Matthew Gwin
Recent Articles by Matthew Gwin
City zoning change melts barriers for artisanal makers building businesses in KCMO
Editor’s note: KC BizCare is a financial supporter of Startland News. This story was produced through a paid partnership. Birdie Hansen started making candles as a hobby during the pandemic, and the business quickly grew to a level beyond what she and her husband David’s home in Midtown could accommodate. Scaling operations for Effing Candle…
VC summit: It’s a great place to ‘keep your head down and build’ — but is ‘KC nice’ slowing potential?
Building a startup in Kansas City comes with a mix of unique benefits and challenges, said serial entrepreneurs Riddhiman Das and Toby Rush, who both agreed the local ecosystem is enjoying “significant” momentum — while pushing the startup scene to be “more aggressive and more brutally honest.” “When you’re on an exponential growth curve, whenever…
Endeavor could bring its global capital network to KC startups; leaders weigh its local need
Leaders from the Heartland division of Endeavor on Monday gave local entrepreneurs a first look at capital, resources, and programming that could come to Kansas City as the global nonprofit considers expansion into the region. During the preview event, organized as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, representatives from Endeavor’s regional office in Northwest Arkansas discussed…
‘Cure-all’ for your hunger: Chefs offer tastes of what’s to come at KC’s newest food hall
A Kansas City-simmered food hall concept is expected to unveil its long-awaited dining experience next month in the lightwell building downtown — pairing two well-seasoned culinary minds with appetites for inventive tastes. Officially dubbed the Strang Chef Collective at lightwell, the chef-driven venture will feature a duo of restaurant concepts — Verde and Panacea —…
Lifted Spirits teases expansion, recipe for its quirky cocktail of success: Math plus intuition
After noticing more than a decade ago how distillation and cocktails enhanced his own friendship groups, Michael Stuckey set out to create that same sense of community for others. “I fell in love with the idea of spirits first; this idea that spirits were inherently about bringing people together,” said Stuckey, founder of Lifted Spirits…
Mid x Midwest aims to connect 50 VCs with 50 startups; why this new meetup is coming to KC
Traveling throughout the U.S. for business, Dan Kerr regularly comes across investors who have heard rumblings about the burgeoning Kansas City tech startup ecosystem, he said. But one problem persists: most of these potential funders have never stepped foot in Kansas City. “Really what got my gears turning is that I have a big network…
10 years later: Google Fiber boosted city’s ‘capacity for collaboration,’ former mayor says
Instant success catalyzed by the arrival of high-speed internet 10 years ago uploaded more than hype for Kansas City, said Sly James, noting Google Fiber’s significant role in reshaping the community as a tech city to envy. Opening unparalleled innovation and civic brand-building opportunities, Google’s selection of Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, as…
Startup: Stop wasting brain power on work that doesn’t matter; founders strike their own work-life balance in rural MO
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 the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. MOBERLY,…
LaunchKC shines spotlight on founders as first social venture studio cohort takes the stage
Tying Jerren Thornhill’s social venture to the footwear industry jogs a logical path, the founder said: re-selling used shoes was a $2 billion industry in 2021, and more importantly: “Kids love shoes.” His startup, One Pair — founded in 2020 to provide teenagers with a pathway to financial security through entrepreneurship while simultaneously minimizing their…
System set up to ‘suck the life’ out of formerly incarcerated people takes a hit with new microloan deal
A recently announced agreement is expected to help returning citizens break a cycle of struggle that’s historically been reinforced by a criminal justice system advocates say is set up to make them fail, said Kyle J. Benson-Smith. The Kansas City District SBA Office and two local nonprofit organizations held a public signing ceremony Wednesday afternoon…