by Dr. James Stapleton, Co-founder and CEO, Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation

The Question I Didn't Want to Ask

About a year ago, I had to look in the mirror and ask a question I didn't want to ask: Is Codefi good, or is it great?

We'd done real work. A decade of it. More than 60 startups supported. More than 600 people trained in tech skills. Over $60 million in follow-on capital raised by startups in our programs. More than $100 million in total economic impact across Missouri. Partnerships spanning 47 counties and growing. We had every reason to be proud.

But pride can be dangerous. It can make you protect what you've built instead of building what's needed.

So I asked the harder question: Are we ready for what's next?

The honest answer was no.

Getting the Right People in the Right Seats

There's a classic business book called Good to Great by Jim Collins. One of his core principles is "First Who, Then What." Before you figure out strategy, you have to get the right people in the right seats.

Over the past year, we made difficult decisions. We said goodbye to people who helped build Codefi—good people—but who weren't the right fit for where we're going. That's not a criticism of them. It's a recognition of what this next chapter demands.

And it started with me. I had to set aside my ego and admit that what got us here wasn't going to get us there.

Last May, I wrote about navigating our next chapter—the leadership transition, the new team, and the strategic direction taking shape. What I'm sharing today is the result of that work.

The Flywheel

Collins talks about something called the flywheel effect. Greatness doesn't happen in one dramatic moment. It happens through consistent, disciplined effort—pushing in the same direction, day after day, until momentum builds and the thing starts turning on its own.

For ten years, we've been pushing that flywheel in rural Missouri. Building programs. Training people. Supporting startups. Showing up in places where nobody else would go. Towns of several thousand. Counties with almost no broadband. Communities that the traditional tech economy wrote off.

We didn't do it for the headlines. We did it because those places—and those people—deserve the same shot at the digital economy as anyone in San Francisco or Austin.

And now? The flywheel is turning.

What People Miss About Codefi

Here's what I want people to understand about this organization.

We've never been followers. Ten years ago, we were one of the first to bring real tech startup support to rural America—not a watered-down version, the real thing. We built programs that could compete with anything in a major metro. And we proved they worked.

Now we're doing it again.

Codefi is Missouri's first AI-native startup studio and workforce development provider. Our programs don't just mention AI—they're built on it. We've redesigned how founders validate ideas, how developers learn to build, and how communities access opportunity.

That's always been our pattern: we see what's next, we build for it, and we bring it to places others ignore.

What We've Built

Today we're announcing a comprehensive relaunch of Codefi around five interconnected programs, each built from the ground up with AI-native methods and tools.

AI Skills—Hands-on training across three tracks. Prompt to Product is our flagship 10-week program that takes founders from idea to working application—no coding experience required. AI Masterclass and Rapid AI Development are built for existing developers who want to ship faster using vibe coding, AI agents, and context engineering.

Startup Studio—Powered by our proprietary Traction Studio AI platform, this is our AI-guided path from initial idea through validation to investor readiness. The platform pairs AI-powered intelligence with proven startup methodology and human expert support. Founders don't guess — they validate systematically and build traction before they build product.

Dev Studio—Software development services for startups and organizations. For founders: prototypes, MVPs, and scalable platforms. For organizations: custom AI agents, workflow automation, and enterprise tools. All built using AI-native methods with accelerated turnaround.

Builders Lab—Our organizational transformation program. Teams move from initial AI exposure through hands-on building to real products and solutions. At the center of Builders Lab is the vibeathon—a collaborative build event where participants use vibe coding and AI tools to create working prototypes. We hosted Missouri's first vibeathon in Joplin last fall, where 47 participants built 31 working healthcare solutions in a single weekend.

Missouri Ecosystem—The connective tissue. This includes vibeathon events across the state, industry-specific startup studios in healthcare, agriculture technology, and advanced manufacturing, and regional partnerships designed to strengthen Missouri's innovation economy from the ground up.

Going Statewide: Rural's Victory Lap

For the first time, all Codefi programs are available to every community in Missouri. Kansas City. St. Louis. Columbia. Springfield. And every small town and rural county where we started.

I want to be direct about this: we are not walking away from rural. This is rural's victory lap.

Rural Missouri was our proving ground. If we could build world-class programs in a town of two thousand with limited resources and no existing tech ecosystem, we could build them anywhere. A developer in Poplar Bluff needs connections to opportunities in St. Louis. An entrepreneur in Joplin needs a network that reaches Kansas City. The digital economy doesn't care about our old boundaries—so neither can we.

For Missourians, we're committed to offering our programs at the lowest possible cost, with free and reduced-cost access available through grant funding. That's the commitment.

Beyond Missouri

Something else happened this year that we didn't plan.

Organizations outside Missouri started calling. Other states. Universities. Economic development groups facing the same challenges we've been solving for a decade. They didn't find us because we were marketing to them. They found us because the work spoke for itself.

So we're expanding—carefully, strategically—bringing what we built in rural Missouri to builders and communities across the country that need it.

Here's why that matters: the more our programs earn their way nationally, the more sustainable we become, and the more we can protect what's affordable and accessible here at home. We're not chasing growth. We're letting the flywheel do what flywheels do.

The Hedgehog

Collins has another concept I keep coming back to: the Hedgehog. It's the intersection of three things—what you're deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at, and what drives your economic engine.

After ten years, our Hedgehog is clearer than ever.

Passion? People and places that others overlook. That hasn't changed. That will never change.

What we're best at? Program innovation. Building world-class services for markets everyone else ignores—and doing it before anyone else sees the opportunity.

Economic engine? This is where we've evolved the most. We've built a model that earns its way, so we don't have to depend on the grant cycle to survive. So we can keep our programs accessible for Missourians. So we're not one budget cut away from closing our doors.

That's not selling out. That's growing up.

What's Next

A year ago, I asked if Codefi was good or great. I still don't know the answer.

But I know we're finally asking the right questions. And now we're built to see it through.

“What the Codefi team has built over the past decade is remarkable, and the progress made in the past year represents a meaningful shift,” said Chris Dittmer, Vice Chairperson of Codefi Foundation’s Board of Directors. “Rather than layering AI onto existing programs, the organization restructured its approach to integrate it at the core. The board is confident this strengthens Codefi’s ability to deliver workforce development and startup support in Missouri—especially for rural Missourians—while extending its impact and partnerships beyond the state.”

We're not asking for applause. We're asking for partners. People who believe that where you're from shouldn't determine where you can go.

The flywheel is turning. Come push with us.

Get Started

Founders: Start validating your idea with Traction Studio AI
Developers and career changers: Explore AI Skills training
Organizations and communities: Learn about Builders Lab
Partners outside Missouri: Contact us
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