Business Brief

In the small Missouri River town of Hermann, winemaking is big business. So is the tourism surrounding that wine industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated tourist traffic, presenting a new — and potentially existential — threat for small wineries looking to carve out their niche. “This is probably our 2020 version of prohibition, when Hermann obviously made some huge changes," said Tammy Bruc...

For 20 years, the InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum has provided an annual opportunity for Midwestern startup founders to pitch in front of a room full of investors. This year, that room full of investors is moving online. Due to COVID-19, InvestMidwest will take place remotely this year. The conference is teaming up with the Midwest Growth Capital Symposium, an annual event held in Ann Arbor, M...

As the coronavirus pandemic started to spread across the world, Nick Ward-Bopp began to get requests to use the Kansas City-area makerspace where he works to produce personal protective equipment. Ward-Bopp is makerSpace facilitator for the Black & Veatch MakerSpace at the Johnson County Library and co-founder of Maker Village KC. Lately, the makerspace has been producing face shields and protecti...

TripleBlind, a Kansas City startup that makes security software, has joined an international effort to develop an app using GPS data from mobile phones to track the spread of COVID-19 — without compromising users’ data security. Greg Storm, a TripleBlind co-founder, joined Speaking Startup to discuss how TripleBlind is contributing to that effort while navigating the other challenges of running a...

In the midst of a pandemic, as ever, cash is king. That's one of the key early findings from a KCSourceLink survey assessing how Kansas City entrepreneurs are responding to the COVID-19 outbreak and the accompanying economic slowdown. Miller joined this week's podcast to discuss that and other key findings from the survey, and to talk about how her organization is advising entrepreneurs in the mid...

This week's Speaking Startup podcast features two entrepreneurs who have hatched solutions to challenges being brought to the fore by the spread of the coronavirus. First up: navigating remote work. Bryan Helmig is co-founder and chief technology of Zapier, a company that has been built using a remote team. Zapier employs some 300 people across more than 25 countries, and Helmig and his colleagues...

Lindsay Zeiter wants to help make sure women have a prominent voice in the future of the growing gaming industry. That's part of the motivation behind Girls Who Game, a Columbia-based organization that hosts camps to help girls build gaming skills and learn the basics of game programming. Zeiter was one of the presenters this week at an event on the business of gaming hosted by Columbia's Regional...

Today's Speaking Startup podcast takes us to a pair of rural Missouri towns for stories of how early-stage businesses affect smaller communities. The first stop, Hamilton, in northwest Missouri, once was best known as the childhood home of James Cash "J.C." Penney, founder of the retail chain that still bears his name. Today, it's the birthplace of another business empire — the Missouri Star Quilt...

In January, Melissa Vincent took over as executive director of the Kansas City-based organization, which runs a yearlong entrepreneurial fellowship for Midwestern startup founders and a maintains a nationwide network of alumni and supporters. Two months into her tenure, Vincent visited with us about her vision for the organization and — as a recent transplant to Kansas City — her assessment of the...

What might a merger involving one of Kansas City's largest corporations mean for the city's startups? We explore that in this week's episode of Speaking Startup. Sprint is based in suburban Kansas City and has been active in the area's startup community in recent years. Plus, the wireless carrier is a magnet for tech talent, bringing developers and engineers to the city. Following a federal judge'...

On this week's episode of the Speaking Startup podcast, we take a closer look at the hyperloop. One company developing the futuristic transportation system says it could carry passengers between Kansas City and St. Louis in about half an hour, and that's led to lots of hyperloop buzz in Missouri. Already, state lawmakers have advanced a bill aimed at helping Missouri become the home of one of the...

On this episode of Speaking Startup, we hear about aspiring entrepreneurs in the medical marijuana business in Eldon, Missouri. Then we speak with Austin Barnes of Startland News about the Kansas City holiday gift guide. That, and the latest numbers and headlines in entrepreneurial news. Here's the rundown: • 2:30 - Latest headlines in entrepreneurship news • 5:01 - Medical Marijuana business in E...

On this episode of Speaking Startup, we speak to Linda Landon and Hope Snyder of RLadies-MidMO, a data science community in Columbia. Then we speak with Nickie Davis, the executive director of The District in downtown Columbia to talk about small business in the holiday season. That, and the latest headlines and numbers in entrepreneurial news. Here's the rundown: • 2:25 - The week's startup headl...

