Your Top 10 Blog Posts of 2015
We consider the KCSourceLink blog your blog, for the simple fact that we write it for you—to help you get inspired and get insights for your business.
From our monthly Show Me the Money feature that highlights the KC startups that are getting funded to our regular (and nearly daily) postings of opportunities, tips and tricks, our goal, mission and raison d’etre is to help you prep, plan and promote what you do here in Kansas City.
And that’s why we just can’t resist the trend to take a look back and see which posts drew you in and kept you reading. What we love about this list? It cuts across all types and stripes of entrepreneurs: microenterprises and second-stage, Main Street businesses and innovation-led firms.
So here they are: the 10 posts that resonated most with you, our readers, in 2015.
During Techweek, we published the first peek at our Resource Rail: the Innovation Line, a map of the resources--on both sides of the state line--that are ready to help innovation-led companies tests their ideas, meet the right people to move it forward, develop their prototypes and secure capital.
Because entrepreneurs like money. Get that. That’s why we launched We Create Capital this past summer (here’s our five-month progress report), publish tips on how to get small business loans, grants and funding and share funding opportunities, like this fresh post about SBIR grants.
We heard the stat and hit the streets. Here Angela Hurt, founder and CEO at Veracity Consulting, shared why she thinks KC is such a strong city for women in tech.
Each year, we publish We Create KC, our annual report of Kansas City’s progress toward becoming America’s most entrepreneurial city. As part of that report we highlight the soaring startups that should be on your watch list. This 2014 list includes companies that were funded for preseed through Series B in 2012 and raised at least one other round of funding through 2013. Love a good list? Check out 2015 KC Company Watch List.
We Create KC: Year 3 and the 2016 KC Company Watch List will hit the stands and the digitals in April. Keep your eye on www.wecreatekc.com for stories and data.
(Have a good startup or small business story to tell? Share it with us. We like to share stories.)
We’re all about loving KC—and that means keeping our dollars in KC-owned and -operated establishments. To help inspire others to Shop Local, we launched the 31 Flavors of May with our Shop Local Partners LocalStart, Base KC,Handmade in KC and Cash Mob of Kansas City. For the 31 days of May, we gave our blogging spotlight to 31 makers, bakers, movers and shakers—and they gave some sweet deals to shoppers who chose to live la vida local. Be on the lookout for our next Shop Local campaign this coming May.
This happened and we couldn’t be prouder to show it off. Yes, we mapped the entrepreneurial resources in Kansas City that are ready to take you from inception to exit. Kansas City, welcome to your Resource Rail.
One of the things we love about Kansas City is the access our entrepreneurs have to affordable resources and programs ready to help them grow their businesses. ScaleUP! KC, a new program funded through a contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration, fills a critical gap in the KC entrepreneurial ecosystem. Twice a year, it helps a select group of 15 businesses aim for their first million in revenue. And this program is so affordable, it’s free. (Yes, with two Es.)
The third cohort is already selected and raring to go. (We’ll announce them soon. Stay tuned.) Learn more or apply for the fourth cohort, starting later this spring, at www.scaleupkc.com.
“Not all entrepreneurs want to create billion dollar businesses. Not all entrepreneurs want to scale to massive growth within the next three years. Not all entrepreneurs want to live their business, working a brutal schedule to leave a lasting legacy.”
Miss the witticisms and extremely inventive puns (we try too hard?) that drop in a Battle of the Brands blog post? No fear. The Battle is back. Get ready to rally and nominate your business later this month. (Afraid you’ll miss the announcement: ping us and we’ll go ahead and put on the list.)
Full disclosure: Battle blog posts actually claimed four spots in our top 10, but we’re only listing them once here at the two spot. Kudos to our KC readers for supporting and celebrating our locally grown shops, startups and rock star businesses with their clicks and votes.
“Spoilers: It’s a huge turnoff when the entrepreneur says, ‘Let me dumb this down for you.’”
What do you want to read, learn, dream and get done in 2016? Let us know your hot topics below and we’ll connect you with the experts and insights you need to get moving.