Tag: John Fein

John Fein

Firebrand Fein: KC needs more audacious startups, ‘crazy ideas’ to attract investors

By Tommy Felts / January 19, 2019

Kansas City companies need to buck the Midwestern, risk-averse mindset and sell audacious plans to investors, said John Fein. “I would just love to see more crazy ideas, more big game type ideas,” said Fein, founder and managing partner at Firebrand Ventures. “We invest when [the startup] starts to generate revenue, so they have to…

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Techweek 100 list

Techweek 100 list released: Dozens of KC’s top cultivators, ambassadors and innovators

By Tommy Felts / September 22, 2018

Techweek Kansas City on Friday released its Techweek 100 list of the premier leaders pushing innovation in Kansas City. The collection of cultivators, ambassadors and innovators is a who’s who of familiar names across the startup, entrepreneurship and tech communities. Released in the runup to Techweek KC’s Oct. 8-12 festivities, the list isn’t a ranking,…

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John Fein

Raising a round in the Midwest? 3 tips from investor John Fein

By Tommy Felts / August 6, 2018

Editor’s note: This column was originally posted by Medium, and is republished with permission of the author, John Fein. The Midwest is a great place to live, sure, but is it a great place to grow a startup? The answer may surprise you: an unequivocal yes. Here’s what you may not know about the American…

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Firebrand Ventures

Midwest VC, area startup vet join Firebrand Ventures following $17.7M fund raise

By Tommy Felts / April 25, 2018

On the heels of smashing its fundraising goal, Firebrand Ventures has added a pair of new team members. The Kansas City-based seed fund is welcoming Cincinnati venture capitalist Wendy Lea as an advisor and Kansas City startup vet Maranda Manning as fund associate, said managing director John Fein. Lea brings a wealth of investment and…

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John Fein

Firebrand Ventures inks $17.7M for oversubscribed seed fund

By Tommy Felts / April 4, 2018

Kansas City-based seed fund Firebrand Ventures has crushed its original goal to create a $7 million seed fund for startups in the Midwest. Led by investor and former Techstars managing director John Fein, the fund raised $17.7 million for tech ventures in the Midwest, exceeding its initial goal by about 250 percent, said Fein. “I’m…

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