MORALEZ: Hoosier angel investment needs further shots in arm
When I started my first company, Bio-Storage Technologies, back in 2002, raising angel capital was time-consuming and inefficient, and the results were mixed at best.
Small Business
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Cutillo ramrods entrepreneurship at Stonegate
Jim Cutillo, co-founder of the fast-growing mortgage company, pushes with military intensity.
Angie’s List plans big expansion with $25M in public help
The struggling consumer-review firm plans to spend some $40 million to expand its headquarters campus on the east side of downtown and create 1,000 jobs with the help of more than $25 million in state and city incentives.
Springer picked to head small business operation
Indiana's Office of Small Business Entrepreneurship has picked a new director for its efforts to provide contracts to small businesses.
Breweries test limits of craft beer boom
In the last two years, the number of microbreweries operating in Indiana has roughly doubled, to 96. But can the industry sustain such blistering growth, especially in Indianapolis, where much of the activity is occurring, without foaming over?
Lawyers branch out as business execs, entrepreneurs
Sometimes attorneys aren’t completely satisfied with their high-pressure day jobs. Many start unrelated businesses like bakeries, vineyards, breweries and clothiers as an escape, or even a new career.
UPDATE: Angie’s suitors could include Amazon, Yelp, IAC
Amazon has been developing its own local services marketplace. Yelp is the leading consumer-review service in the retail space. Website Holding company IAC, meanwhile, has a big stash of cash and owns competitor HomeAdvisor.com.
The Interview Issue: Denver Hutt
The executive director of a co-working space for entrepreneurs is particularly motivated to leave an impact.
Angie’s List to pay $2.8M in membership-fee settlement
The settlement stems from a 2012 lawsuit alleging that the consumer-reviews firm renewed members at a higher rate than they were led to believe.
Startup prodigy Jaramillo started at age 7
Santiago Jaramillo is CEO of Bluebridge Digital LLC, which creates and manages apps primarily for not-for-profits, and it’s one of the first app companies to operate on a subscription model. But Jaramillo was his own boss well before mobile apps and smartphones even existed.
Entrepreneur to offer home brewing minus the hassle
The cost, time and mess that come with brewing beer at home scares a lot of beer connoisseurs, but a Greenwood health care executive thinks he has the answer.
Taxi drivers settle with Speedway over confiscated licenses
Under the agreement, drivers who had their licenses taken by police on the day of the 2013 Indianapolis 500 will receive a payment and assurances that the town won't take similar action on race days.
Local Lotus dealership is one of only 42 in United States
Gator Motorsport opened in October as Indiana’s sole Lotus dealer. It’s owned by 41-year-old Young Kim, a first-generation Korean immigrant and Ball State University grad who fell in love with the British hand-built brand as a youngster growing up in Chicago.
Builders Estridge and Davis rebound from bust, run own firms again
Brad Davis and Paul Estridge Jr. belong to a select fraternity. They’re prominent Indianapolis homebuilders whose companies faltered during the housing downturn, only to re-emerge in another incarnation.
Star caterer Jack Bayt on upswing after tumble
Six years after having the area’s largest catering business sold out from under him, Jack Bayt is back, leading a revamped Crystal Catering. But the new iteration is much smaller than in the days when Bayt and his partners wanted to become a regional or even national player.
Broad Ripple lawyer represents cyclists involved in personal injury accidents
Indianapolis attorney Tim Caress’ desire to combine his after-work passions with helping people whose “lives have been turned upside down” resulted in his rolling—and running—into a new and growing line of business.
Indianapolis homebuilder combines dashing design, prefabricated construction
Ursula David hopes her first manufactured home will catch on at other infill lots close to downtown.
Hendricks County pitching motorsports skill, expertise to medical manufacturers
Hendricks County finds pay dirt pitching skills of racing industry to medical device manufacturers.
Family peanut-butter venture sees sales take off
B. Happy Peanut Butter is a hit at the summer market—and then some. Available at more than a dozen retail outlets in central Indiana, its seven varieties of hand-packed PB could produce sales of $100,000 this year.
Will a new app disrupt snow, lawn-care businesses?
Starting this month, Indianapolis area residents and business owners can order up lawn mowing and snow plowing services through an app.