Why Middle Tech

Dec 27, 2020

Middle Tech has now released over 125 podcast episodes, hundreds of social media posts, and hours of blog content.  This year alone, our team has more than doubled from four people to ten people. Middle Tech has begun forming partnerships with other Kentucky companies and is looking to continue to expand the content we produce.  We have momentum to grow and plan to capitalize on it. And, although all of us at Middle Tech are entrepreneurs, none of us are in it for the money. So, if it is not the money, why are we doing what we are doing? Each of us loves Kentucky and wants to create a resource that advances the business ecosystem in this region by providing news, entertainment, and educational content related to startups, entrepreneurship, and technology. We believe media is essential when cultivating a successful startup ecosystem, and founders are the cornerstone of that ecosystem.


Founders first!


  Each Middle Tech team member truly believes that founders from Kentucky, and all over Middle America, can achieve levels of success similar to what could be achieved in Silicon Valley or NYC if more people knew of the benefits this region has to offer.  Put another way, Middle Tech believes that by creating a platform for founders in Kentucky and Middle America, we can legitimize the entrepreneurial ecosystem of this region as a competitor to the coastal entrepreneur ecosystems. 


  There simply is not a source of information that highlights the stories of entrepreneurs and founders in this region, which makes the ecosystem seem significantly more barren than it really is. A sad effect of this false view of barrenness is that the region’s founders and investors exit our ecosystem for those on the coasts, taking with them their talent, money, and jobs that would have come with their company or investments. No region can thrive when its talent, money, and economic opportunity leave it.


One of our co-founders Evan Knowles has personal experience with what our region faces when it comes to lack of awareness.



  Middle Tech is working to reverse this effect by showing that there are many, many more successful companies in this region than one is led to believe.  Kentucky has far more to offer than coal.  Kentucky has far more to offer than bourbon or horse racing.  Kentucky offers a developing ecosystem that is quickly being populated by tech-driven companies across all industries, especially those in agriculture and healthcare. Middle Tech is here to allow the ecosystem’s existing founders to share their success stories and put their businesses on the map.  By showing that success can be had in this region, there is significantly less pressure for this region’s talent, money, and economic opportunity to be taken elsewhere. 


  On top of highlighting the success stories of this region, Middle Tech also allows founders to share their failures, mistakes, and shortcomings.  There is an information desert surrounding the process a founder should follow in middle America, which oftentimes varies significantly from the process that would be taken in Silicon Valley or other coastal entrepreneur ecosystems.  This lack of information puts founders in our ecosystem at an extreme disadvantage trying to maneuver their way from an idea through their business’ exit.  Middle Tech is creating a resource of information that can help illuminate the path founders can take to reach. 


  Middle Tech is here for the advancement of the founders of this region.  Middle Tech is here to inspire future founders to create in this region.  Middle Tech is here to give founders guidance as they try to build a successful business.  Middle Tech is here to give them a platform to share their success.  Middle Tech is here to help this region we all believe in so much.  

