startup ecosystems

Nick and Kaitlyn are taking the week off from interviews. Before signing off for the weekend, we wanted to give thanks to our listeners and let everyone know our plans for the holidays! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ben McDougal is a Startup Ecosystem Builder from Des Moines, Iowa. He joins the show to discuss his work welcoming diverse communities to his startup ecosystem and provides an overview of the startup scene is Des Moines.

Connect with Ben here.

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Nathan Preheim is a Nebraska ecosystem builder, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. He joins the Ecosystem Builder Podcast to share his journey as an entrepreneur and the systematic flaws he plans to fix with his new VC firm.

Connect with Nathan here.

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Angie Jordan is an Ecosystem Builder from Iowa City, Iowa. She joins the show to share her own journey as an entrepreneur and the way Iowa City's community is ensuring every entrepreneur has the chance to succeed.

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Maddy Fisher joins the show for this episode as an ecosystem builder from Rochester, Minnesota. She talks with Kaitlyn about technology in agriculture creating the next wave of jobs in the midwest and the work she does to help small businesses flourish in Minnesota. Kaitlyn and Abby also chat about their favorite coffee shops in the area.

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Nick and Kaitlyn link up to share recent updates with Mug.News and chat about their personal creative projects. Read more from Mug.News here.

Alejandro Santiago, an ecosystem builder from Saint Louis, Missouri, joins the show to share how he best advocates for entrepreneurs within his own community. Don't forget to stick around for the end of the episode to hear Kaitlyn and Nick share their biggest takeaways from this conversation!

Connect with Alejandro here.

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The Editor-In-Chief of Startland News, Tommy Felts, is our guest for this episode of the Ecosystem Builder Podcast. Startland News is a non-profit news organization that is devoted to telling stories of startups within the Kansas City community. We discuss the impact startup storytelling has had on the Kansas City ecosystem.

Connect with Tommy on LinkedIn here.

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In this episode, our co-host Kaitlyn chats with Melissa Grizzle to discuss building entrepreneurial education programming in Saint Louis, Missouri. Melissa gives an overview of her local startup ecosystem while providing tactics to apply to any community across the midwest.

Connect with Melissa here.

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On today’s episode, our Host Kaitlyn chats with Amanda Lewan to discuss the startup ecosystem in Detroit, Michigan. They overview the booming industry of cyber security and highlight the other well-functioning areas of their community.

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Tom Chapman is a world-renown ecosystem builder from Omaha, Nebraska. As one of the first players on the ecosystem-building scene, Tom has helped establish the field as we know it today. He joins to discuss issues he sees with entrepreneurial activity across the nation and share insights from his local scene in Omaha.

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Jake Joraanstad is an Ecosystem Builder from Fargo, North Dakota. He joins the show to give an overview of his local ecosystem while highlighting the importance of learning from failures, also known as "Flearning."

Connect with Jake on Twitter here.

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Nick & Kaitlyn have now created more than forty episodes of the Ecosystem Builder Podcast without ever being in the same room. Kaitlyn and Nick finally met up in person to record this podcast together, in person.

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On this episode of the Ecosystem Builder Podcast, we have Angie Jordan, Marlén Joanne Mendoza, and Tasha Lard. The group of professionals organized Iowa City's first Diversity Market. Their event builds community and offers support amongst marginalized entrepreneurs in their ecosystem. They join the show to discuss how the event came together and the tactics other organizers can take to replicate their success elsewhere.

Follow the South District Neighborhood Association in Iowa City on Facebook here.

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Hunter Bergman is an ecosystem builder and student at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. He joins to show to discuss building a collegiate startup community and the tactics his team implemented to engage those students with local entrepreneurs.

Connect with Hunter here.

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Mark Cowsert is an ecosystem builder from Columbia, Missouri devoted to creating programs to teach entrepreneurship in middle and high school. Mark discusses engaging with entrepreneurs at a young age while providing an overview of his initiatives that have been brought across his state.

Connect with Mark here.

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Melissa Vincent is an Ecosystem Builder who splits time between Oklahoma City, OK, and Kansas City, MO as the Executive Director of Pipeline Entrepreneurs. She joins the show to discuss leading Pipeline's community of high-growth entrepreneurs while analyzing the current midwest ecosystem.

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Nick and Kaitlyn take an episode to discuss their biggest learnings on ecosystem building after almost a year of creating the show. They also touch base on their projects outside of this podcast and preview other Mug.News content.

Watch the first episode of Coffe Grinds, hosted by Kaitlyn Claeys, here.

Help your local donut shop win our Gold Donut Competition here.

Janet McRae is an ecosystem builder from Miami County, Kansas. She joins to show to discuss the way Miami County has pulled in tourists from nearby Kansas City, Kansas while positioning itself as a remote work location in the post-COVID era.

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Dan Lauer is an entrepreneur and ecosystem builder in Saint Louis, Missouri. Dan created the children's toy called Waterbabies, which has sold over 25 million units worldwide. He now creates education programming as the Founding Executive Director of UMSL Accelerate. Dan joins the show to share his entrepreneurial journey and discuss best practices for a community to support startups.

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