This week on Speaking Startup, it's almost Global Entrepreneurship Week. The worldwide series of entrepreneurship-focused events takes place Nov. 18-22, and Kansas City is slated to host more than 200 of those events. To mark the occasion and explore one of the week's key themes — inclusion — we visit with Mary Shannon, who's the founder of Connectus Worldwide and serves on the organizing team for...

On this episode of Speaking Startup, we hear from Kelsey Ryan, the creator of the Beacon, a non-profit news organization launching in Kansas City. Then, we spoke with Carrie Gartner, executive director of the Loop CID. That, and the latest headlines in entrepreneurship news. Here's the rundown: 1:44 latest headlines in entrepreneurial news 4:10 interview with Kelsey Ryan, of the Beacon 12:12 Inter...

In this episode of Speaking Startup, we hear from with Lauren Conaway, the founder of InnovateHER KC, a group that promotes the professional advancement of women in the Kansas City area. After that, we sit down with Brandon Erbschoe and Jacob Muchow of QuarkWorks to talk about the Columbia app developer’s plans for expansion. Plus, we have the week's news and numbers in Missouri startups. Here's t...

In this episode of Speaking Startup, we get tips for an effective elevator pitch from Columbia Startup Weekend organizers and participants. Then, we travel to Glasgow to tell the story of Fred Foley, who pulls double duty as the owner and chef of a local restaurant and the mayor of the mid-Missouri town. We also sit down with Conner Ruhl, whose idea of an app for paragliders was one of the big win...

In this episode of Speaking Startup, we speak with Cliff Holekamp, co-founder and managing director of Cultivation Capital. Holekamp co-founded the St. Louis venture capital firm in 2012, and he recently retired from his position as an entrepreneurship professor at Washington University in St. Louis to focus more on his work at Cultivation Capital. His move comes at a big time for the firm: Cultiv...

On this episode of Speaking Startup, we hear an interview with Sandy Allison, the executive director of the Marshall-Saline Development Corporation in mid-Missouri. As part of Missouri Business Alert’s Outstate project, we spoke with Allison about her ideas on how to revitalize small towns like Marshall. Then, we turn to a conversation with Dr. Michael Holtzman, a physician and professor at the Wa...

On this episode of Speaking Statrtup, we will hear an interview with Jessica Powell of the Kansas City Startup Foundation. She's helping organize #Back2KC, an event that aims to bring top professionals with Kansas City roots back to the area. Then, we hear from we will hear a conversation reporter Rashi Shrivastava had with Naga Rayapati. Rayapati, who created GoGetter, a job matching marketplace...

This week’s episode features a blend of entrepreneurial endeavors old and new. First, we hear from RJ Pahura, co-founder of FUND Conferences. FUND hosts events to connect entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, and it's hosting its first Kansas City conference Oct. 9-10. Then, we catch up with Gary White. He's the CEO of Kansas City-based Water.org, which uses microfinancing to bring water and sani...

On this episode of Speaking Startup, we speak with Rachel Anderson, the director of the Efactory in Springfield. The Efactory is a resource center for entrepreneurs that recently received a federal grant to allow its expansion. Then, we hear from Jason Harrington, the founder of SpraySeeMO, a festival in Kansas City that highlighted spray-paint muralists. Here's the full rundown: - 2:45 - The late...

On this episode of speaking startup, Isabelle looks into a maker fair that was hosted by The Loop in Columbia and focused on small-scale entrepreneurship. Then Seth shares his interview with Adam Arredondo, executive director of the Kansas City Startup Foundation, about a recent report that came out that has details about Kansas City businesses that gained venture funding. The rundown: - 2:03 The...

After a brief hiatus, hosts Seth Bodine and Isabelle Robles are back with more of Missouri Business Alert's Speaking Startup podcast. This week's show offers a glimpse of the entrepreneurial scene in Marshall. The mid-Missouri town was the destination for the latest installment of the Outstate project, which looks at entrepreneurship in small-town Missouri. In a sneak peek of our work from Marshal...

Missouri Business Alert’s Speaking Startup podcast explores news and issues important to Missouri entrepreneurs. This week, we traveled to a Missouri farm to speak to local entrepreneur Jessica Baker about her new business: goat yoga. Then, we visited with Mindy McCubbin, one of the founders of a new angel investing group in Columbia, the Women’s Investment Network for Entrepreneurs. Here's the br...