Youth

Mizzou students started making real angel investments from campus a decade ago; now they need more capital

By Tommy Felts / February 21, 2023

COLUMBIA, Missouri — The college-aged leaders of Mizzou’s AACE Venture Fund are learning as they go: not just how to invest in real startups across the region, but how to make the university’s long-running student investment program sustainable. “We’re having real-world experiences — such as getting on the phone with founders, doing due diligence and…

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They’re plating my jam! How a homecoming dance inspired this teen’s charcuterie business with family on board

By Tommy Felts / February 4, 2023

Curating colorful boards of meats, cheeses, nuts and fruits always came natural to Bella Messmer, she shared; it wasn’t until after she started her charcuterie business that she learned that passion was passed down from her grandmother.  “In the ’70s, Bella’s grandmother would host these lavish parties among other Miami socialites, and she would make…

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Head in the grounds: Why Ben Cloud is the first (and last) hand to touch his evolving coffee brand

By Tommy Felts / January 26, 2023

Americans drink coffee like water, youth entrepreneur Benjamin Cloud noted, and he’s doing his part to fuel their habit. The recent Shawnee Mission North graduate — inspired by an intro to business class — started Cloud’s Coffee two years ago when he was 15. “I initially thought about coffee because of the size of the…

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College entrepreneurs match their student-athlete peers with NIL brand-building business

By Tommy Felts / January 18, 2023

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to Entrepreneurial Growth Ventures (EGV), a business unit of NetWork Kansas supporting innovative, high-growth entrepreneurs in the State of Kansas. [divide] WICHITA — Player Card’s…

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Teen coursework: Students take a shot at business with backyard paintball venture

By Tommy Felts / January 13, 2023

High school students in south Kansas City are mixing recreation with education by applying entrepreneurial concepts from the classroom to start their own paintball venture. Located on the campus of The Daniel Academy, Project:Paintball began as an idea in an entrepreneurship and marketing class during the 2021-22 school year. “We’re the Planet Fitness of paintball,”…

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