By Evan Knowles 15 Feb, 2023
Today’s tip is about how to use ChatGPT to summarize an article, book, legal document, and other long-form text. It's a great way to save time and learn.
By Evan Knowles 08 Feb, 2023
Today’s AI Edge is about how to use ChatGPT for tips on how to start and plan a project or task.
By Logan Jones 16 Dec, 2022
Sustainable Nuclear Fusion, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing
By Evan Knowles 05 Dec, 2022
What happens when you have zero percent interest rates, ESG, stimulus money, COVID, and SPACs colliding all at once? AppHarvest. AppHarvest’s SPAC and rocket ship success now appear to be a malicious cash grab by investment bankers and global elites enabled by the highly controversial ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) movement. Whether the founding team was aware of what would eventually happen, I cannot be sure; however, I do know there has been poor execution from the leadership team and bad actors like Jeffrey Ubben, who infiltrated the company early to use it as a financial vehicle to quickly cash out millions dollars while the state of Kentucky and everyday retail investors were left holding a falling knife. Like everyone, I was initially bought in. The state was bought in. The media was bought in. We all bought into AppHarvest. It's amazing how far saying all the right things will get you. Entrepreneurs and politicians have this gift. They communicate their visions to rally people behind them, and Jonathan Webb is a master of the craft. He masterfully leveraged his experience in DC, free capital, SPACs, the ESG movement, and the narrative of a struggling state (Kentucky) to raise $1.5 Billion dollars in less than 5 years for a dream manifested on a whiteboard years before. Props to him for making his dream a reality… seriously. I want to have empathy for a fellow entrepreneur and don’t want anything to come across as an attack. Give the man props, BUT the problem with dreams is that you have to wake up to face reality. Facts are the facts and reality is setting in… Middle Tech had Jonathan on the podcast in the early days before any construction started and they had a small team that had just finished raising a $100 million Series A. I left that interview having mixed feelings. I was super excited for the state and for Jonathan’s team, and I walked out of the interview saying “He felt extremely scripted like a politician.” I don’t like politicians very much by nature, but I quickly looked past it because I’m not one to judge based on a first encounter and founders tend to develop scripts when they raise capital. I know I have with my own company.
By Lincoln Day 19 Apr, 2022
How existing entities can get involved in the development of Agtech startups
By S.A. Barker 24 Feb, 2022
There are two sides of a coin. At least that was my rationalization as to why I failed to transition from SHIB to DOGE in the previous article before edits. I conflated the two because, well, I conflate them. They are linked in my mind and as they are in the memes. Just as a dog pack has the alpha and omega, dog coins have DOGE and SHIB. Crypto heralds a new age of currency, and it behooves us to attempt to get a grip on what currents are moving just under the surface. In the moment-to-moment flotsam and jetsam of Twitter, there is an ever-present struggle to separate the wheat from the chaff, artistry from con-artistry. This grappling with what constitutes real currency eerily mirrors the 20 th Century’s grappling with what constitutes real art. My attention went from a casual observer of crypto on the periphery to a keener interest, when SHIB made a billionaire of a mysterious whale. The victory was short-lived with one tweet from Musk answering the question of how much SHIB he held: None. The subsequent crash led to discourse about the value of crypto as a whole, and much trashing of SHIB INU. Interesting that SHIB took all the heat for being a shit coin and was an obvious “bad boy” in the crypto space with the audacity to claim value where none was “deserved”, while DOGE was spared the infamy. Just as SHIB was devalued by the influence of Musk, DOGE has been lifted to the point of tender to acquire merch from Tesla. As of the time of writing, Mcdonald's is now the point of focus of pressure from the DOGE community to accept DOGE coin. To accept the inevitable. And in the process, become part of the discourse. Obviously, we are adrift in a time of great uncertainty. Just as thick fog surrounds a ship, multitudes of articles and conjectures obscure the ability to chart a course with any confidence. If you do find yourself in a state of analysis paralysis for too long, consider flipping a coin.
17 Feb, 2022
When you look at the Lexington skyline... you should think of Dudley Webb. Born in a small coal mining community, Dudley Webb brought his talents to Lexington through the University of Kentucky school of Law where after practicing for several years, he and his brother morphed into Massive Real Estate Developers - creating what is now "The Webb Companies". Under the Webb Brother's leadership, The Webb Companies grew into one of the largest real estate development organizations in the country, with projects across the U.S. from New York to San Francisco and Boston to Miami. Our conversation covered his personal and professional background, growth constraints in a booming city, and the Future of Lexington from Dudley's perspective. Welcome to Season 2 of DevelopLex - a new series from Middle Tech diving into the ins & outs of real estate development and investing here in Lexington, Kentucky. This series will feature interviews with some of Lexington's most prominent real estate developers that have played a major role in building Lexington into what it is today. Hosted by Weston Lockhart & Evan Knowles DevelopLex is proud to be supported by: SVN Stone Commercial Real Estate Community Trust Bank Lexington Pavement Sweep Intro music by SmithTheMister
14 Feb, 2022
Kyle Mohler is the Founder and CEO of Insignum AgTech, a biotechnology company working in the AgTech space to engineer plants that can change their pigment whenever they contract a disease, alerting the farmer so that they can take early action. Our conversation with Kyle focuses on how Insignum’s technology was developed, the benefits that it gives to farmers, the ethics & implications of bio-engineering in general, and Kyle’s experience growing a business in Indiana. Learn more about Insignum at InsignumAgTech.com
12 Feb, 2022
Evan overviews how everything about being an entrepreneur boils down to one key skill: sales.
11 Feb, 2022
Logan, Nate, and Evan discuss Cash App adding the Lightning Network, Disney’s victories in the streaming wars, and Peloton’s recent struggles. Watch Middle Tech's Friday Updates LIVE at 8:30am EST on Instagram every week! @MiddleTechPod Today's Friday Update is sponsored by KY Innovation, Bolt Marketing, and Render Capital.
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