Tommy Felts
Editor-In-Chief, Startland News
Tommy is editor-in-chief for Startland News, a Kansas City-based nonprofit newsroom that uses storytelling to elevate the region’s startup community of entrepreneurs, innovators, hustlers, creatives and risk-takers.
Under Tommy’s leadership, Startland News has expanded its coverage from a primarily high-tech, high-growth focus to a more wide-ranging and inclusive look at the faces of entrepreneurism, innovation and business.
Before joining Startland News in 2017, Tommy worked for 12 years as an award-winning newspaper journalist, designer, editor and publisher. He was named one of Editor & Publisher magazine’s top “25 Under 35” in 2014.
Recent Articles by Tommy Felts
Cannabis founder’s advice: Weed out the bad seeds; run green startups like real businesses
Cannabis might seem like it presents a Wild West frontier for entrepreneurs looking to strike green, said Michael Wilson, but would-be founders must cultivate a plan grounded in common sense — and the law. “In the industrial hemp or marijuana space, if you want to build a successful business, run it like a real damn…
Cyber threats and opportunities: Why did 50+ KC schoolgirls get a peek at Fishtech’s high-security campus?
You never know when an opportunity will find you, Alex Vendetti told a group of Kansas City high school girls touring the Fishtech Group cybersecurity campus. “I was a hairstylist before this,” Vendetti, a project manager at Fishtech, told groups of students making their ways through the cybersecurity startup’s sprawling Martin City facilities Friday. The…
Photos: PorchFestKC activates Midtown neighborhoods with stoop-to-street music
More than 100 onlookers — some neighbors, others just passing through — gathered in the street, along the sidewalk, and on lawns Saturday afternoon outside Ruben Alonso’s Union Hill home. “It was the perfect spot,” said Alonso, president at AltCap and one of dozens of homeowners who offered up their porches, stoops and front yards…
Is KC getting lapped? Kansas City scores No. 13 among Top 25 Midwestern cities in M25 ranking
Kansas City is maintaining a spot firmly in the middle of the pack among the top 25 Midwestern startup cities — in large part thanks to a $100-plus million growth equity investment in PayIt earlier this year, according to a new ranking by M25. The mega-round for Kansas City’s leading GovTech startup kept the City…
Plexpod rebrands womxn-led Herspace coworking concept with InnovateHER KC partnership
A year after Plexpod unveiled its Herspace concept at Westport Commons, a womxn-centric community and networking organization is partnering with the coworking leader to provide reinvigorated programming and support for startup leaders, Lauren Conaway said. “We’re really excited to show off this beautiful gathering place that the Plexpod team has created,” said Conaway, founder and…
H&R Block’s $2M investment in KCRise Fund: Corporate engagement can’t stop with one check, CEO says
Entrepreneurial energy surrounding such startups as Bungii and PayIt made a $2 million investment in the KCRise Fund an easy choice for Jeff Jones and his team at H&R Block, the high-profile CEO said. “When we think about the different pillars of how we want to give back to the community, taking a stake in…
Photos: Startup Crawl KC draws 1,000+ to the Crossroads, despite First Fridays overhaul
Mission accomplished, said organizers of Startup Crawl KC, announcing record attendance during the fifth showing of the innovation expo. “Best Startup Crawl ever,” said Gerald Smith, co-founder of Plexpod — which played host Oct. 4 to one of the Crawl’s three stops at its Crossroads Arts District location. More than 1,000 guests descended on the…
Advice for women founders: Be ‘tough as balls’ but don’t fear asking for help, panelists say
Want to rise to the top? Stop limiting yourself to gender roles in the workplace, declared Jene’ Hong. “I didn’t see people as male or female,” Hong, told a crowd gathered for Startland’s Innovation Exchange: Investing in the Power of Women. “I started off in accounting — everyone was male. I was taught to curse…
Downtown innovation district: Developers envision 30-story Lightwell project as its own startup hub
It’s possible the Lightwell building’s exterior hasn’t been cleaned since 1977, joked Tim Schaffer as he walked a vine-wrapped rooftop terrace that overlooks downtown Kansas City. “It was totally unintentional, the way it came together,” Schaffer, president of AREA Real Estate Advisors, said of the multi-million-dollar office redevelopment project that’s quickly evolved into what Schaffer…
Hilly KU campus inspires ‘back sweat’ innovation for Startup Weekend KC team
If more entrepreneurs were willing to invest a little sweat alongside virtual strangers, they’d carry an even larger number of cutting-edge startups to success, Tyler Sherman said. “In two days, we have a product that I feel comfortable enough to say we’ll roll with,” Sherman, a participant in the recent Techstars Startup Weekend, said of…