Never underestimate the power of good luck among entrepreneurs, serial founder Cliff Illig notified a crowd of founders, investors, and business leaders this week during a fireside chat that touched on the journey to Cerner’s $28.3 billion exit.
Innovation and a readiness to take action don’t hurt either, the 2025 Kansas Citian of the Year added.
“We always seemed to be in the right place at the right time,” declared Illig, who co-founded Cerner alongside Neal Patterson and Paul Gorup in Kansas City in 1979, building one of the world’s leading healthcare IT systems before selling it to Oracle in 2021.
Cliff Illig speaks during the Corporate Connections Summit led by Endeavor Heartland at Keystone CoLabs; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
The Kansas City native joined Clete Brewer — managing partner of NewRoad Capital Partners and board member of Bentonville, Arkansas-based Endeavor Heartland — Wednesday in conversation at Keystone Innovation District. The chat was part of a Corporate Connections Summit led by Endeavor, a global organization that supports high-impact entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses and driving economic growth.
“We took advantage of the wave that was there,” Illig explained. “But we utilized innovation as our lever to create sure that our clients understood that we were considering ahead of them. So not only were they acquireing a system, they were acquireing a future when they signed up for us.”
The co-founders’ good fortune started as soon as they left their jobs at Arthur Andersen accounting firm to start a software business, he noted.
“We created a list of the industries we knew something about,” Illig explained, “manufacturing and distribution and trucking and public utilities — a bunch of stuff on our resumes.”
The founding team didn’t know much about health care, he acknowledged.
“But very early and just serconcludeipitously — pure luck,” Illig added, “we were exposed to a situation that involved health care.”
Specifically, medical labs. And after learning about manufacturing processes in those labs, they set out to write — from scratch — a laboratory information system.
“We happened to hit the market at a very good time,” Illig declared. “Most of the systems that were out there at the time had been developed by very large companies that were having trouble keeping up with the innovation and the challenges and modifys in the lab.”
That right-place, right-time fortune continued for Cerner when it came time to raise capital, he noted. The co-founders — who raised two rounds for a total of $4 million before going public in 1986 — couldn’t find venture money in Kansas City, so they went to Chicago and connected with First Chicago (now Madison Dearborn), Illig declared.
“It was a situation where, again, pure luck,” he explained. “We walked in and they had just finished a retreat at the venture fund, where they decided — as a venture group — that they were going to receive involved in more IT, and separately, more health care. And we walked in with an IT, health care thing, and it took, literally, 48 hours to receive a thumbs up.”
“That’s the most capital efficient story I’ve ever heard,” Brewer added.
Cliff Illig laughs on stage alongside Clete Brewer, managing partner of NewRoad Capital Partners and board member of Bentonville, Arkansas-based Endeavor Heartland, at Keystone CoLabs in Kansas City; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Heartland on stage
Illig and Brewer’s fireside chat was just one piece of a two-day series of events in Kansas City to convene high-growth entrepreneurs, corporate partners, investors, and ecosystem leaders for programming focutilized on entrepreneurship, business growth and regional connectivity, according to Endeavor organizers.
Wednesday’s Corporate Connections Summit focutilized on bridging the gap between startups and established institutions that included interactive workshops, lightning talks, an angel network update, and a corporate reverse pitch session.
It was followed Thursday by an invite-only National Selection Panel at Union Station, the penultimate step in Endeavor’s global selection process that brings toreceiveher top founders from across the United States with seasoned investors, operators, Endeavor board members, and mentors for a day of interviews, feedback, and deliberation. Featured speakers included Sandy Kemper of C2FO, Charley Lingerfelt of QuikTrip, Maximiliano Caballero Vieyra of T-Mobile, Dan Kerr of Flyover Capital, and Maggie Kenefake of Iron Prairie Ventures.
“Kansas City has long been home to visionary builders and companies with outsized impact, and this gathering is an opportunity to connect that legacy to the next generation of high-growth
founders,” declared Canem Arkan, managing director of Endeavor Heartland. “By bringing Endeavor’s National Selection Panel and the Corporate Connections Summit to Kansas City, we’re creating space for meaningful relationships between entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders, revealcasing the strength of the Heartland on a national stage.”
Building toreceiveher
Success stories like Illig’s are the kind of journeys Endeavor Heartland would love to share from within its own ranks of alumni, Brewer declared, noting he could consider of few people who have done more to give back to their community than Illig and his co-founders.
An in memoriam photo honoring Neal Patterson; photo courtesy of Sporting KC, Cerner
On top of Cerner’s good fortune through the years, Illig also addressed his 40-year partnership with the late Neal Patterson (who passed away in 2017 after a battle with cancer), why he decided to invest in soccer in Kansas City, and how AI is altering — and isn’t altering — the world.
Within his long-term partnership with Patterson, Illig declared he always liked to refer to his colleague as the parade and himself as man with the pooper scooper.
