Entrepreneurship : Featured Stories

In the span of 12 years, John Owens has taken his company, Cohesion Business Technology, from a two-man operation that worked from his Cincinnati home to one of southwestern Ohio's largest technology services firms with annual revenue on the north side of $20 million.

With hard work and an eye for innovation, Columbus native Jason Ross has defied convention with men's fashion website JackThreads.

Bad Girl Ventures launched in Cincinnati last year as a unique form of micro lender: one focused not just on getting financing into the hands of women-owned startups, but also on providing the education and resources women need to build successful businesses. In the last year, BGV has attracted a lot of attention as it has grown in participation and geography, most recently announcing its expansion to Cleveland. hiVelocity caught up with Candace Klein, BGV's founder and CEO, to ask about the success of her non-profit.

Though she's been in America for little more than 20 years, Radhika Reddy has realized the American Dream several times over. Her latest dream, a one-stop center for international cultural events and a business incubator -- for both foreign and home-grown firms -- is off to a good start.

Mike Figliuolo is a former Army officer, McKinsey and Company consultant, Capital One Financial strategist, and a VP for Scotts Lawn Service. Today, he runs a practitioner-led leadership training firm, is an angel investor for tech startups, heads several web-based businesses and is a principal at a Dublin business accelerator. Oh, and he's writing a book. It's an unwieldy job description, but Figliuolo makes it simple: "I'm a parallel entrepreneur."

Wil Schroter was only 19 and a student at Ohio State University when he started his first company: Blue Diesel. Since then, he has blazed a trail of business creation that has resulted in more than half a dozen companies. We caught up with Schroter to ask him about entrepreneurship and his views on Ohio as a place to do business.

Dan Rockwell is a big guy with a quick laugh and an unassuming manner. But behind the easy-going exterior is a man addicted to experimentation and new ideas -- some of which are turning the concept of what a startup should be on its head.