Minority-Led

Come on (down) Now! AltCap Your Biz awards $37K in prizes with a familiar face earning biggest win of the night

By Tommy Felts / November 18, 2022

The founder’s story can be the most important part of a startup’s pitch, Dr. Shelley Cooper shared after clinching the $25,000 grand prize at Thursday’s AltCap Your Biz: Pitch Competition. “Everybody else had a lot more financials in their pitch, and I took all that stuff out. I focused on telling my story the way…

Panel: Teachers can’t just ‘fail fast’ with students, but plugging entrepreneurship into classrooms builds agility in both

By Tommy Felts / November 18, 2022

As someone with a hand in both education and entrepreneurship, Tiffany Dixon recognizes that a gap between the two is limiting potential in Kansas City schools. “There is an ecosystem that teachers don’t realize exists around their classroom,” she explained during a “Youth: Our Future Entrepreneurs” panel discussion for Global Entrepreneurship Week – Kansas City.…

Winners revealed: LaunchKC awards $300K in rebooted grants competition

By Tommy Felts / November 16, 2022

LaunchKC’s cornerstone grants celebration returned Tuesday after a four-year hiatus, awarding six Kansas City startups — from gaming and edtech to IoT and healthcare — with $50,000 each in non-dilutive grants. “A win for these companies is a win for Kansas City,” said Becca Castro, strategic initiatives manager for the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas…

‘Perfect is the enemy of progress’: KC founders say the right time for entrepreneurship is now — even if mistakes are inevitable

By Tommy Felts / November 15, 2022

Early in John Thomson’s entrepreneurial journey, the PayIt co-founder realized no one had all the answers, he shared; and anyone who waits until they feel comfortable enough to start a business will be waiting forever.  “We’re all imperfect, certainly fallible. You’ve got to keep going and not worry about perfect. Perfect is the enemy of…

Co-founder of nonprofit that boosts Black businesses among two winners of $100K Pinnacle Prizes

By Tommy Felts / November 15, 2022

Brandon Calloway reflects the best of Kansas City’s young leaders, said Maurice Watson, announcing the G.I.F.T. co-founder as one of two winners of the 2022 Pinnacle Prize — an award that comes with a no-strings-attached $100,000. “Brandon grew up in the urban core and is motivated to make social and economic conditions better than those…