Founders Blog
Growing Food & Black Land Ownership in Detroit
May 15, 2023
Article and photos by Sarah Craft I visited Candius Elliott’s farm, Workin’ Roots, the first week of May. It was finally sunny and warm after days of rain - we couldn’t have picked a [...]
Great Mentors Change Lives (And You Can Too!)
April 12, 2023
Become a mentor with the MFF Internship Program. Learn more & sign up here by April 28. Article by Sarah Craft Last year, Caylinn Higgins saw a listing through her school, University of Michigan Dearborn, [...]
Black History is M.A.D.E. Every Day
February 22, 2023
Article by Sarah Craft, photos provided by Leon El-Alamin Eight years ago, formerly incarcerated Flint citizens started getting better access to housing, education, and employment opportunities, thanks to the leadership of Leon El-Alamin, founder [...]
Recognizing the MFF Member Community
December 12, 2022
As we look at 2022, we couldn't be more proud of all that we've done as a statewide network of founders and investors. Our vision is that Michigan is the most successful, inclusive, and [...]
Make an impact by the end of the year
December 9, 2022
One of our goals at Michigan Founders Fund is to help startup leaders become community leaders. We are doing this by building real, long-term relationships with community leaders and impact-focused organizations while helping Members both [...]
Fundraising is a ‘game’ these are the rules
September 21, 2022
Founder: Sergio Rodriguez-Valenzuela Company: ToDooly Stage: Seed Date Founded: 2019 Industry: Marketplace I didn’t have a safety cushion or the ability to do a family and friends round, so a meaningful capital injection into the company [...]
The Value of Team Service Days
July 25, 2022
Founder: Andy Fowler Company: Nutshell Stage: Growth Founded: 2010 Industry: SaaS Nutshell’s volunteerism and charitable giving have really only begun in the past two years. As a 12-year-old elder startup, that’s pretty deep into “better [...]
Transiency and the road less travelled
May 3, 2022
Founder: Phil Bak Company: atNav Stage: Seed Date Founded: 2022 Industry: Fintech, Capital Markets The coolest thing I ever saw as a kid was a dual VCR player. It was the height of technology, and it was awesome. So what [...]
The Importance of Founder Fellowship
March 28, 2022
Founder: Bhushan Kulkarni Company: InfoReady Stage: Growth Date Founded: 2010 Industry: Software, EdTech During the journey of starting, growing, and sustaining a start-up, we all face many challenges. You can’t find solutions to these challenges [...]
Startups: Build Resilient Teams through Honest Expectation Settings
October 26, 2021
Founder: David Corcoran Company: Digital Cowboy; Formerly Founder of Censys and TrustBearer Stage: Self-Funded Date Founded: 2013 Headcount: 1 Industry: Venture Development William Shatner is one of my favorite actors. My wife and I had [...]
Q&A With Two Michigan ClimateTech Founders
October 5, 2021
Darren Riley, Co-Founder & CEO, JustAir Kai Cui, Founder & CEO, CarbonTag Why did you decide to build a venture ClimateTech? What core problem are you hoping to solve? JustAir: Launching JustAir was rooted in [...]
Spotlight: Founder’s Retreat 2021 – Reignition
August 31, 2021
Back Row Left to Right: Dug Song, Marianna Poisera, Kathleen Craig, Rich Chang, Guy Suter, Kabir Maiga, Bhushan Kulkarni; Front Row Left to Right: Ashley M. Williams, Dr. Susan Shore, Kai Cui, Nydia Cardenas, Jen [...]
Why I moved my startup from California to Michigan
August 26, 2021
An interview with Prateek Sachdeva, Co-Founder and COO of Invisible AI Tell us more about Invisible.ai and why you decided to found a tech company? After college, my now-cofounder Eric Danziger and I were part [...]
Reality Needs Joy: Lessons learned from failure and starting over
July 21, 2021
By Guy Suter, Founder & CEO, Ampll Founder: Guy Suter Company: Ampll Stage: Seed Date Founded: 2020 Headcount: 8 Industry: Wellness Last year I wrote about some good advice I got when my last startup [...]
Communicating with Investors at the Right Frequency
June 8, 2021
For more from Jen Baird, see her blog: Startup CEO Reflections Founder: Jen Baird, Founder & CEO Company: Fifth Eye Stage: Series A Date Founded: 2014 Headcount: 9 Industry: Healthcare The more frequently you communicate, [...]
Focusing on the right problems
May 11, 2021
Founder: Trevor Hough, Co-Founder CEO Company: Yottled Stage: Pre-Seed Date Founded: 2020 Headcount: 5 Industry: E-Commerce and Content Management It’s incredibly challenging to be part of a start-up. There’s pressure from everywhere: meeting customer deadlines, [...]
Building purpose into the bottom line
April 20, 2021
Interview with WorkIt Health and Atomic Object on their Certified B Corp status The tech ecosystem is becoming an increasingly important engine for growth and talent throughout the state of Michigan. Many startups are successfully [...]
The 4 Biggest Lessons I’ve Learned as a Student Founder
April 13, 2021
Founder: Bennett Hilkert, Co-Founder CEO Company: Honesti Stage: Seed Date Founded: 2020 Headcount: 3 Industry: Mental Health & Tech The student founder experience is incredibly unique and challenging. Below I have outlined the 4 biggest [...]
