Entrepreneurship is all the rage. Even the Dot-Com that followed the feverish run-up on tech startups of the early 2000s, has not dampened the enthusiasm for new enterprises and “disruptive” innovations. Yet a relatively under-the-radar foundation in the heart of the Midwest has been promoting and supporting the idea of entrepreneurship for nearly half a century.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a non-profit focused on education, entrepreneurship, especially in their hometown. Founded in the Kansas City areain 1966, the foundation pursues these goals by providing a wide range of online training, development and networking opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs wanting to take their business to the next level. They offer a combination of training and development opportunities, online resources, grassroots community building, research, policy work and grant making. These tools include the Kauffman Founders School, 1 Million Cups, FastTrack, EshipLaw and iStart.
Kauffman Founder’s School is one of their online resources, with courses and presentations structured as easy-to-navigate modules. Topics include how to find and attract venture capital, board members fora startup, finance, marketing and presentation skills. Presenters include venture capitalists and investors Brad Feld and Bill Reichert, patent lawyer Peter McDermottand serial entrepreneur Craig Wortmann (also a Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship).
Another Kaufman program is “1 Million Cups,” a grassroots networking and community support program centered around weekly presentations across America. Every week two entrepreneurs are selected to give a six-minute presentation followed by a 20-minute question-and-answer session, allowing people to get personalized feedback and advice. There are currently 73 locations that host 1 Million Cup events, stretching from one corner of the continental US to the other, from Alaska to Florida. In addition to face to face presentations and networking the 1 Million Cups website also hosts featured startups.
The Kaufman Foundation also provides entrepreneur grants for programs throughout America, the majority of their education grants and all of their civic engagement grants got to organizations in and around Kansas-City. It does not provide startup capital for private businesses or individuals
Further information can be found at kauffman.org and entrepreneurship.org
Liz Argall is a Seattle-based writer.
The Kauffman Foundation:
An Old Org Dedicated to New Ideas
By Liz Argall