Founders Blog

  • 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 [...]

  • How to bet on yourself!

    March 23, 2021

    Founder: Ashley M. Williams, CEO Company: RIZZARR Stage: Seed Date Founded: 2015 Headcount: 7 Industry: Marketing and Media It’s Women’s History Month and although the focus is on women, this article is also geared towards [...]

  • How to build a strong advisory team and who to invite to your startup leadership table

    February 25, 2021

    Founder: Kathleen Craig, CEO Company: HT Mobile Apps (HTMA) Stage: Preparing for Series A Date Founded: 2015 Headcount: 11 Industry: FinTech Being aware and thoughtful about how you build your leadership table is a key [...]

  • Startup genesis: choosing a problem to solve

    January 28, 2021

    For more from Jen Baird, see her blog: Startup CEO Reflections Founder: Jen Baird, Founder & CEO Company: Fifth Eye Date Founded: 2014 Forming a startup means that the founder(s) has an opportunity to choose [...]

  • Tools every startup should be using

    January 28, 2021

    Founder: Danny Ellis, Founder and CEO Company: SkySpecs Date Founded: 2012 Headcount: 75 employees Stage: Series C venture-backed tech company Industry: Energy Five minutes reading this article will save you hundreds of hours building your [...]