Founders : Creative Industries

"Leon Speakers is a company filled with leaders," says Noah Kaplan, president of Leon Speakers. "It's not just about the president and executive team as leaders. Every employee should be a leader."

Questions with CORDIAL company culture spikes Leon Speakers' growth

"Right now we're adding 1,000 restaurants per month," says Travis O Johnson, co-founder & CEO of foodjunky. "A year from now we hope to be in 20,000 restaurants."

Questions with Automation equals gazelle growth for Detroit's foodjunky

"We were six employees and then 20," says Jesse Cory, CEO of 1xRUN. "We needed to figure out how to make that work and create different departments."

Questions with 1xRUN team building turns startup into second-stage star

"Most users find MyFab5 through Instagram," says Omeid Seirafi-Pour, co-founder & CEO of MyFab5. "We give them value through our ability to introduce people to new options. You will find some awesome restaurants by following us."

Questions with MyFab5 hits key milestones without reinventing social media wheel

"As soon as they see it operating they see the value in it," says MJ Cartwright, CEO of Court Innovations. "They really get it and want to start using it."

Questions with Seeing is believing spurs growth for Court Innovations

"Make sure the production side of things is something you have a passion for," Ellis-Brown says. "It's not easy. It's one of the hardest things I have ever done."

Questions with Ellis Infinity Beverage Co figures out the recipe for finding the first home away from home

"We're in great shape for future expansion," Rieth says. "We want to have a capacity of 150,000 barrels and this gives us that. We want to continue growing in Detroit because the city is an important part of what we’re about."

Questions with No place like home for Atwater Brewery

"We can't hire on experience because we have a limited budget," says Jason Raznick, CEO of Benzinga. "We're trying to create something from nothing."

Questions with Hiring helps propel Benzinga from startup to financial media staple

"This year we're going to have even bigger growth because we added some key people," says Joe McClure, co-owner of McClure's Pickles.

Questions with New hires turn into key ingredients for growth spurt at McClure's Pickles

"We discovered what the customers wanted was different," says Rosemary Bayer, chief inspiration officer for ardentCause. "We had to change who we thought our customer was and adapt our products to it."

Questions with Flower child capitalists turn low profit company into gazelle startup, ardentCause

"It started off with a clunky, iPod-like prototype," Olson says. "Then we realized we can fit all of that technology into a card."

Questions with Technology breakthrough sets stage for growth at Stratos

"I think people had a hard time taking it seriously if it was priced that low," Steindler says. He adds, "We had this combination of quality and price that really helped us accelerate our growth. (Before that) our savings were dwindling. I was thinking how long until I have to get a real job? Then we hit that moment and things just took off."
 

Questions with Olark discovers raising prices leads to rapid growth

Mark Klimkowski went from graduate of University of Detroit-Mercy to owner of Virtuoso Design + Build. He explains why he made the leap into entrepreneurship right away and never looked back.

Questions with Mark Klimkowski on going from college to business owner

Pointing at-risk youth in a positive direction is hard enough, but getting them to move toward a career in tech? Jack Bidlack of The Business Side of Youth in Ypsilanti explains how his program is doing both of those things.

Questions with Jack Bidlack on turning at-risk youth on to a career in tech

Amy Swift launched Building Hugger a few years ago with an idea or two of what to do with it. Several ideas later the Detroiter is figuring out what her business is all about and where it's going.

Questions with Amy Swift on evolving a company's business plan and focus