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What Founders Get Wrong About Raising Money
A recap of Flywheel Café: Fundraising Rules for Startups & Angel Investors with Paul Clark, VentureSouth Flywheel Coworking and VentureSouth have been partners in Greenville's startup ecosystem since Flywheel opened its doors, so when VentureSouth managing director Paul Clark presents at a Flywheel Café session, the room pays attention. Not many people will tell you…
The Conference Greenville’s Tech Community Built for Itself
A two-day recap from Grok '26 If you've never heard of Grok, that's partly by design. The conference started in 2011, and is managed by Chris Merritt and Matt Cook, the co-founders of Atlas Local, Greenville's independent coworking space on Draper Street. It was named after a word coined by Robert Heinlein in Stranger in…
The Hidden Engine of AI Readiness in South Carolina
Most organizations are moving quickly to use AI, but many haven’t built the systems behind the scenes to support it. That gap shaped Brad Alexander’s session at the SC Competes Spring Summit, where he focused less on tools and more on what it takes to run AI reliably inside a business, and why South Carolina…
Top 5 AI Prompt Frameworks You Can’t Live Without
Last week’s i4Series event brought together Upstate professionals experimenting with AI to explore ways to use it to solve meaningful business problems. Panelists included Emil Babineau, Founder of Nuvexa AI, and Christopher Kemper, Co-Founder of EMILY Revolutionary Marketing Group. The conversation started with structure, not tools. Babineau noted, "AI doesn't fix unclear thinking. It just…
Profile of the SC Graduate in the Age of AI: What Employers Are Really Looking For
South Carolina’s workforce conversation is shifting quickly, and that shift was on display during the TransformSC panel on the Profile of the SC Graduate in the Age of AI at this year’s SC Competes Spring Summit. Rather than focusing on tools or technology alone, the discussion centered on what employers increasingly expect from students entering…
AI-Ready or AI-Risky? A Practical Playbook for Business Leaders
Artificial intelligence was a recurring theme throughout this year’s SC Competes Spring Summit, but the question many leaders are still working through isn’t whether AI matters. It’s where to begin. During one of the AI sessions, Jason See of Worthwhile offered a practical framework for leaders trying to move from experimentation to measurable business value.…
Demystifying SC Funding Resources: Lessons from the Founders Forum
South Carolina founders are building ambitious companies, but figuring out where to find non-dilutive funding, grants, and strategic support can feel overwhelming. At the February Founders Forum, hosted by NextGEN and sponsored by InnoVision Awards, leaders from across the state broke down how the funding ecosystem actually works and how founders can plug into it. The…
Event Recap: Evolving Your Financial Team for Growth from Startup to Exit
Last week at Flywheel Coworking, founders and operators filled the room for a conversation many business owners put off too long: how your financial team needs to evolve as your company grows. Our speakers, Mike Airhart with Accountability Services and David Benner with FocusCFO, have both built and led businesses through growth, complexity, and transition.…
i4Series Event Recap: The Value Equation
How Markets, Metrics, and IP Drive Startup Valuations Last night’s i4Series event brought together a powerhouse lineup of investors, academics, and startup veterans to tackle a deceptively simple question: What makes a company valuable? Moderated by Paul Clark, Managing Director of VentureSouth, the discussion was full of stories, lessons learned the hard way, and a…