Startups

Photo courtesy of VanDoIt

Adobe for adventure: KC’s VanDoIt offers affordable travel, housing solution nationwide 

By Tommy Felts / September 4, 2019

VanDoIt is no sideshow venture for Brent Kline and his son-in-law, Jared McCauslin. The duo’s custom van and restoration business has a  partnership with Ford and customers motoring coast to coast. “We have a couple out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and they are actually a traveling circus act — like, they are actually a circus act…

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Kerri Thurston, C2FO

C2FO’s advice: Seek global capital, local startup partners (Top VC-Backed event photos)

By Tommy Felts / September 4, 2019

Leawood-based fintech powerhouse C2FO didn’t raise nearly $300 million in capital by accident, nor without a strategy for selecting the right investors, Kerri Thurston told a crowd of founders, executives and investors gathered to celebrate the startups on Startland’s list of Kansas City’s Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies in 2019. “Focus on folks who can really…

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Kathryn Golden, Enterprise Center in Johnson County

KCultivator Q&A: Kathryn Golden risks it all to laugh at life (but roommates are no joke)

By Tommy Felts / August 30, 2019

Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by Plexpod, a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes. A spoonful of sugar couldn’t help Kathryn Golden stomach the oddities she…

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Thomas Sanchez and Anthony Shop, Social Driver

DC-based digital SWAT team descends on KC as Social Driver for mission-based clients

By Tommy Felts / August 30, 2019

From being included in selfies to getting tagged on social media posts, carving a digital footprint is the best way for social movements to gain traction, said Thomas Sanchez, CEO and co-founder of Social Driver.  “We are the digital heavy hitters. I always kind of talk about us as almost being like the SWAT team…

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Jene’ Hong, E-Scholars mentor

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

By Tommy Felts / August 29, 2019

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…

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