All Stories

River Watch Beef envisions pure range of ‘farm-to-fork’ products delivered to your door

By Tommy Felts / September 20, 2018

The beef industry is broken, said Chris Kovac, sitting just an ironic stone’s throw away from the historic Kansas City Stockyards. “We should all educate ourselves on what we’re eating and who we’re buying our food from,” the founder of River Watch Beef said, impassioned as he shared his concern for the health of consumers.…

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Follow the Leader

‘Follow the Leader’: Brothers bootstrapping horror movie set in abandoned KC-area mall

By Tommy Felts / September 20, 2018

Not enough films are being shot in Kansas City, said brothers Ben and Jacob Burghart.   “The bigger problem is not enough feature films are utilizing Kansas City’s vast talent pool,” said Jacob. “[Kansas City is trying to] shoot more now, but we want to be a part of kind of kicking into another gear.”…

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Unruh Furniture

#MomFund: Unruh Furniture builds more than tables inside a century-old church off KC’s Main Street

By Tommy Felts / September 20, 2018

A table can mean stability, said Sam Unruh, founder of Unruh Furniture. It’s four legs help provide the emotional support for a home. “Growing up, my family ate together every night at the table. We all had our spots and still do to this day,” said Unruh, whose custom, made-to-order furniture business operates out of…

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Tim Barton, Jessica Renfrew, and Matt Druten, Edison Spaces

Second Edison Spaces flexible office site designed for uncertainty of startup life

By Tommy Felts / September 19, 2018

Growing a startup is risky enough, said Matt Druten, co-founder of Edison Spaces — entrepreneurs shouldn’t have to worry about finding and maintaining an office. “Changes are unexpected. Nobody really knows where their company is going to be in six months,” he said. “Is my startup going to double in size? Is it going to…

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Digital crossroads

Digital Crossroads: Techstars sees hints of KC’s future in its history as a collision point of ideas

By Tommy Felts / September 19, 2018

Techstars’ Oct. 11 programming during Techweek Kansas City finds inspiration in the past, Lesa Mitchell said, but it focuses on the metro’s future at a digital crossroads. “In the old days, it was called the crossroads because this was actually where all the trains were going through from Mexico to Canada, and east and west…

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My Girl Story

Jasmine Diane: ‘My Girl Story’ empowerment is bigger than T-shirts, Instagram

By Tommy Felts / September 18, 2018

Jasmine Diane Cooper dreams of inspiring women across the world with the My Girl Story movement, she said. “[As women] we will tear ourselves down or we look for things that kind of separate us, but we all have the same struggle,” said the social media influencer and rising star on the Kansas City marketing…

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Pipeline

Pipeline rotates The Innovators gala to Omaha for celebration of fellows, incoming cohort

By Tommy Felts / September 18, 2018

Pipeline hopes moving its The Innovators gala to Omaha for 2019 will help keep the premier startup event fresh after more than a decade in Kansas City, said Joni Cobb. “Change and experimentation are what Pipeline is all about,” said Cobb, president and CEO of Pipeline. “We are an entrepreneurial organization, and as such we…

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Lesa Mitchell, Techstars Kansas City

KCultivator Q&A: Lesa Mitchell talks eating eyeballs, remembering names, growing startups

By Tommy Felts / September 14, 2018

Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by WeWork Corrigan Station, a modern twist on Kansas City office space. Growth is a daily driver, Lesa Mitchell said, but it can be limited by the environment around entrepreneurs. “If…

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STEM education bill

STEM education bill backed by KC Tech Council passes MO Senate, heads back to governor

By Tommy Felts / September 14, 2018

Despite initial pushback, a bill that would broaden access to computer education in Missouri high schools, could be gaining momentum, said Ryan Weber. If passed, the legislation would increase STEM awareness in public schools and require districts to count computer science courses as math and science credits, the KC Tech Council president and an advocate…

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Brody Dorland and Brock Stechman, DivvyHQ

Beyond language barriers: DivvyHQ partners with translation tech firm for greater global reach

By Tommy Felts / September 14, 2018

A newly announced partnership provides DivvyHQ an expanded toolset to open the doors to a global market — translating and delivering any type of marketing-related content across any device, channel or language, said Brock Stechman. “We’ve been working so hard over the past few years to really build this company from the ground up,” said…

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