Tom Cottingham presenting to Venture Connectors

Our August event featured media mogul Tom Cottingham, co-founder of The Cobb Group, TechRepublic, NarrowCast Group, Insider Louisville and now CEO and Partner of Flyover Media Group, who talked about innovation trends he’s seen throughout his career. 

Tom shared how cities like Indianapolis, Charlestown and Birmingham are creating industry clusters or “innovation districts” to drive economic development, why it’s vital to develop physical locations to bring people together for innovation, and how those concepts can be applied in cities like Louisville. He discussed venture investment opportunities in the flyover states, and the hottest tech trends like AI and deep learning. He shared his thoughts on Louisville’s strengths and challenges, and how we measure up to other locations in terms of opportunities for innovation. 

Flyover Media Group is an integrated media company focused on connecting communities of innovators throughout “Flyover Country.”  Flyover Future covers innovation ecosystems in cities throughout the heartland and the investors, universities, entrepreneurs and communities most engaged in building the business of the future today. Tom was an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Winner-Ohio Valley Region in July 2000.

This was also our first lunch at Story Louisville, and we’re delighted to call it our new home! It’s not only an innovation hub, but the perfect space for networking and showcasing the startup community. We hope to see you there next month!