Name: Tyler Hillsman
Title/Occupation: Director of marketing at RareWire
Age: 25
Hometown: El Dorado Springs, Missouri
Current city: Kansas City, Missouri
Twitter: @thillsman
Personal
Title of my autobiography: “Way Too Much About Tyler”
Thing I can’t live without: Figuratively, I presume? iPhone, Twitter and fun vacations.
Drink of choice: This time of year: peppermint mocha from Starbucks. All day.
Last book I read: “S.” by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst.
Ultimate road trip snack: It’s hard to go wrong with Peanut Butter M&Ms.
Entrance song if I was a wrestler: Something like “Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky. But the Maynard Ferguson version.
Celebrity doppelgänger: I’ve heard Jimmy Fallon a few times, but I don’t see it.
Guilty pleasure band and/or film: I’ve taken my wife to two Michael Buble concerts and I didn’t mind.
Chosen career in an alternate reality: Either a surfer, an astronaut, a baseball writer or a college professor. Some of these could still happen.
Worst OCD tendency: I’m kind of a completionist. If I watch a TV show or read a book series I have to start at the beginning and almost always finish it.
Which actor or actress, and why: Tom Hanks, because I think he’d be fun to hang out with. Jennifer Lawrence, same reason.
Favorite YouTube video: I laughed/cried so hard the first time I watched it. And the second time. And every time.
Thanks to our sponsor
Local
Best place in Kansas City no one knows about: At the very far end of the main hall at Union Station, there’s a room that showcases a year-round model train exhibit. I’ve been to Union Station dozens of times (even for my wedding reception), but just recently discovered it.
Kansas City’s obligatory tourist stop: The Plaza, especially if it’s winter and the Christmas lights are on. Touristy, but one of my favorite Kansas City experiences.
One thing Kansas City has that other Silicon Prairie cities don’t: Chiefs, Royals and Sporting. I’m pretty obsessed with all of the local pro sports teams.
Best thing going for Kansas City’s startup community: Fantastic resources and experienced mentors.
Last local restaurant I ate at: Margarita’s. I could drink their salsa.
Best meal I’ve had in Kansas City: Cliche, but Jack Stack burnt ends with cheesy corn bake (!) and hickory pit beans. I’ll gladly be a spokesperson for them, and they can pay me in food.
Kansas City would be better if… we had a beach.
The Startup Scene
Social media pet peeve: When people “tweet” automatically from their Facebook status.
App I’m obsessed with: QuizUp. It’s beautiful, fun and addicting. I’m “thillsman” if you want to play.
Silicon Prairie startup crush: I don’t know the people at Montessorium, but their apps are stinkin’ gorgeous. Fantastic design and admirable mission.
Most comfortable startup T-shirt I own: That green Global Entrepreneur Week shirt from Kauffman last year is softer than kittens from heaven.
Something most people don’t know about me: I grew up showing cows in youth fairs. (And still own some.)
Entrepreneur I most want to grab a drink with: Elon Musk, mostly because I’d expect that drink to be delivered by a levitating robot waiter in an underground lair.
I do what I do because… I love people, I love technology and I love telling people about technology. The digital revolution has given everyone the ability to do what they love, and RareWire’s trying to make that even easier.
Before I was in startups… I was in corporate. Very different environments.
If money wasn’t an object, my next company would be… an NFL or MLB franchise. I’d want to operate it in the fan-friendly way Sporting does so well. If I had to start from the ground up? Probably a VC firm to invest (my theoretically infinite cash) in everyone’s brilliant ideas.
The Silicon Prairie startup scene is missing… the stream of money that seems to flow through Silicon Valley.
In five years, I’ll… have five more years of experience, connections, friends and knowledge. I can’t wait!
In five years, the Silicon Prairie… will have produced many more successful, interesting and brilliant startups, and will be recognized as a global hotspot of entrepreneurship.
Credits: Photos courtesy Hillsman.
