Two Startup Scaleup Pitch Winners Named To Crain’s List of 20 In Their 20s

Crain’s Cleveland Business recently published a series of features on 20 up-and-coming professionals who all have one thing in common—they are under 30! And wouldn’t you know, among this group of young community leaders are two winners from the Startup Scaleup 2016 Sidewalk to Stage Pitch Competition—Benjamin Colas and Xyla Foxlin. Benjamin took home a

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[PODCAST] The Female Founders’ Guide To Funding, Business Assistance Resources And Venture Capital In Northeast Ohio

On August 18, JumpStart hosted a conversation about the many ways female founders are defying the statistics and securing funding for their businesses. The discussion centered around the approach entrepreneurs can take to leverage the funding and resources available in Northeast Ohio, including female-specific programs and capital options. Listen to the event below, recorded on

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The Female Founders’ Guide To Funding, Business Assistance Resources And Venture Capital In Northeast Ohio

Raising capital is hard enough, but did you know that only 2.7 % of venture capital investment goes to female-founded businesses? On Thursday, August 18th, JumpStart hosted an insightful panel discussion examining how female founders are defying the statistics and finding creative paths to funding, entitled The Female Founders’ Guide To Raising Capital. As part

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3 Tips To Scale Your Business To $10 Million

Achieving your first few million in sales requires a crystal clear value proposition that solves a real problem for your customers, not to mention a considerable amount of focus, dedication and hard work. But taking your sales revenue to the next level requires something more—a bulletproof strategy. The following three tips will aid in developing

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Five Questions With Kareem’s Landscaping Founder Kareem Hardy

Transitioning his work ethic and skills honed as part of the landscaping team with the City of Cleveland, Kareem Hardy is successfully navigating the world of entrepreneurship. As a certified landscape designer, Kareem has a passion for creating and maintaining beautiful green residential and commercial spaces in Greater Cleveland. He also values the opportunity he

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Core City Cleveland: Entrepreneur Showcase In Pictures

On August 11, our second group of Core City: Cleveland Impact Program participants took the stage to present their fine-tuned, demo day-style pitches to an audience of friends, family, community members and a panel of judges. The event also featured a small exhibition hall, where attendees could network with alumni of the impact program and

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Five Things You Should Know About Our 2015 Economic Impact Report

Each year, Cleveland State University works with JumpStart to prepare a report tracking the yearly economic impact of companies supported by us and our many partner organizations. This year’s report, which looks back at 2015, showed that 270 companies supported by our collaborative group generated more than $1.4 billion in economic impact for the state of Ohio.

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Five Questions With Owens Print & Creative Solutions Founder James Owens

After spending 10 years in the commercial print and graphic design industry working for big box retailers, James Owens made a decision to start working for himself. In late 2014, he founded Owens Print & Creative Solutions, a company that specializes in the quick turnaround of commercial printing, graphic design, web design and other marketing

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JumpStart Employee Spotlight: Lee Poseidon

JumpStart Senior Partner, Entrepreneurial Services & Investing Lee Poseidon spends his days helping startup and scaleup entrepreneurs identify, focus on, and execute against their key, value-driving, business priorities. He also leads both JumpStart’s talent and mentoring operations and his decades of experience growing and managing businesses in a wide variety of sectors makes his advice

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Five Questions With Connie’s Affogato Founder Jason Minter

Taking inspiration from his grandmother Connie’s love of cultural exploration, and a semester spent as a teaching assistant in Italy, Jason Minter founded Connie’s Affogato, an ice cream truck for adults. The affogato, consisting of freshly brewed espresso poured over locally produced gelato or ice cream, is a traditional Italian treat that Jason looks forward

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Discover How Women Are Charting Creative Paths To Funding

Female entrepreneurs are getting creative with their funding efforts, but not necessarily by choice. According to a study conducted by Babson College, just 2.7% of venture capital-funded companies are female-owned. Probable influences of this statistic, include a lack of female investors, females operating lifestyle or service-based businesses not typically of interest to venture capitalists, females

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