Opinion

Investor John Fein offers 8 tips to hook a VC

By Tommy Felts / July 21, 2016

Editor’s Note: John Fein recently announced his departure from Techstars to lead a new $7 million venture fund. The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. For the past three Techstars programs in Kansas City, the most important aspect of my job as managing director has been deciding which companies to invite into…

Louis Byrd: Are white women now the face of diversity?

By Tommy Felts / July 18, 2016

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Diversity means different things to different people. For some folks, hearing the word diversity automatically equates to affirmative action and minorities taking jobs away from qualified white men. For others, it simply implies race or ethnicity. Then there’s those who believe it is…

Beasley: How will smart city infrastructure reflect KC’s aspirations?

By Tommy Felts / July 14, 2016

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Reality is often stranger than fiction, and even harder to predict. Will our cities march toward the dizzying New, New York of Futurama’s 30th century; the harsh, crowded streets of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner; or even the consumerist, transhumanist society of Warren Ellis’…

Ben Gruber: Kansas City is ‘tipping the cow town’

By Tommy Felts / July 11, 2016

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Nearly every day I open my email to see a report telling me that Kansas City is on its way to reaching its goal of becoming the most entrepreneurial city in America. The “City of Royals” has been crowned everything from a top…

What ‘Brexit’ can teach us about startups

By Tommy Felts / July 5, 2016

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Zach and Andrew are both financial tech professionals at blooom. If you watch any financial news or follow anyone besides the Kardashians on Twitter, you probably heard that the U.K. faced its own version of armageddon when it recently voted itself out of…