Founders

Ben Chutz is building a startup to help fight autism (Birdhouse for Autism) and he is doing it by focusing on helping the people taking care of those with autism.

Questions with Ben Chutz explains why to focus autism startup on caregivers

Mark Rieth likes to talk about Stroh's when he is speaking about turning Atwater Brewery into Detroit's next great brewery. He explains why Detroit's most fabled brewery serves as an inspiration.

Questions with Mark Rieth on why Stroh's inspires Atwater Brewery's growth

Chad Priest and his startup team were working on an idea that didn't work when they decided to pivot. That decision led to Linkies, a social media startup based in downtown Detroit that is getting its 15 minutes of fame.

Questions with Chad Priest on the right time to pivot your startup

Growing a company isn't just about adding more employees. Sometimes it's about adding more leadership. It's what Juliet Shrader discovered when she expanded iVantage Group's executive team and revenue growth followed.

Questions with Juliet Shrader, expanding leadership to grow a company

Joe Hessling is the founder & CEO of 365 Retail Markets, which means he has to balance a shareholder's need to create value and a executive's impulse to build a business.

Questions with Joe Hessling, balancing CEO and shareholder duties

Every day Sabra Scott-Moorman and Catherine Watson work to get business owners to tell their stories. It's the basis of what their business, Cosmo Branding and Marketing, is built on.

Questions with Sabra Scott-Moorman & Catherine Watson, telling entrepreneurs' stories

Sassa Akervall has built her business from the basement up. The CEO of Akervall Technologies recently took the startup from her house to its first office in Saline.

Questions with Sassa Akervall, taking biz from the basement to its 1st office

Max Schmidt couldn't find the right suit for a wedding, so he decided to make his own. It's a decision that led him to opening up his own custom tailor shop, 1701 Bespoke, in downtown Detroit.

Questions with Max Schmidt, fashionably changing careers

Bob Kraemer has seen the ups and downs of redeveloping downtown Detroit since he opened Kraemer Design Group in Harmonie Park in 1997. He also has an idea or two where development will be heading in the next few years.

Questions with Bob Kraemer on where downtown Detroit development is headed

Helen Dennis already started, built and sold one successful business. Now she is doing it again with 300 Decisions, a relocation management firm based in Ann Arbor. Check out her reasons for encore entrepreneurship.

Questions with Helen Dennis on encore entrepreneurship and starting the same business a second time

Larry Schmitt knows opportunity when he sees it. He often sells those opportunities through his innovation consulting company, The Inovo Group. Schmitt also knows that successful companies pursue those opportunities, and he knows how to get them to do it.

Questions with Larry Schmitt, success equals pursuing opportunities

Nutshell is all about its product to Joe Malcoun and his fellow co-founders at the Ann Arbor-based software startup. The tech entrepreneur explains why his team focused on product first and promotion second while building the business.

Questions with Joe Malcoun, focus on product first, promotion second

Megan Torrance knew she needed a bigger space for her growing company, TorranceLearning, and knew she didn't want to leave the downtown Chelsea Clock Tower. So she took chance and took over one huge space in it.

Questions with Megan Torrance on fitting a business into a space too big for it

Finding the next best market to expand online event parking startup Park N Party isn't as simple as randomly picking a Big Ten school and setting up shop. Park n Party co-founder Jason Kapica explains how he grows the reach of his Ann Arbor-based firm.

Questions with Jason Kapica on targeting the best market for expansion

Brian Rudolph wants you to eat Banza, gluten-free pasta from chick peas. First he has to get his Detroit-based food startup product on store shelves, a task he is enjoying some fast success with this year.

Questions with Brian Rudolph on bringing Banza to a store shelf near you