Midwest House

Still feeling inspired by last week at Michigan Tech Week. Feeling especially inspired by Crystal Brown and all those who've supported her along the way. It all has me thinking (and writing) about Dug Song's concept of the "verbs" in a startup ecosystem. "Anyone who has spent any time in and around innovation circles within the Midwest has certainly heard about the things we lack as compared to the coasts. Founders will tell you that “there just isn’t enough capital.” Investors will say “the quantity and quality of the startups” doesn’t compare. And someone looking in from the outside might let you know that “there just isn’t the talent” needed to create scalable businesses. Now I’ve got thoughts on all three of those sentiments, but it’s certainly true that those “nouns”:?Capital,?Startups,?Talent?are what we often hear about when discussing the shortfalls of the region’s startup communities.? Dug, god love him, likes to remind us that we can’t forget about the verbs when we’re talking about building ecosystems. And you don’t need to know that I used to be an English teacher to know I’m into the verbs:?Connect, Promote, & Advocate." https://lnkd.in/ewFkW9GY

Real talk, y'all, we weren't going miss Michigan Tech Week.? Directly following Renaissance Venture Capital UnDemo Day and right in the middle of Tech Week - Midwest House is coming to Detroit to celebrate the world changing companies that can be built in Michigan and the community it takes to build them. The event will feature a preview of Precipice of a Dream: A CircNova Story, a film produced A2XL and presented by Song United.? It will also feature a conversation w/ Crystal Brown, the founder of CircNova, Inc and a wider conversation about Michigan's high growth ecosystem.? When:?October 2nd, 2024 - 4 - 8pm Where:?The Madison Loft & Auditorium, 155 Broadway Street, Detroit MI What: A Film Preview: Precipice of a Dream:A CircNova Story A Fireside Chat w/ Crystal Brown, Dawn Batts, & Dug Song Networking? Food, Drink, Vibes Who Leaders from Michigan’s Startup Ecosystem. Visiting Founders from the Midwest Founder Exchange supported by World Business Chicago & Venture 313 Guests & Speakers from Michigan Tech Week & UnDemo Day Partners:? Venture 313 ID Ventures TechTown Detroit Milestone Growth Capital Institute CIBC Innovation Cooley LLP Song United IDA Ireland ROCK Bedrock Detroit Michigan Economic Development Corporation This one is going to fill up, so get on the waitlist ASAP: https://lu.ma/jn6kj65n

?? ?? Next stop on the Tour....Ann Arbor ?? (#goblue) ?? More specifically Ann Arbor SPARK's #A2Tech360 where we're teaming up w/ our pals at Bamboo to bring some beats and eats to the annual #annarbortechtrek Friday, 9/27, 1 - 5pm Bamboo Ann Arbor 200 South 1st Street Ann Arbor, MI 48104 DJs & Desserts featuring rooftop live music, sweet treats, and all kinds connectivity Come for the vibes. Stay for the conversation and inspiration. RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eSyXCcmP Amanda Lewan Alexia Williams Corey Hart Whitney Allred Hi?n Lam Jennifer Hayman Phil Santer Bill Mayer Margarita Hernandez, PhD Trista V. Rishi Moudgil Pete Martin Emily Samar Michael Psarouthakis Kelly Boatright Sexton Dug Song Joe M. Ryan Morrison Paul Moore Darel Ross Laurie Supinski Jorge Gonzalez Diana Callaghan Michael Spath University of Michigan University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business Michigan Founders Fund Maximize Start Garden Endeavor #annarbor #djs #a2tech360 #desserts #michiganevents

