During the past half-decade, Edward Domain’s life has changed, dramatically and often. In 2012, he moved to St. Louis after winning an Arch Grant. In 2013, he was involved in a near-fatal taxi accident, one that saw eventually lock horns in a very public battle with the St. Louis Metro Taxi Commission. Large chunks of 2014 and 2015 involved his recovery from the accident, with his entrepreneurial spirit truly re-engaged during that latter year, despite working through host of surgeries (which still continue).
Along the way, he founded Techli.com, described on-site like so: “Techli delivers innovation news and in-depth editorial on the technology, businesses and ideas that are changing the way we live, work, and play. We know cutting edge technologies and vanguard businesses are emerging around the world, not just in Silicon Valley. Techli covers technology and innovation news wherever it happens, whenever it happens.”
He also began webcasting, with a show that drew the interest of the Nine Network of Public Media. The show’s described as “a series about start-up companies and entrepreneurs. In each episode, he will explore St. Louis’ thriving entrepreneur landscape and talk with innovative people and companies that influence how the community works, lives and plays.”
Produced and finally visible to the public in September of 2015, the Domain Tech Report, he says, “has been going really well.” As a true producer of the program, Domain sets up the interviews, puts together a small crew and works on “the economics of scale. So we’ll set up four, or five, interviews for one day. Go to a business one day for a longer story, then another day you shoot some panellists, back-to-back. From all that, we can stitch together a show.” (Find a clip at the end of this post.)
While he mentions working on a deeper, more-lasting sponsorship package for the show, he’s also “trying to figure out what’s next for me. I am planning a change in the business, to be more like Vice and cover more newsworthy subjects. I’m getting a group of people together around that. And I’m looking at a couple of other opportunities.”
Having been involved in a corporate life, especially in sales, the Cherokee neighborhood resident says that he enjoys the life he’s creating now, immersed as he is in the local startup scene.
“There’s a scrappy, startup mentality that I love,” he says. “I was corporate for a long time and hated my life. Eventually I got off that track and went into entrepreneurship. I made more money in corporate, but I’m much happier charting my own course.”
While he says he’s “bullish” on the startup community in St. Louis, he’s got some very pointed criticism of St. Louis political culture and he’s happy to share some of those ideas with any that cross his path in the halls of Nebula, where he maintains a regular (well, irregular) presence.
“I’m a floater,” he suggests, “because what I do, I do all over the City and the County.
“At Nebula,” he continues, “you take in the whole neighborhood. All the countercultures, the creatives, entrepreneurs, musicians. We all congregate and support each other.”
