCRise Fund
- Joni Cobb, CEO of Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship
- Herb Sih, Think Big Partners
- Maria Meyers, Executive Director of KCSourceLink
A recording of the event is below, and photos are beneath that. Hope you enjoy!
Featured Business

2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Mayor Sly James helps startup 1 Minute Candidate build, win competition
Kansas City Mayor Sly James stepped up this Sunday to help a team of entrepreneurs win a competition in which they built a business in 54 hours. James, a well-known cheerleader of Kansas City’s startup community, helped political-tech startup 1 Minute Candidate launch its platform at Startup Weekend Kansas City, a event in which entrepreneurial-hopefuls…
Local weight lifting tech firm Rack Performance lands $250K
A Lenexa-based tech company is racking up investment capital to further develop its weight room management software. Rack Performance recently raised $250,000 from local, private investors that will help the company advance the second version of its software. Rack Performance built a web-based, weight room and group fitness platform to help coaches and trainers efficiently…
Kansas City startup ‘walks the talk,’ bungee jumps
Sara Davidson doesn’t lightly espouse a message of fearlessness in business. And that’s why Davidson, the founder of Hello Fearless, is live broadcasting her jump off a cable car in Switzerland. Davidson is hoping to inspire other women around the world to conquer their fears not only with a live-streamed bungee jump — out of a…
