WILEY CURRAN | Curran Companies

Wiley Curran is all business: He followed up a finance degree from Miami University in Ohio (minor: entrepreneurship) with an MBA from the Cox School of Business at SMU. And the 27-year-old president of Curran Companies has a sterling business pedigree through his father, Pat, a co-founder/owner of Sporting Kansas City. But while Dad is definitely around as a principal and sounding board,
the younger Curran is making his own waves with the private-equity firm he formed in 2010. “Our model is very different from traditional private equity,” he says. “Our partnership with a management team creates a perpetual investment horizon as long as we continue to meet our mutual goals.” One example of that was Clore Automotive, where Curran set a goal of increasing revenues by 67 percent after he and his partners acquired full ownership. Now he’s focused on acquiring one company a year for the next five years, turning Curran Companies into “the premier sponsor of lower middle-market management buyouts in the Midwest. And we are well on our way.”

CARA COY | Lead Ventures

The qualities of an entrepreneur are not those of business owners alone. Resourcefulness, creativity, high energy and commitment to success are all part of the tool kit Cara Coy packs for work each day as marketing director for Lead Bank. She wears another hat, as well: managing director for Lead Ventures, a business accelerator program run by executives from the bank. In that capacity, she works with other entrepreneurs who have secured financing from the bank. After earning her degrees in advertising and graphic design from Iowa State, she spent just two years on that track before the financial services world beckoned. Now 28, Coy is building a strong network of connections for both business and her career development, hailing from the likes of the Kauffman Foundation, OneKC for Women, Silicon Prairie News, KC Startup Village and Under30CEO. Kansas City, Coy says, “is full of innovators, experts and educators who work together selflessly to build something great.”

THADDEUS O'BRIEN | Ideolity

Because both of his parents were entrepreneurs, Thaddeus O’Brien grew up with a different view of life than many of his contemporaries. “I learned to view the world as a vessel in which we could create, define and effect the change that many see as a job for others,” says the 28-year-old. Thus came the values of social conscience, responsibility and accountability, says O’Brien, who today is president of Ideolity, an IT company founded by his father. Those values came early—young Thaddeus started working at the firm when he was just 16. “I learned the ins and outs of IT consultancy and business ownership,” he says, allowing him to work in nearly every aspect of the company, which focuses on serving non-profit clients. In 2006, he co-founded ReValence Networks, a Web and server hosting company, and did a short stint with another Web-related venture, Tao Designs, before circling back to Ideolity. Today, he holds leadership roles with both ReValence and Ideolity.

DEVIN SCHUSTER | Zimmer Real Estate Services

The dichotomy for Charles Koch, one of the world’s great entrepreneurs, is that when you inspire similar thinking among 60,000 employees, some awfully good ones take those skills out the door. Like Devin Schuster. He left Koch with a dream—and the brass to pursue it in commercial real estate. In 2009. “Despite being in the midst of a major economic downturn, I was able to follow that passion and carve a niche for success,” he said, success measured by more than $50 million in transaction volume with Zimmer Real Estate Services, where he’s a vice president. His experience has revealed a great business truth: civic and philanthropic endeavors matter. He’s a board member for the Kansas City Crusaders and is on the Youth Advisory Board for Kids TLC. The more he serves, he says, “I’ve noticed my corporate and business relationships have also deepened, allowing me to expand my business practice.”