Culture & Jobs at Finite State

Columbus, Ohio, is a booming, cosmopolitan city attracting employers and top talent from all over the country. 

The Midwest is a growing hub for cybersecurity companies. With major startup successes like Duo Security and well established companies like Batelle located in the region, it’s been fertile ground for a variety of cybersecurity startups. 

Americans are leaving their jobs in record numbers to search for something better. So when it comes to the best places to work in 2022, what does that look like?

The Midwest had a banner year in startup funding, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic continuing through 2021.

The list is out for 2023 — check out the Top Startups in Columbus, Ohio to Watch in 2023   It’s hard to even stay current on all the great things startups are doing around Columbus. 

You don't have to be technical to work at a tech company. While top startups seem to always have open jobs for engineers, there are tons of great roles open to non-technical candidates, too. 

Columbus is a quickly emerging tech hub for healthtech and insurtech startups. Many boomerangs are returning to the Midwest, especially to Columbus, to find great tech jobs. 

On October 12th, our Purpose Jobs crew teamed up with OhioX, One Columbus, Drive Capital, TechLife Columbus, Pride Fund 1 and Ohio Impact Fund to virtually host the State of the Columbus Startup Community. And it was an incredible afternoon! 

This post has been updated include updated links and resources. The State of the Columbus Startup Community brought together top Columbus tech leaders to share the secrets behind this rapidly growing startup community and showcase amazing job opportunities.We heard from Mark Kvamme (co-founder of Drive Capital), Kristy Campbell (COO of Rev1 Ventures), Catherine Allshouse (CIO of Veeva Systems), Densil Porteous (CEO of Pride Fund 1), Tim Trad (Creative Director at Path Robotics and founder and CEO of

It's no secret that software engineers are in high demand. There are plenty of open software engineering jobs, but if you're looking for a new gig, it can be overwhelming to see all the companies hiring software engineers. 

In the Midwest, boomerangs are returning to the region to start companies, live sustainably, and find meaning in their work. Startup and tech companies are rapidly hiring for open tech jobs. VC firms are taking notice and investing heavily in middle of the country states. Startup communities across the Midwest are exploding — especially in Columbus.

Over the past year, some of the biggest cyber attacks have been supply chain compromises, a type of cyber attack that targets software vendors or third-party and open source in order to gain access to organizations who purchase the final software products or devices. The Kaseya and SolarWinds attacks are textbook examples. Threats like these are becoming more and more common and can seriously disrupt thousands of businesses at once. 

High school sports may not be the first industry that comes to mind when talking about technology advancement, but that’s exactly where one Columbus firm is finding a product-market fit. 

River Financial, a San Francisco-based company that lets people incorporate Bitcoin into their broader investment portfolios, has selected Columbus for its global operations center.

In April, four million people (equivalent to 2.7% of the American workforce) quit their jobs—a record high since 2000. Now, as 41% of workers worldwide are considering leaving their jobs, experts are dubbing this era the “Great Resignation”. There are various factors that go into this trend, but with a record number of jobs opening in the US, workers are much less hesitant about leaving their current jobs for greener pastures.Employee disengagement is always costly, but with employees now actively looking

A place that was once known as Test City, USA, due to its close resemblance to the overall population and preferences of our country as a whole, is now the 14th largest city in the US and growing. Many people know Columbus, Ohio, as the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes or as the capital of a state that produced 8 US presidents. However, some things that the general population may not know is that Columbus is within 500 miles of 50% of the US population, was home to the first woman to fly around the world,

People are rethinking where they live, how they work, and what they do with their time. The New York Times calls it the new YOLO Economy. Perhaps the term "YOLO" is a little too casual for what's going on here.

Field notes about the Columbus startup ecosystem from a student, founder, and community organizer. I noticed a pattern when I first moved to Columbus: most of the people I met weren’t from Columbus. They were from Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, New York, California, and nearly everywhere else. And wherever they came from, they were here to stay.

Are you looking for a healthy work environment with a job that offers mental health benefits? As the mental health crisis continues to worsen and companies continue to work remotely, startups are rethinking their benefits—free snacks and Ping Pong just aren’t cutting it in a remote world.

Supply chain security has become an increasingly important topic in the tech industry, and Finite State is at the forefront of it. 

Companies everywhere are hiring for remote jobs.

On April 13th, we hosted the Midwest Startup & Tech Virtual Career Fair: Best Places To Work. We had tons of companies join and hundreds of jobs seekers. But if you missed the event and are looking for a job in tech—whether that’s in software engineering, marketing, people, product, sales, or other—don't worry. You can still apply to jobs at these amazing companies.

The list is out for 2022! Check out the Top Columbus Startup and Tech Companies to Watch in 2022   Columbus is one of the best cities for tech jobs, and 2020 proved that. This Midwest city was in some major headlines last year for startup jobs, startup funding, tech IPOs, and rapid growth. 

2020 certainly was a challenging year for startups across the board. And fundraising, though it fared better than many thought it would, was still no exception. 

For the most up-to-date list of the best Columbus startups, check out the Top Columbus Startup and Tech Companies to Watch in 2022 The researchers have spoken—Columbus is the 9th best city to launch your career (and no, we’re not surprised that the top 9 cities are all in the Midwest). 

Columbus is a hotbed for fast-growing startups and tech companies. We featured a few of them on our list of the top startups in the Midwest, but there are lots of companies in Columbus that are growing, hiring, and still getting funded. Back in March, Olive raised $51 million, and Finite State just announced they raised $12.5 million. 

The Midwest is a cybersecurity powerhouse. From ForAllSecure in Pittsburg to Duo and Blumira in Ann Arbor, the Midwest is showing its cybersecurity strength—and investors are taking notice.