Overland Park continues to show up for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and future founders by creating space for honest conversations about what it really takes to build and grow a company. From access to capital and talent to mentorship and community events, Overland Park offers meaningful opportunities to learn from those building businesses right here.
That spirit was on full display at Fail Forward: Lessons from Growing Tech Entrepreneurs, a community panel hosted by the Overland Park Chamber Small Business Council and held at Lifted Logic. The event welcomed founders, professionals, and even high school students for a candid discussion about mistakes, growth, and the realities of building tech companies at every stage.
Moderated by Grace Ahn, Founder & CEO of NvisionKC, the conversation centered on one shared belief: failure is not something to hide from. It is often the most powerful teacher.
A Venue Built to Give Back to the Business Community
The event took place at Lifted Logic’s new headquarters in the recently renovated Bel-Air Building at 5600 W. 95th Street. The company moved in last year and quickly began renovating community event spaces created with intention and gratitude for the community that helped shape the company’s journey.
Founded by Adam Fichman, Founder and Owner of Lifted Logic, the company’s story mirrors the same entrepreneurial journey being discussed on stage. After building his first company out of a garage and helping generate significant revenue growth early in his career, Adam went on to create Lifted Logic as a high-end digital consultancy focused on helping businesses scale sustainably.
Lifted Logic’s event space was intentionally designed to be shared with the community and is available for meetings, educational events, and gatherings that support learning and connection in Overland Park. Jennifer Johnson, Director of Community Relations and Events, leads efforts to open the space to the community, leveraging events as a powerful tool for connection, trust-building, and sustainable business growth. To inquire about availability for your next event, please contact Jennifer@LiftedLogic.com
Learning Through the Hard Parts
Rather than polished pitches or highlight reels, panelists were encouraged to talk openly about missteps, wrong assumptions, and lessons they wish they had learned sooner.
Jannae Gammage, Co-Founder and CEO of Cyphr, emphasized how early mistakes can shape stronger founders if they are willing to learn from them.
“Capital magnifies decisions,” Gammage shared. “It makes good decisions better and bad decisions fatal.”
She spoke about the importance of clarity before raising money and the hard-earned realization that building a product is not the same as building a scalable company. One of her most impactful reflections centered on leadership itself.
“If I’m irreplaceable, I’ve already failed,” she said. “My job is to build a machine that works when I’m not there.”
Scaling Requires Systems, Not Just Speed
From a different stage of growth, Ryan Shreve, Co-Founder and CFO/COO of Tenex.AI, shared insights from scaling a high-growth cybersecurity company backed by significant investment and a rapidly expanding team.
Drawing on his experience as a multi-time CFO in the Kansas City tech ecosystem, Shreve spoke about the discipline required to grow responsibly, from building financial systems early to aligning operations with long-term strategy.
The takeaway was clear: growth without structure creates risk, while thoughtful systems allow companies to move faster with confidence.
Focus, Structure, and Boundaries
Patrick Knoelke, Founder of Spyre Group, brought a perspective grounded in long-term entrepreneurship and disciplined focus.
Patrick shared how early experiences taught him the importance of structure, boundaries, and clarity in business relationships. One formative lesson came from being pressured to deliver work for a startup client before proper agreements and systems were in place, a mistake that later reshaped how he structured client onboarding, contracts, and invoicing.
He also reflected on the danger of trying to do too much too fast.
Staying focused, he noted, helped Spyre Group adapt to real customer demand rather than chasing too broad of a vision.
Adapting Vision and Building with Curiosity
Madham Subramanian of iLabs highlighted the need to listen closely to customers and adapt when early assumptions fall short. Throughout the conversation, he emphasized curiosity, flexibility, and responsiveness, qualities that helped shape his company’s approach to growth.
His perspective reinforced a theme heard across the panel: the best founders are willing to evolve, refine their vision, and learn in real time.
A Community That Learns Together
What made Fail Forward especially impactful was not just the experience on stage, but the audience it served. By opening the event to the broader community, including students, the Overland Park Chamber Small Business Council created an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs to learn directly from those doing the work now.
Events like this reflect a community that understands growth does not happen in isolation. It happens through shared knowledge, honest dialogue, and environments where people feel supported enough to try, fail, and try again.
As Overland Park continues to invest in entrepreneurs and small businesses, conversations like these help ensure that the next generation of founders is better prepared, not just for success, but for everything it takes to get there.
Thank you to Lifted Logic for hosting, Grace Ahn of NvisionKC for moderating, and to all four panelists: Patrick Knoelke of Spyre Group, Madham Subramanian of iLabs, Jannae Gammage of Cyphr, and Ryan Shreve of Tenex.AI for sharing their stories so openly.
Share this Post