From Our Founder: Legislation Makes Equity Crowdfunding the Go-To Source for Startup Funding
Venture capital funding, while essential to the startup growth ecosystem, is a funding source that makes its way into only a small percentage of companies seeking critical startup and growth funding. The companies that get venture capital fill a narrow band that meet certain strict criteria, leaving many other highly meritorious and worthy companies out...
Tom Rifai’s Life of Purpose: Flex5 Developer Helps Others Overcome Emotional Obstacles
For a rare few, the path to one’s life of passion and purpose is clear from an early age. More likely, however, life experiences and exposure shape us over time, until something comes along that really makes us get up every morning with a sense of direction and intention. For Dr. Tom Rifai, his purpose...
Life of Purpose: Teacher Kiarra Ambrose Thrives by Humanizing Education
As a lifelong entrepreneur, nothing motivates me to be all I can be more than the stories of fellow Detroiters who exemplify what it means to live a life in which there’s a driving sense of purpose. Given the times in which we currently live, I can’t think of anything worthier than recognizing the amazingly...
Life of Purpose: Madison Bachman Followed Her Passion to Research Baboons
Rather than follow a conventional path, Madison Bachman pursued a life of passion studying human-primate co- habitation in South Africa in order to find solutions to a growing problem: The battle for existence. By sharing her story, Bachman reminds us that the power of pursuing one’s passion in life and living a life of purpose...
Life of Purpose: Detroit’s Monica Wheat Strengthens Startup Ecosystem with Equality and Inclusion
A strategist, educator and venture developer, Southfield native Monica Wheat has dedicated her career to venture capital, but what truly sets her apart is her dedication to improving Detroit’s startup community and making it more inclusive to women and girls. When in high school, Wheat attended camps to learn about career options. That’s where she first...
A Life of Purpose: Jessica Robinson Drives Change Through Mobility Efforts
Entrepreneurs, business leaders, and innovators possess a unique driving force that pushes them to be the best version of themselves in order to elicit change in the world. Jessica Robinson, a leader in the mobility industry and a champion of the city of Detroit, believes in driving change for the social good through innovative and...
Life of Purpose: Carolyn Cassin Finds Her Life’s Mission is Through Meaningful Work
Some people are born into the world and are fortunate to happen upon a calling that ultimately shapes and defines their story. Others come into this world with a force that drives them from Day 1 to make sure the life they lead will be defined by the mark they’ve made. Such is the case...
Life of Purpose: How Detroit’s Cory Tincher is Facilitating the Growth of Startups in Our Region
Detroit’s future is in the hands of young, dynamic doers who embrace the opportunity to achieve their personal goals and contribute to the greater good of the local community. One such rising star in our region is 31-year-old Cory Tincher, a senior associate at Detroit Venture Partners. His story is both exhilarating and exemplary. Tincher’s...
To Succeed in Doing Business Online, You Must Master These 3 Areas
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once said, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.” These immortal words ring true for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to succeed today, and that requires focusing on meeting customers where the action is increasingly happening. During the pandemic, and...
How Angel and Venture Capital Funding Shape the Future of Innovation
When many people think of how the business sector relates to startup companies and the venture funding that invests in them, the perception is that this part of the economy is irrelevant and doesn’t impact the average person’s life. But a deeper look tells a much different story, one that actually touches all of us...
StartupNation’s ‘Key Moves’ Podcast: John Ezzo (Episode 3)
Welcome to another episode of StartupNation’s “Key Moves” podcast, hosted by Jeff Sloan! In this podcast, Jeff goes beyond the mere backstory of business success and dives into the key moves made by the leaders and founders of successful companies that put them on the trajectory toward significant success. StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products...
StartupNation’s ‘Key Moves’ Podcast: Jayson Waller (Episode 2)
Welcome to another episode of StartupNation’s "Key Moves" podcast, hosted by Jeff Sloan! StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products and accessories: Learn more here In this podcast, Jeff goes beyond the mere backstory of business success and dives into the key moves made by the leaders and founders of successful companies that put them on...
StartupNation’s ‘Key Moves’ Podcast: Andrew Blake (Episode 1)
Welcome to the inaugural edition of StartupNation’s "Key Moves" podcast, hosted by Jeff Sloan! In this podcast, Jeff goes beyond the mere backstory of business success and dives into the key moves made by the leaders and founders of successful companies that put them on the trajectory toward significant success. StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell...
Life of Purpose: Lindsey Walenga Elevates Businesses Through Storytelling
From a young age, Lindsey Walenga had an innate sense that her life’s work would involve connecting people. She was attracted to the idea that she could build a career on bringing people together, and her interest in learning about others by way of storytelling led Walenga to transform her passion into a career. Walenga...
From Our Founder: Creating Opportunity During Times of Crisis
As entrepreneurs and business owners, we do our best to plan for the future. But no matter how much we try to prepare ourselves for the unexpected, none of us could have predicted, nor prepared for, the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding economic crisis it has created. Roughly eight months into the pandemic, our plans—both...
Jeff’s Takeaway From Les Gold And Business Execution
Jeff’s Takeaway: Today’s guest is a longtime friend Les Gold about business execution who has always been hardcore. He runs an enormous pawn shop in the heart of Detroit, buying and selling anything and everything to a slew of eager customers. On any given day, he’s dealing in custom jewelry, taxidermy, sailboats, and television sets...
Jeff Sloan Weighs In On the June 28th Radio Show
This past weekend’s show focused on how entrepreneurs are figuring out a way to break out in highly competitive, firmly entrenched business sectors. We had the privilege of interviewing two such entrepreneurs who are breaking big with their startup businesses. The first was Jason Raznick of Benzinga. They provide financial information to, as Jason put...
Important Takeaway from Home-Based Hits Radio Show
This past week’s StartupNation Radio show focused on home-based businesses. We covered a lot of the pros and cons of starting and operating a business at home, and interviewed several successful entrepreneurs who all started in their homes and have gone on to great success. Most illuminating for me however was the realization that...
Upgrade Your Digital Life
Sometimes inefficiency cannot be defeated. When the typewriter was first invented in the 1870’s, fast typing caused the keys to jam. Thus, the layout of the keyboard was changed to spread out commonly used letters and letter pairs (like “sh”) to decrease the probability of a jam, which wasted time and hurt efficiency. The layout...
Riding Your Business To Success
Outside of StatupNation, my passion is for Arabian horses. Horsemanship is a fine art that requires patience and a large quantity of self-reflection. This is because, as a rider, you have to communicate in the most simple and intuitive way what action you want the horse to perform. When I first entered the world of...