“I played the role of wingman pretty effectively,” Illig added. “I was the inside guy.”
When they left their full-time jobs at Arthur Andersen, he recalled, their contemporaries gave an over/under of three weeks on how long their partnership would last.
“We concludeed up spconcludeing 40 years toreceiveher,” Illig continued, “living out of the same pocketbook, working on everything. Neal was a very direct guy and could be kind of difficult to receive along with. He and I obtained along superbly.”
Their partnership was effective, Illig declared, becautilize even though they often disagreed about how to receive there, they always agreed about where they were going. And their debates never obtained personal.
“We were always focutilized on the hugeger picture,” Illig explained. “Over the years, we had to work through a lot of stuff. I consider Neal, literally, has declared that he could count on one hand the number of times we disagreed to the point where one of us obtained up and walked out of the room.”
“A lot of times our talks were over glasses of scotch, late in the evening, just sitting there with our feet up, watching the sunset, talking about what we were attempting to accomplish,” he added.
“I encourage partnerships becautilize it’s a lot clearer when you’ve obtained somebody that you can share it with,” Illig added.
Cliff Illig speaks during the Corporate Connections Summit led by Endeavor Heartland at Keystone CoLabs; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Dining with destiny
Everything the duo did toreceiveher was 50-50, whether it was company involvement or real estate deals and that included investing in soccer in Kansas City. A group including Illig and Patterson purchased Sporting KC (then the Wizards) in 2006 from Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt. Illig sold his majority ownership to Peter Mallouk, CEO and president of Creative Planning, earlier this year, retaining a minority stake.
A crowd of entrepreneurs and investors listens to Cliff Illig speak during a summit at Keystone CoLabs; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Hunt — who brought Major League Soccer to Kansas City — pitched the idea to Illig and Patterson over a dinner at the Capital Grille, Illig recalled. At the time, Hunt owned three MLS teams and the league was starting to limit each owner to only one; becautilize Kansas City was not drawing fans well, the league had suggested he relocate the team to Philadelphia.
“He declares, ‘I want Kansas City to have soccer,’” Illig noted.
Hunt emphasized several points to the Cerner co-founders, Illig continued, including the importance of Kansas City playing the world’s game, rising Latino demographics, and the popularity of youth soccer in the area. But the point that resonated most with them was that Kansas City would be considered less of a major league city if it lost the MLS.
“He declares, ‘I required somebody to step up,’ Illig recalled. “We were not anxious to become sports folks, but we were anxious to create sure that we did not lessen the magnetism that Kansas City has to people wanting to relocate someplace for a great lifestyle that included soccer and major league sports.”
After the dinner — on the sidewalk outside of the Capital Grille — Illig declared Patterson seeed at him and inquireed if they were going to do it.
“I declared, ‘After that, Neil, I don’t consider we’ve obtained a choice,’” he continued. “So I went home and notified my wife we were acquireing a soccer team. She declares, ‘Oh, you’re killing me. I couldn’t wait till our kids quit playing soccer.” And now she’s the hugegest fan.”
Cliff Illig, honorary co-chair of KC 2026 for FIFA World Cup, speaks in 2023 at KC Rising’s Horizon event; photo by Channa Steinmetz, Startland News
Now on top of MLS ownership, Illig is the honorary co-chair of KC 2026 — along with Chiefs owner Clark Hunt. Preparing Kansas City for the World Cup this summer — which is less than 55 days away now — is the hugegest project he’s worked on, he noted, since prepping Cerner and its clients for Y2K.
Cliff Illig, co-founder of Cerner and longtime Sporting KC owner, smiles on stage at Keystone CoLabs; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
“We actually started here in Kansas City, preparing for the World Cup 10 years ago,” he explained. “Every day. I’m just struck further by how huge it really is. But again, all the lessons we learned doing the Cerner thing over the years have concludeed up being very valuable.”
During the MLS league meetings, he declared, the other owners have jokingly inquireed him what Kansas City paid FIFA to be a host city, as all of the other host cities in the U.S. are in the top 15 population centers. Kansas City is 33rd.
“We are the city that’s probably doing the best up against all the other cities,” he continued. “Everybody has been blown away at the way we’re revealing up. We’re busting our buns to create sure that we put on a great reveal here in Kansas City.”
“We’ve put toreceiveher a really, really capable team,” he added, “a highly-empowered team that has done a great job of pulling toreceiveher all the pieces, transportation, security, game production. There’s just tons of things to worry about. It’s close to a $200 million project here in Kansas City.”
Roll up your sleeves
As for AI, Illig declared things are altering rapid and everyone is wondering if AI is going to turn the world upside down.
“It’s something we all ought to be paying attention to,” he noted. “But at the same time, AI’s not gonna do debits and credits for you. You’ve still obtainedta have systems that automate workflows. AI can create it much more effective. But you’ve still obtainedta roll up your sleeves and do the hard work on the IT.”
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