Austin Barnes
Recent Articles by Austin Barnes
More than 9,000 Kansas City households are among the potential beneficiaries of a new national digital divide initiative. Comcast recently partnered with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ConnectHome initiative, marking the largest expansion to Comcast’s Internet Essentials program. Now all Kansas City households within a Comcast service area that receive HUD housing…
Read MoreTwo months ago today, I packed up the last of my belongings in my Columbia, Mo. apartment. And to be frank, I was slightly embarrassed to be moving back in with my parents in Independence, Mo. A recent graduate from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, it seemed that almost everybody I knew was…
Read More
After three years with the Kansas City-based Sprint Accelerator, John Fein is moving on to lead a venture fund that has ambitious Midwestern plans. Fein, who’s served as the managing director at the Techstars-led accelerator since 2014, will serve his last day with the organization on July 31. With decades of fast-paced startup experience, Fein…
Read More
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Diversity means different things to different people. For some folks, hearing the word diversity automatically equates to affirmative action and minorities taking jobs away from qualified white men. For others, it simply implies race or ethnicity. Then there’s those who believe it is…
Read More
The Mid-America Angels is poised to make 2016 a record-breaking year. The area investment group already has deployed $1.7 million via seven deals in the first six months of 2016, setting pace for its biggest year of investment in its ten-year history. In 2015, the firm set a record for its amount of capital deployed,…
Read More
Athlete Network has scored a slam dunk with a $2 million seed round raise. The Lenexa-based firm that created a social network for athletes announced Thursday it had closed its first funding round after bootstrapping for two years, Athlete Network CEO Chris Smith said. The platform aims “to keep athletes competing in life” by enabling…
Read More
Kansas City’s entrepreneurial vigor again was cited as the impetus of a corporation’s expansion into the area. Virgin Mobile USA announced Friday that it selected downtown Kansas City for the company’s new headquarters as it relaunches its brand under Sprint. Virgin Mobile expects to hire 50 people in a variety of positions by the end…
Read More
There are a boatload of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter or curious Kansas Citian, we’d recommend these upcoming events for you. WEEKLY EVENT PREVIEW KCVR Hackathon When: July 15 – July 17 Where: Google Fiber Join us for the KCVR Hackathon! The event is being sponsored…
Read More
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Reality is often stranger than fiction, and even harder to predict. Will our cities march toward the dizzying New, New York of Futurama’s 30th century; the harsh, crowded streets of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner; or even the consumerist, transhumanist society of Warren Ellis’…
Read More
A proposed bar at Kansas City’s Berkley Riverfront park will enable the enjoyment of a cocktail and your canine. Founded by David Hensley and Leib Dodell, Bar K hopes to be part of a revitalization effort in the riverfront area with Port KC by converting unused green space into a bar, restaurant and dog park.…
Read More