Education

Jene’ Hong, E-Scholars mentor

Ego gets you in trouble — open ears get you business, UMKC E-Scholars mentor says

Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Regnier Institute, but was independently produced by Startland News. If ego runs the show, a founder won’t succeed, Jene’ Hong said as she cracked jokes laced with straightforward advice.  “If we have a big ego, we can’t listen to other people and that’s…

Crystal German, Prosperity Labs, Startland's Innovation Exchange

Innovation versus inclusive prosperity: Can hub developers create both in Kansas City?

Place and prosperity go hand-in-hand, said William Dowdell. Less clear, however, is how developers and communities will strike a balance in their efforts to generate innovation and wealth in Kansas City. “Geography is a big part of this. When we talk about expanding opportunity and bringing innovation, we also have to look at those spaces…

Vanessa Mahan and Catherine Pollman, Bionic Bowel, UMKC Regnier Venture Creation Challenge

Two Missouri biology students just wanted an ‘A’ — ultimately they devised a treatment for Crohn’s Disease

Launching a biotech company based on a class project took the quest for an ‘A’ to a whole new level for two Missouri University of Science and Technology students — founders of Bionic Bowell.  Prompted by professors to find a use for a special ion-interacting glass compound, Vanessa Mahan and Catherine Pollman devised an ingestible…

Claudia and Carolina Recchi, EdSights

Why are college students dropping out? EdSights targets higher ed retention rates

Only 56 percent of students who began college in 2012 actually graduated within the next six years, said startup founders Claudia Recchi and Carolina Recchi. The sisters’ own struggles as first-generation U.S. college students reinforced the challenge posed by such statistics, they said, prompting them to found EdSights, a startup using artificial intelligence to collect…