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Steve Case talks to SPN about what makes a successful startup community
KANSAS CITY— Steve Case remembers the early days of AOL in Washington D.C. in the 1980s. The founder of one of the world’s first mainstream Internet services says it was a government town only.
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Marissa Sackler shares four ways nonprofits can tell compelling stories
Marissa Sackler is out to prove that “brand” isn’t a dirty word—at least not in the nonprofit community. In fact, the 33-year-old social good entrepreneur and founder of Beespace, a nonprofit incubator based in New York City, is trying to revolutionize the way nonprofits have traditionally approached their causes. Because really, when it comes down…
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John Wirtz on how Lincoln’s Haymarket has helped build Hudl
John Wirtz wanted to be a politician. Growing up in a Kansas City bedroom community, he wanted to help solve people’s problems. He wanted to help community. Bring people together because the whole is bigger than the parts, he says. Just into his 30s, he isn’t a politician—but he’s still solving problems for 1000’s of…
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Five open-ended questions with the man behind CES, Gary Shapiro
KANSAS CITY— Gary Shapiro is the CEO of Consumer Electronics Association, producers of the world’s largest innovation event, International CES. The International CES is also home to Eureka Park, a village of hundreds of startups showcasing their work. Shapiro is also the best-selling author of Ninja Innovation and The Comeback and has been honored as…
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Black Girls Code is out to change the face of the tech industry
KANSAS CITY—Kimberly Bryant founded Black Girls Code in 2011 to introduce programming to girls of color, hoping to create a more diverse next generation in tech.
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Neil Blumenthal: Everything at Warby Parker starts with our values
KANSAS CITY—Transparency continues to serve as one of Warby Parker’s core values. Blumenthal wanted to treat people the way he wanted to be treated.
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Anita Newton shares her three marketing truths that work anywhere
KANSAS CITY— Anita NewtonAnita Newton has worked in almost every situation, marketing for academia to tech, big brands and even startups. There aren’t many places she hasn’t been and with that much experience she has came up with a few marketing truths:
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Marc Hemeon: “That little play button on YouTube videos? That was me.”
KANSAS CITY— Those who stuck around for the last speaker of Big Kansas City were in for a major treat: Marc Hemeon, who brought laughs by the dozen sprinkled with earnest stories and thoughtful insights.
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Shradha Agarwal: Entrepreneurship is a practice & you have to ask why
KANSAS CITY—When Shradha Agarwal was in fourth grade, she started a secret classroom book club. After she’d devoured all of her parents’ books and been refused an increase in allowance to buy more, Agarwal got entrepreneurial. She decided to charge her classmates to borrow her already-read books to earn money to buy more books. Even…
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Mike Johnston marches to his own drum in the online education industry
KANSAS CITY—Mike Johnston brought the beat to Big Kansas City with a live demo of just how legit a drummer he is. Not that his craft needed validation. Johnston started playing the drums when he was five, and with drumming instructors such as Pete Magadini and Steve Ferrone, he was sure to get the hang…