?? ?? CALLING ALL MIDWESTERN FOUNDERS!!! ?? ?? Midwest House & World Business Chicago are again inviting founders from all over the region to apply for the next stop of the Midwest Founders Exchange program. The next trip will be to Detroit for Michigan Tech Week hosted at the newly opened Michigan Central . The trip will take place the week of October 1st and will again include a travel stipend ??, a founder dinner ?? , & free entry into the Conference ?? . Hit the link below to apply via our new Midwest Founder Exchange Communication Partner - Chicago's own - ActiveCampaign: https://lnkd.in/gZ8dBMR2 We're beyond excited to be hosting our Midwestern friends here in Michigan and we have some pretty special surprises in store for those who make the trip!!! So get that application in and we'll see you in the D. Ted Velie Nicole McCarthy Abin Kuriakose Elle Ramel Arantxa Valverde Corey Hart Alya Adamany Woods Gregory Grossman Anna Beckett Belvin Liles III Caleb Conley Rishi Moudgil Pete Martin Dev Mendenhall Christopher (Toph) Day Wolf Starr Kris Eul Nick O’Brien Andrew Verboncouer Joshua Kline Dan Radomski Nida Ansari Billy Ndizeye Diana Callaghan Amanda Lewan Trista V. Midwest House World Business Chicago GET Cities Venture 313 ID Ventures TechTown Detroit Cooley LLP ActiveCampaign

Summer's almost over but the Midwest House Summer Tour continues...endlessly :) https://lnkd.in/gPg-C5Db Midwest House (Endless) Summer Tour 2024: Tech Week GR?- Grand Rapids - 9/16-20: https://www.techweekgr.com A2Tech360 - Ann Arbor - 9/20-27 https://a2tech360.com/ Future of Fintech Week by World Business Chicago- Chicago - 9/23-27 https://lnkd.in/gEqqCjTe MICHIGAN TECH WEEK?- Detroit - October 1st-4th https://lnkd.in/g-ZNcR4S The Right Place, Inc. City of Grand Rapids Start Garden Bamboo Startup Grind Grand Rapids Ann Arbor SPARK World Business Chicago Michigan Founders Fund ID Ventures Renaissance Venture Capital Michigan Central Michigan Outdoor Recreation Industry Office Michigan Economic Development Corporation Newlab

Join Midwest House, Startup Grind Grand Rapids, Bamboo, & Start Garden in celebrating #techweekgr with a casual "morning-after-Demo-Day" hang with founders and ecosystem partners from all over the region. Food, drink, & vibes will be provided, and together we'll share in some candid conversations about where we are and where we want to be as a startup community. Ted Velie Amanda Lewan Paul Moore Laurie Supinski Jorge Gonzalez Darel Ross Corey Hart andrea wallace Adrian Butler Rachel Berkal Sadoc P. Terra Osman Laura Vaughn Ryan H. Vaughn Jason Mejeur Jonathan Jelks Jamiel Robinson The Right Place, Inc. City of Grand Rapids Spartan Innovations Grand Ventures Confluence Bank of America

We're closing out Midwest House at RALLY w/ a FlyOver This Party w/ our friends from Sixty8 Capital, Be Nimble Foundation, IDA Ireland, & ShipSigma. Cinderwood Event Space 601 S Meridian 5p-8p Help us say see ya next time to Rally 2024 - come thru for drinks, bites (did someone say 'smores?), and all kinds of good hangs. Joshua Kline Dev Mendenhall Christopher (Toph) Day Erica Schweyer, MBA Brighid King Muhammad Yasin Kevin Martin Nicole McCarthy Elle Ramel Belvin Liles III Abin Kuriakose Kelli N. Jones Corey Hart Adam Berk Hi?n Lam Wolf Starr James Edward Feagin IV James Chapman Aman Brar Hilary Rushe Ted Velie

The outdoors matters more now than ever. The Midwest can and should be the picks and shovels provider to the outdoors. If you’re at RALLY today, come spend some time with us exploring outdoor content at Midwest House! Here is what we have on tap: 8-12: Tinker Coffee Co. street Barista Cart + Networking and Co-Working 10-12 VC & Founder Matchmaking powered by Silicon Valley Bank 12-1: Lunch and Networking 12:30-1: The Opportunity Outdoors: A Trillion Dollar Industry In The Midwest's Backyard featuring Brad Garmon of the Michigan Outdoor Recreation Industry Office 1-2: Outdoors for Everyone:Technology as a Driver for Outdoor Engagement presented by Element Three and featuring Chris Pendl of Nomadics, Steven H. of Roadpass Digital, Michelle Erikson of Plymouth Growth & the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund, & Grant Chapman of Glassboard 2-3: Nature's Remedy: The Outdoors as an Antidote to Burnout presented by ground game ventures and featuring Joshua Kline, Nick Smarrelli of Butler University, Jason Mejeur of OWN IT System, Andrew (Diff) Diffenderfer of Foundation Direct & Catherine Baxter of Nettie Pickleball Co. 5-9 Flyover This Closing Party w/ Sixty8 Capital, Be Nimble Foundation, IDA Ireland, & ShipSigma

