*Guest blog post from Josh Rowland, Vice Chairman of Lead Bank
I was having breakfast the other day with a Kansas City tech entrepreneur. We had a terrific discussion about the progress he and his team are making with the product, their current and planned innovations and his exciting business development prospects. Then our conversation turned to his funding need.
Basically, he is getting tons of interest from prospective clients and investors – on the coasts. For some compelling, if specific, reasons though, he can’t accept the money or business. For the latter, the problem is that many of these big clients want exclusivity; his company can’t afford that for its future health. On the funding side, he can’t take too much money from anyone investor. So he’s been pounding the pavement in KC, to no avail. And he only needs $250,000.
What’s so striking according to my friend is that everyone he talks to around here understands the market opportunity (even if they are a little unfamiliar with his particular technology niche).
Of course, this story isn’t news to anyone who’s been alert to the pitfalls of starting a company in KC, or the unfulfilled promise of “America’s Most Entrepreneurial City.” The shame of it is familiar too: this guy has a family in KC, his wife has a job she loves, and they simply don’t want to move. So what’s he supposed to do?
When I brought up the LaunchKC competition and suggested he apply, he demurred: “that program is just about getting new startups to come to KC, not about keeping existing startups here.” I disagreed.
This is a big and important misperception to counter. The origin of LaunchKC was largely born from a recognition that we weren’t doing enough as a city to create the total ecosystem for our promising companies and founder-innovators to start and stay here. Part of our challenge with the program is to make sure that the local investor community starts to pay attention, in an organized way, to what’s brewing in their backyard.
My hope is that, with LaunchKC and TechWeek, we can change the weather for our local tech companies by bringing the best coastal investment thinking into conversation with local investors. By fostering this debate, LaunchKC can show local investors how our companies stack up, and thereby encourage real investment to help our innovators start and stay in KC. But if that is going to happen – if we’re going to change the climate for start-ups in KC – the best entrepreneurs we’ve got have to stand up and demand the attention they deserve.
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What is LaunchKC?
LaunchKC is a national grants competition that will award up to ten $50,000 grants to early stage entrepreneurs and their tech ventures. Learn more