This time around, the large bus was not to be found — but the messaging from Steve Case was the same.
Yes, that Steve Case. The same one who co-founded America Online in 1985, when, as he pointed out, that 3% of the population was online, using the internet for an average of an hour a week. He also happens to be the founder and overseer of the Revolution investment firm — and its $150 million “Rise of the Rest” seed fund, devoted to supporting companies outside of the big three tech epicenters of San Francisco, New York and Boston.
After two visits in 2016 and 2018 as part of the “Rise of the Rest” bus tour stops across the country, Case’s third time to the city within the last two years was more brief, but probably just as poignant. He was the top draw for the Louisville Entrepreneurial Summit on Thursday at the University of Louisville.
Inside the Angel’s Envy Bourbon Club on the third floor of Cardinal Stadium, close to 300 attendees listened to the main entree of the event: a fireside chat between Case and Jonathan Webb, the founder and CEO of Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest, moderated by Monique Quarterman, the executive director of KY Innovation.
The event was the result of a joint effort between the university and Chuck Denny, the former regional president of PNC Bank who also is a long-time supporter of the school and an alumni ambassador. Denny had been instrumental in getting Case to Louisville the first two times.
Moments after the chat, I had the chance to speak with Case in an exclusive interview before signing copies of his latest book, “The Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places are Building the New American Dream,” in which he chronicles this travels to 29 American cities — Louisville included, with a mention of Denny — as well as the founders of 43 companies, including Webb and AppHarvest, one of the finalists for our inaugural Fire Awards.
"It is basically a love letter both to the venture capital community, and to the cities that we live in … and [the] beautiful ideas and founders who are willing to do whatever it takes to realize a great economic development that is reflective of their neighborhoods,” Quarterman would later tell me, when summarizing the book, which was released in late September.
Making the case for Louisville
As Case told me, Louisville was not initially on the list of cities on the tour of 2016 on the wings of the first book: “Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future.” That changed, though, after Denny led an effort to successfully grab their collective attention.
After “Rise of the Rest” had been to 40 cities, they conducted a “Bring Back the Bus” tour contest to see what city could mobilize the quickest. With Denny at the helm, Louisville won in a landslide.
Case recalled Denny’s smile — both to the crowd and in the book — when he got off the bus in 2018.
“[He had] just an enthusiasm … and a passion around starting to build a stronger community,” Case told me.
And how did Louisville look during his third stop?
"I think the momentum since I have been here last has been impressive to see,” he said. “There's a lot of work to be done, obviously.”
Case said, though, that he was impressed with the turnout both at a breakfast he attended that morning with a few dozen local business leaders at the Louisville Automation and Robotics Research Institute (LARRI) on the UofL campus and at the summit.
“My sense is that in the last four years there has been more focus and intentionality around the role new companies play ... and I think the university has been a key part of that,” said Case, wearing the iconic UofL Cardinals head logo on the lapel of his blazer.
He mentioned the work of Tammy York Day in particular. She’s the president and CEO of the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council. He commended the council’s “really smart model” of having young health care startups form partnerships with larger, established health care companies before they grow in scale.
“Having those companies say: ‘We're going to work together to identify promising startups in the health sector, invest in them — and also then be their customers, I think is super interesting,” he told me.
Although Case has always been known as one of the country’s — maybe one of the world’s — preeminent visionaries, even he could not have predicted the Covid-19 pandemic. He told those gathered during the chat with Webb and Quarterman that the pandemic was an “accelerant” to his “Rise of the Rest” movement — as the ability to work remotely from anywhere has been able to lessen the impacts of finding the talent needed to propel startups in certain communities.
“How do you slow the brain drain of people leaving for places and create a boomerang of people returning? That was starting to happen pre-pandemic, but it was definitely accelerated [after Covid],” It was sort of a welcome development in a difficult period.”
Steve Case's impact on startups and Kentucky
To date, Revolution as a firm has backed more than 200 companies in 100 cities in three funds: seed stage (Rise of the Rest), early stage and later stage.
In February of 2018, Rise of the Rest invested $150,000 to Webb and AppHarvest during its seed round. During the fireside chat, both Case and Webb recalled their initial meeting.
“We didn’t find Jonathan. Jonathan found us,” Case told the crowd.
He recalled how a persistent Webb, with binders of data in tow, eventually found a meeting with him. He remembered how they discussed all of the ag technology innovation that was going on in Europe — and how Webb told him how he wanted to implement that technology, which would use 90% less water in growing crops, into his home state.
“We basically thought he was so compelling in terms of what he was trying to do, and the impact he wanted to have … rethinking food and sort of moving to more of an industrial food approach,” said Case, who also mentioned how Webb cared deeply about creating jobs and opportunity in Eastern Kentucky.
Webb told the audience that after raising a total of $250,000 in that initial seed round in 2018, AppHarvest has gone on to raise almost $1 billion, in debt and equity, while building 8 million square feet of facilities (mostly greenhouse space) and employing approximately 600 people — as his company looks to create innovative, food solutions to feed the masses. In 2021, it became the first Rise of the Rest portfolio to be publicly traded (on Nasdaq) — and the 20th publicly traded company in Kentucky.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Webb said. “We have a lot of challenges to overcome, but if I look at what this team has been able to accomplish, largely due to the catalytic capital that [Rise of the Rest] provided, I hope it's a bit of a motivation to other entrepreneurs. ... Be dogged, and dream big.
“We have unrelenting problems in this world that seem daunting ... just go build something to solve [them].”
A big agtech opportunity in Kentucky
Webb went on to share his own vision: That Kentucky and the surrounding region would be “bigger than agtech in 20 or 30 years,” boosted by, in part, employees of his company who will break away to turn those looming problems into profitable opportunities. He happily reported such a recent defection.
“This region is going to lead in all planet tech,” Webb said. “And we're going to see employees leaving this company that were a part of the founding, take the lessons we've learned to figure out how to accelerate and build big fast.
“And that's exciting... watching that play out and watching this room being inspired by the people in this room. It's very energizing to see this happen in a place we all love."
Just like when he started AOL, Case remembers the looks of those of who doubted him or thought he was crazy or dumb — in spite of amassing a net worth of approximately $1.4 billion, according to Forbes — for wanting to start the “Rise of the Rest” seed fund. Yet in those 100 cities that ROTR has invested in, close to 1,400 venture firms have been established within the last 10 years, he said.
“It's almost like déjà vu all over again,” Case said. “But the same feeling I had those early days of the Internet, when most people didn't believe in the idea, I knew it was going to happen.”
And where will Louisville be in terms of entrepreneurial ecosystem when the equilibrium of innovation finally returns to the country?
"The rest will rise. I do not know whether Louisville will be in the top five, top 10, top 25, top 50. I don’t know,” Case said. “It has everything to do with what the people in this room, and other rooms, do in the next 10 years.”