Beyond excited to be partnering with World Business Chicago, Venture 313, ID Ventures for the first stop of Midwest Founders Exchange at RALLY next week in Indy. In total, we're hosting 15(!) Founders from around the Midwest at the two day event. They'll get a glimpse at Indy's startup ecosystem during a tour and mixer at 16 Tech Innovation District, meeting VC's and investors from around the region at Founders N' Funders VC reverse pitch (hosted at Midwest House on 8/27), getting 1:1 time with a lot of those very same investors at our Matchmaking Session powered by Silicon Valley Bank, and enjoying all the incredible programming that the Rally team has put together. ?? Shout out to Nicole McCarthy, Elle Ramel, Arantxa Valverde, Abin Kuriakose and the entire team at WBC for making this trip a reality. ?? Shout out to Belvin Liles III, Jeff Ponders II, and everyone at ID Ventures, Venture 313, & the Gilbert Family Foundation for helping Detroit join in the fun. ?? Shout out to our friends Cooley LLP (Alya Adamany Woods & Gregory Grossman) and ActiveCampaign for supporting the effort. And of course much love to Christopher (Toph) Day, Dev Mendenhall, Erica Schweyer, MBA, Nida Ansari, Kelli N. Jones, & Joshua Kline for hosting us in Indy. Midwest is best, y'all!!! Meet the Founders Noelle Curtis, Bisi Blvd - Chicago, IL Huayi He, Bilin Academy -Chicago, IL Jill Miller, Lunum - Chicago, IL Karen Laing, Okkanti - Chicago, IL Meghan Doyle, Partum Health - Chicago, IL MALVINA DE SALVO, Plateful LLC - Chicago, IL Jessica Bussert, Wave Therapeutics - Chicago, IL Vanessa Lane, Better Play - Ann Arbor, MI Audric Serador - DataPull - St. Charles, IL Jolly Nanda, MBA - Altheia Inc - Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Matthew Stone - PathlessProductions - Columbus, OH Max Albert - Adrenaline Interactive - Ann Arbor, MI Brittany M. - OptimizeEV - Detroit, MI Andrea Michele Taylor - Lucy.rent - Detroit, MI Katy Kelly - Total Entry Solutions - Detroit, MI Get Rally Tickets (use code RALLYxMidwest): https://lnkd.in/eUKZrkN9 RSVP to Midwest House at Rally: https://lnkd.in/eegcNtPg

Those who don't know Joshua Kline might think it's a little intense to ride 147 miles on your bike to prove to a point. Those who know Josh know that's just another Thursday. This week on the Substack I talk to my guy, Josh of ground game ventures, while he rides his bike from Northern Indiana to the Convention Center in Indy where RALLY will take place next week. We talk Midwest House. We talk "showing up" as a VC. We talk pork sandwiches. Give it a read...(and take a lesson from Josh and get yourself down to Rally next week. Use discount code: RALLYxMidwest for all kinds of savings!!!) https://lnkd.in/gWsZF9yN RSVP to Midwest House at Rally: https://lnkd.in/gPV_yhf2 Dev Mendenhall Christopher (Toph) Day Erica Schweyer, MBA Brighid King Muhammad Yasin Kevin Martin Nicole McCarthy Elle Ramel Belvin Liles III Corey Hart Adam Berk Hi?n Lam Wolf Starr James Edward Feagin IV Kelli N. Jones Aman Brar Jeff Erickson Amber Ferrari Brendan Sullivan Elevate Ventures World Business Chicago Venture 313 ID Ventures Silicon Valley Bank Stellar Element Three Founders N' Funders Flywheel Fund TechPoint Cintrifuse Capital ShipSigma Start Something Ventures Wabash College IDA Ireland Allos Ventures Mercato