Latest Stories
How Boddle’s product-driven approach built educational games that kids ask their parents to buy
Editor’s note: The perspectives expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Serial entrepreneur and three-peat exited founder Matt Watson is the host of Product Driven and co-founder of Full Scale, a global staffing company. Click here to subscribe to the free Product Driven newsletter. What if the way you’re building your product is the very…
Small Biz to Watch: Someday Sunday opens the door to me-time without guilt (or toxins)
Editor’s note: Startland News is showcasing five Kansas City small businesses this week through the newsroom’s first-ever Small Biz to Watch series, presented by Bank of America. The following highlights one of the 2025 honorees, curated by editors from Kansas City’s wide array of hard-working entrepreneurs and business owners. Selection criteria is based on factors…
Fund Me, KC: ULAH asks Kansas City to help save Westwood menswear store as pandemic debt looms
Startland News is continuing its long-running “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for business owners and innovators — like menswear retailers and trendsetters Joey Mendez and Buck Wimberly — to share their crowdfunding stories and potentially gain…
These 15 KCMO projects just got a $19M+ boost; funding focused on inclusive community investments
A pair of high-profile projects at 18th and Vine — restoring the Boone Theater and its Kansas City jazz legacy, along with transforming the long-vacant Workhouse Castle into a boutique hotel — offer just a few notes from a chorus of just-funded redevelopment initiatives aimed at buoying small business and tackling challenges in Kansas City’s urban core….
Meet 7 startups just funded to turn potential into Kansas City-built tech innovation
The latest crop of Digital Sandbox KC companies — earning up to $20,000 in project funding for their concepts — are poised to make significant impacts within their industries, said Jill Meyer, noting a through-line from digital health to AI-powered construction and fantasy sports solutions. “These exciting innovations show some great promise, and we’re honored…
Cosmo Burger brings its mouth-watering tots, boozy milkshakes to East Crossroads’ bustling streets of eats
Bringing Cosmo Burger to the Crossroads required cousins Atit and Jugal Patel to cook their plans to perfection, serving up the brand’s first full-service brick-and-mortar location after years of trial by griddle. The result: a beefed up version of the owners’ original concept in one of the city’s most popular dining and entertainment districts. “This…
Independence day: Flipping from side-hustle to full-time requires grind behind glory
Founders found freedom in the journey (but they’re grateful for what they didn’t know was ahead) Jason Taylor walked away from big tech for good in January — leaving behind a dream résumé that included a long engineering career at Microsoft, then Google, for the freedom to pursue what had once been just a passion…
Family history, franchise model help second-chapter entrepreneur jump business obstacles
Throughout his career as a car salesman and mortgage broker, Brad Staples felt a calling toward entrepreneurship, he said. And when those industries ran dry, the Missouri native realized it was time to try on a familiar hat: running a family business. His venture, USA Ninja Challenge — a franchise kids’ fitness gym inspired by…
‘America the Entrepreneurial’: Can builders restore the promise of ‘the most courageous startup the world has ever seen?’
Risk-takers set the story of the United States of America in motion, said Victor W. Hwang, lamenting a modern day reality where needless barriers too often work against entrepreneurs and young businesses. An upcoming milestone birthday for the nation offers a focal point for restoring a coast-to-coast commitment to supporting builders and dreamers, he said,…
This Blue Valley teen uses AI to research cancer; Trump’s budget cuts could halt his work
Editor’s note: The following story was published by KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for KCUR’s email newsletter. An Overland Park high schooler traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate for cancer research funding after the Trump administration proposed slashing…
