Startland News: Entrepreneurship is booming in Kansas City

It’s no secret that Kansas City is gaining traction as a hotbed for technology startups and entrepreneurship in general. Startland News, a digital publication, is not only giving a voice to startup businesses, but offers a platform for individuals, corporations and organizations that support entrepreneurship to be heard and to spread the news about innovation in the metro area.

Bobby Burch, Editor-in-Chief of Startland News, itself a startup, shared insights about the impressive growth of entrepreneurial business in Kansas City, particularly in the hardware and software tech sector, at a lunch meeting with Kansas City IABC’s Independent Communicators group.

Bobby is first and foremost a journalist. He learned the ins and outs of the trade at the Ottawa Herald and the Kansas City Business Journal, where he honed his reporting and electronic publishing skills. But he soon yearned to try something new and saw a niche opportunity that the mainstream media was not sufficiently covering.

In May 2015, he launched Startland News as a website and digital publication. Initially the goal was to grow profits by the traditional method of selling advertising space on the site, but that model has evolved to that of a nonprofit, under the umbrella of the KC Startup Foundation. Funding comes from various sources; major contributors include the Kauffman Foundation and the Polsinelli law firm, Bobby says.

Although based in Kansas City with a focus on the KC startup community, about 50 percent of subscribers are based elsewhere, with large pockets in St. Louis, Chicago, and of course, Silicon Valley, Bobby says. Startland News pushes out three new editions weekly and subscriptions are free.

Startland News was honored in April with a 2017 Cornerstone Award, presented by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City. The annual awards, which just celebrated their 30th year, recognize people, projects, businesses, programs, initiatives and events that drive economic development and growth in Kansas City.

“We aim to be a resource and advocate for innovators and early-stage businesses, but also serve as storytellers for the larger network of stakeholders in the entrepreneurial community,” Bobby explains.

Not just a cheerleader for startups, Startland News also covers failed businesses, mainly from the standpoint of lessons learned from the experience, he adds. “Sometimes it’s just cathartic to be able to talk about a business that started out as a great idea, but that didn’t succeed for various reasons,” he said.

For a free subscription, visit Startlandnews.com. For more on the impressive growth of entrepreneurship in Kansas City, see Bobby’s recent article, Kauffman report: KC startup momentum builds for 3 years running, improves national rank.