Profiles

Forget the war on drugs — Marijuana is a war on chronic pain, says founder in ProjectUK cohort

By Tommy Felts / June 13, 2019

Don’t look at marijuana through a societal lens, said Jessica Sanders. Instead view the natural substance as a potential life-saving measure. “My mother had multiple sclerosis and seeing her suffer really changed a lot about me,” explained Sanders, founder of Lisa’s Gifts — a high-quality THC extraction facility named after Sanders’ mom, expected to provide and…

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Graham Dodge, Garnish Health, Sickweather

Crowdfunding sites won’t pay your medical bills, Sickweather CEO says, launching reciprocating donation platform

By Tommy Felts / June 10, 2019

Crowdfunding can help, but such tactics are unlikely to cover the medical bills of a person struggling with mounting healthcare costs, Graham Dodge said. “The unrealistic amount of self promotion needed to reach people outside your own personal network — which can happen if the media picks up on your story — is the main…

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Ron LeMay, Main Street Data, Open Air Equity Partners

Startup, investor, corporate worlds collide; Ron LeMay’s message for KC: Sit down and talk

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2019

Ron LeMay wasn’t willing to watch entrepreneurs flee Kansas City to build their game-changing companies on the coasts, he recalled. “That’s a prescription for disaster over time,” LeMay, CEO of Main Street Data and managing director of Open Air Equity Partners, said of the way he viewed entrepreneurial progress in the City of Fountains as…

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Harold Hess, Enduralock, second from left, at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, The Hague, Netherlands

Nuts and bolts: Lenexa-forged Enduralock tech catches the eye of NASA, Shell

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2019

A Lenexa-based startup is gathering accolades faster than a SpaceX rocket’s methane-fueled full flow staged combustion cycle. “Investors definitely see something unique that is brewing here in Kansas City, so we are excited to represent the area,” said Diana Greenberg, COO and co-founder of Enduralock. Founded in 2014, Enduralock is one of 10 finalist tech…

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Father turns grief over son’s loss into healthtech solution for speedier medical records transfers

By Tommy Felts / June 6, 2019

Chris Jones’ quietly sunny disposition belies the hard knocks peppered throughout his past. Then again, the full-time consultant, masters candidate, and now startup founder sees all past experience as a catalyst for growth, he said. “Everything you’ve been through in life prepares you for this moment, now,” said Jones, founder of MatchRite Care. “So you…

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