Connect with health and community-growth focused founders, builders, innovators and doers from across Kansas and the world! Be the first to see the fast-paced showcase of the Top 10 community-changing innovations from diverse and talented founders, selected from more than 100 competitors from 28 states and 6 countries.

Backed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, the NXTSTAGE Community Health & Vibrancy Pilot Competition brings together leading entrepreneurs to present their technology solutions to Kansas organizations focused on improving the health of Kansans and removing barriers to community growth.

Are you ready to use innovation to help your community thrive? Register today!

It’s time for the Innovation Showcase for the 2021 Fintech Pilot Competition!

The pitch competition finale is a LIVESTREAM scheduled for Wednesday October 6th at 4pm, during Wichita Startup Week.

You might have a great idea or a great technology.  But until you have customers, you don’t have a business.  And until you have a real understanding of why your customers are buying from you, your business is unlikely to prosper.

Based on real-world experiences, this NXTCONNECT session with Bob Jones will give you practical ideas and tools to help you answer fundamental questions that every entrepreneur must address:

·       Who are my customers and what are they actually buying from me?  (Security?  Convenience? Hope? Pain relief?)

·       How do I find them – cost-effectively?

·       Who influences them?  That is, who do they trust?

·       How can I ethically influence the influencers?  Said differently: Who wins if I win? And therefore, who would love to help me win?

The session will be interactive.  That is, Bob will present information and provide examples, but the audience gets plenty of opportunities to ask questions, answer questions and shape the dialog.  It will be useful, provocative and engaging.

NXTCONNECT is a free education program delivered by NXTUS, providing with wisdom and resources for early-stage, tech-enabled entrepreneurs. This month’s NXTCONNECT event is taking place in conjunction with our NXTSTAGE Community Health and Vibrancy Pilot Competition Showcase Event. More details here.

Too many new businesses are founded on innovative ideas but felled by the day-to-day realities of running a startup. From branding your business to choosing an entity type to preparing for seeking financing or loans, the stumbling blocks are numerous, especially if you don’t know what you don’t know.

This panel presentation, featuring Matchstick Alliance members Gardner Design, AGH, and Foulston Siefkin, offers an overview of the top 5 business problems commonly seen by these advisors, and delivers tips on how you can watch out for those traps. 

http://matchstickalliance.com/

Speakers:

• Bill Gardner, president, Gardner Design (and NXTUS board member)

• John Trowbridge, CPA and senior vice president of business development, AGH

• Francis Baalmann, business attorney and partner, Foulston Siefkin

Representatives from NXTUS will be available at Groover Labs to meet with founders and entrepreneurs to discuss business plans, resources available in the community, capacity and capital needs for early stage founders, and more.

To schedule an appointment with NXTUS, click here.

Groover Labs is a collaborative working environment where entrepreneurs and tech workers can get support and share ideas.

GrowthX, a Silicon Valley venture capital group, has formalized a method they use with their own portfolio companies to understand if they truly have product-market fit and to help get them there quickly and systematically. 

Founding Partner of GrowthX, Max Menke, will lead you through an interactive workshop building on work you have already done around customer discovery and product-market fit.

Workshop Overview: All about finding product-market fit. This workshop introduces everything you need to go to market, engage with your customers and win revenue. Products and markets may be unique, but the path to product-market fit is not. Stop improvising your go-to-market efforts, and start growing revenue with intent. Highlights of the session include how to:

• Stop selling and start seeking fit

• Stop wasting precious runway looking for Mr. or Ms. Right, and instead focus entirely on your Mr. or Ms. Right Now.

• Avoid the scale trap

• Maximize your sales productivity by finding prospects through smart targeting and disqualifying poor prospects quickly

• The distinct and measurable reasons why people buy.

• The workshop will finish off with a Q&A session.

• Recommended Pre-Reading: Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

This is a virtual workshop held on Zoom, and we’ll have a simultaneous “watch party” at Groover Labs!

Representatives from NXTUS will be available at Groover Labs to meet with founders and entrepreneurs to discuss business plans, resources available in the community, capacity and capital needs for early stage founders, and more.

To schedule an appointment with NXTUS, click here.

Groover Labs is a collaborative working environment where entrepreneurs and tech workers can get support and share ideas.

For AVP Insights in May, you’ll discover valuable legal and tax strategies to help you make the most of your angel investing. Hear from the best-in-class legal and tax professionals who we work with for our AVP deals (and our official sponsors), Foulston Siefkin LLP and Koch Siedhoff Hand & Dunn LLP, about smart ways to manage the administrative side of investments.

In this power-packed presentation, we’ll cover tax efficiency, ownership strategies, estate planning and more. You’ll also have a chance to ask questions (for free!).

These professionals help you get better at the boring stuff, and win even when you lose - both key elements of successful angel investing.

Join us at the Shift Auto Society Clubhouse on Thursday May 20th @ 4pm

Food and drinks will be provided!

Representatives from NXTUS will be available at Groover Labs to meet with founders and entrepreneurs to discuss business plans, resources available in the community, capacity and capital needs for early stage founders, and more.

To schedule an appointment with NXTUS, click here.

Groover Labs is a collaborative working environment where entrepreneurs and tech workers can get support and share ideas.

This month we'll be alongside some of Wichita's most engaged entrepreneurs - including Ramsey Jamoul with UEA and Andrea Stang from The Hive - to talk about how you can jump in and get involved in our entrepreneurial ecosystem.

So much is possible in our city when individuals identify a need in the market, leverage available resources, and make things happen!

Expect a lively and inspiring conversation about what's going on in Wichita, and how to be a part of it.

For now, we are still doing hybrid events - both at Groover Labs, and on Zoom. (Either way, please RSVP via the Zoom registration page.)

Long time Kansas angels Trish Brasted, Steve Hayes, and Mark Janzen will deep dive with host Mary Beth Jarvis on the lesson they’ve earned in many years as investors in this region.

In a Q&A format, they’ll share their experiences - the good the bad and the ugly - what they wish they had done/known earlier and why they're optimistic about the current investing landscape.

This event is by invite only for AVP members and prospective members. If you’re interested in attending as a guest, we’d love to have you! Please email Quinn Robertson and visit https://www.avpict.com/ for more information.

Representatives from NXTUS will be available at Groover Labs to meet with founders and entrepreneurs to discuss business plans, resources available in the community, capacity and capital needs for early stage founders, and more.

To schedule an appointment with NXTUS, click here.

Groover Labs is a collaborative working environment where entrepreneurs and tech workers can get support and share ideas.

Representatives from NXTUS will be available at Groover Labs to meet with founders and entrepreneurs to discuss business plans, resources available in the community, capacity and capital needs for early stage founders, and more.

To schedule an appointment with NXTUS, click here.

Groover Labs is a collaborative working environment where entrepreneurs and tech workers can get support and share ideas.

This month we welcome Nathan Gold, nationally acclaimed "pitch coach," who has helped hundreds of startups and entrepreneurs up-level their presentation. In this mini-masterclass, learn practical tips and tools to be more effective on camera for meetings, videos or presentations.

SIGN UP TO ATTEND ON ZOOM: https://bit.ly/3s0vIik - Even if you can't attend live, please register and we'll send you the replay!

PS - Tell us you’re coming on our Facebook event, too!

As we move towards April, it's a natural time to think about taxes. That's why we thought our members would like to hear from Rachell Rowand with the Kansas Dept of Commerce. She's joining us this month to talk about the tax credits available to you as an angel in Kansas.

This event is by invite only for AVP members and prospective members. If you’re interested in attending as a guest, we’d love to have you! Please email Quinn Robertson and visit https://www.avpict.com/ for more information.