Forbes Under 30: Machine Gun Kelly closes summit with townhall and party

Posted by: Laura DeMarco, Photos by Michael Collier on Wednesday, October 11, 2023

The gathering of America’s top young innovators attracted 6,000 attendees

Cleveland’s own Machine Gun Kelly wrapped up the 2023 Forbes Under 30 Summit with a standing-room-only townhall at Public Hall — titled “A Playbook To Building An Empire” — followed by a party at the Rock Hall.

MGK’s love for his hometown was evident throughout the townhall.

Forbes senior Under 30 editor Kristin Stoller began by asking the international star a business question: “Why open your coffee shop in Cleveland?”

“I needed a foundation that will be indestructible, and this city is my rock,” said the artist. “Anything I build here has support that isn’t going to break.”

MGK gave some hints as to what’s next for his empire, including a record label and 27 Club coffee shop expansion. He said he’d love to open locations in Tokyo and the Midwest.

His talk even included a smoothly dealt with encounter with an apparently over eager fan who jumped on stage, transforming the experience into a business lesson.

“Let that be a lesson to pick the right time and place,” he told the applauding crowd.

Earlier in the day, Gen-Z A-listers on stage included Columbus-born comedian Matt Rife, who spoke on his meteoric rise to fame in talk titled “Stand-Up To Stand Out: A Comedian’s Tips On How To Go Viral.”

In addition to giving a shout out to his favorite comedian, Ohio’s Dave Chapelle, Rife gave some sage advice to the entrepreneurs in attendance: “The era of gatekeepers is ending,” he said. “You have the power.”

Creators Alixe Earle and Druski also drew a rapt crowd for their talk on “Under The Influence: Cashing In On The Creator Craze.” Between the two of them, they have 21 million social followers.

The Cleveland event was the first of three Forbes Summits that will hit Ohio. Cincinnati and Columbus will host it the next two years, in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

“Cleveland and Ohio have been outstanding hosts for one of the largest-ever Forbes events in history, and the excitement has been felt across Northeast Ohio with thousands of the best and brightest rising professionals coming to see all our state has to offer,” said JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef. JobsOhio was the title sponsor.

“In the battle to attract and retain jobs, Ohio continues to be the heart of it all, and with 96.6% of Ohioans in the workforce already employed, what our economy needs to grow is people! We introduced our state to thousands of young people in that talent group this week in hosting this summit.”

One of those young people was Sixto Cancel, Founder and CEO of Think of Us, a research and design lab for foster care based in Washington, D.C. A 2017 Forbes lister, Cancel has attended several summits since then.

“The big benefit is it gets you out of your work life to be inspired,” he said. “It’s like fast-track coaching with an executive coach.”

Summit attendees were also invited to get out and explore the Land on Tuesday, with tours of everything from Market Garden Brewery to Sherwin-Williams, Black-owned restaurants and the Cleveland Clinic quantum computer (pictured below; Photo by Rustin McCann/Destination Cleveland).

Following the end of the business summit, the crow moved from Public Hall to the Rock Hall for a party hosted by MGK – who was briefly joined on stage by Cleveland Mayor Bibb.