Mark Your Calendars: TBKC Will Be Here Before You Know It!

Time flies when you're an entrepreneur, doesn't it?  We think so. 

Think Big Kansas City is only a little over a month away.  Have you registered?  Purchased your ticket?  Checked out the agenda?  Applied for Pitch Big?  Signed up for the Startup Expo?  If not, now is the time. 

Yesterday, we sent out our first of many countdown emails in anticipation for Think Big Kansas City 2011.  To become a part of the countdown, sign up for the Think Big Partners newsletter found here: Newsletter sign-up. 

Can't wait to see you at the 2nd annual Think Big Kansas City conference.  Get ready to Think Big! 

Written by Allison Way
@AllisonThinkBig

From a 22-Person Reach to 100,000+ in One Year

In November of 2009, Chris McCann sat down to write an email to inform friends, family, and coworkers about the startup events going on in his community.  Little did he know that this simple chain of emails was about to spur the growth of a new business.

In 2009, McCann’s email chain about entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley reached 22 people.  Approximately one year later, McCann found himself with 100,000+ subscribers in over 50 different cities.  That’s when StartupDigest, an informational newsletter to connect the worldwide startup and tech ecosystems, was born. 



StartupDigest links entrepreneurs with events
going on in their communities.

Reaching over 57 cities and 6 universities around the world, StartupDigest is a beneficial tool to help entrepreneurs get involved in their local startup community through events developed and marketed through its collective force of 60+ curators and entrepreneurial leaders.  One of these curators is Willis Jackson of Kansas City, Missouri. 

“I proactively go out and try to find stuff happening in Kansas City,” says Jackson.  “My goal is to find things that people want to know about in order to encourage a startup community.” 

But how did StartupDigest go from a 22-person email to reaching over 100,000 entrepreneurs worldwide?  Believe it or not, it wasn’t social networking, fancy advertising, or SEO-optimizing techniques.  Instead, StartupDigest used good ol’ word-of-mouth to get their message across.

“People tend to forward StartupDigest or spread it by word-of-mouth,” says Jackson of StartupDigest’s marketing.  “People find value in it and like to share it with others.  It fills the gaps that entrepreneurs had, and that’s why it has taken off.” 

But there’s more to StartupDigest than these informative online newsletters.  In addition, the company has launched StartupDigest Jobs that informs readers about the best startup jobs in the area.  StartupDigest has also developed StartupDigest University in which topics and seminars are uploaded to Udemy.com so that students can learn more about entrepreneurship online.  “These are just other ways to fill the gaps for entrepreneurs,” says Jackson.

Jackson has worked closely with entrepreneurs in the time that he has been with StartupDigest.  And although he is an advocate of the online newsletter, he believes that the most important step in entrepreneurship is not reading, but doing.

“It’s important to know when to stop reading, stop researching, and stop taking advice.  There comes a point when you know you’ve read enough, planned enough, and it’s time to start doing!” he says.

According to Jackson, most cities have developed strong startup communities.  Because of this, he hopes that StartupDigest, in many different versions, will serve as a tool for cities to maintain themselves and to encourage startup communities for years to come.  We hope so too.

Thanks for Thinking Big, StartupDigest!

Written by Allison Way.  Allison is a writer and videographer for Think Big Partners, Kansas City’s mentorship-based business incubator and startup accelerator.  To read more of Allison’s work, check out the Kansas City Entrepreneurship Examiner as well as her articles on Helium, BrooWaha, eZine and Newsvine.

A Business Newsletter That Winds Up on Your Bulletin Board, Not in Your Trashcan

Yesterday, we told you that Think Big Partners has some big things planned for entrepreneurs, innovators, startups and small business owners in 2011.  Not only will two major announcements be made on January 12th at our Sneak Preview event, but we are also launching another concept that will allow entrepreneurs to gain knowledge, insight, news and inspiration on a regular basis. 

Think Big Partners’ new initiative, a regular informative online newsletter, is to be launched this January in an effort to inform Kansas City entrepreneurs and beyond about what’s going on in the entrepreneurial world locally, regionally, and nationally. 

We know that you’ve seen business newsletters before—and we also know that many of them wind up in your garbage can.  We are looking to create a newsletter that doesn’t wind up in your trash bin, but instead, on your bulletin board.  We want to create something that can inform a creative, driven, enthusiastic, inspired, dedicated and hard-working entrepreneur just like you.

So if you want to stay current on what’s going on in the entrepreneurial world—from business advice, to our own rising tenant stories, to inspirational quotes, to hard-driven factual information—sign up for the Think Big Partners online newsletter!

For more information about our online newsletter, please contact Think Big Partners at info@thinkbigpartners.com.

Written by Allison Way.  Allison is a writer and videographer for Think Big Partners.  To read more of Allison’s work, please visit the Kansas City Entrepreneurship Examiner as well as articles for Helium, Newsvine, eZine and BrooWaha. 

To sign up for the Think Big Partners online newsletter, please visit the Think Big Partners website and enter your email address into the newsletter information found on the right-hand side of the page. 



The Think Big Partners online newsletter will provide
entrepreneurs with information right at their fingertips.