Opinion

Innovation coach Diana Kander: Failure is an option

By Tommy Felts / July 11, 2017

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. [divide] Yes, you could fail, and it would be embarrassing. People would talk about it. People you know. But let’s be honest, they’re only trying to reassure themselves about the risk-averse choices they’ve made. Yes, you could fail, and it could get you fired.…

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Ginsburg: Fundamental — but routinely botched — elements of a winning pitch

By Tommy Felts / June 27, 2017

Editor’s note: A five-year mentor at UMKC’s Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Byron Ginsburg has heard and counseled many entrepreneurial pitches as an attendee and a judge. His current UMKC mentees, Emily Moon and Kelsey Carlstedt of By Grace Design, won first place and $20,000 in the 2017 Regnier Venture Creation Challenge. [divide margin_top=”1″…

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Reporter turned entrepreneur, LeVota offers 6 takeaways from Startup Weekend KC

By Tommy Felts / June 13, 2017

A little under a year ago, I joined the Startland News team. Since then, I bet I’ve witnessed at least 150 entrepreneurs pitch their company. It’s safe to say I’ve learned a lot about innovation and entrepreneurship. I’m lucky I get to spend my days asking people who have “done it” how they “did it.”…

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The thought process behind how Niall founder Michael Wilson relinquished reins as CEO

By Tommy Felts / May 5, 2017

Editor’s note: Niall founder Michael Wilson recently hired a CEO to run the growing luxury watch company he founded five years ago. Here’s more on his thought process. [divide] I started Niall as a far-fetched idea five years ago while at 1810 Cherry St. in the Crossroads Arts District. Since then, I’ve faced a lot of adversity…

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Jeff Shackelford: Why would KC want to build the next Silicon Valley?

By Tommy Felts / April 6, 2017

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. [divide] I recently read an article that shows you can slant a story anyway you want and that many authors write to match their preconceived notions — whether it’s true or not. The article that got me thinking about this was from Bloomberg’s Sarah…

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