Entrepreneurs discuss ideas at the Nebraska Mobile event held May 24 at Scooters Coffeehouse in southeast Lincoln.
Brandon Dupsky doesn’t know much about programming, but as an ecommerce entrepreneur, he saw that Lincoln needed a space for app developers to get to know each other.
So he started Nebraska Mobile, a meetup group for local app creators to network and collaborate. On May 24, about 24 entrepreneurs, computer science students and local business owners from Lincoln, neighboring Crete and Omaha packed a Scooters Coffeehouse for the first meetup, Dupsky said in an email interview. Dupsky said the main reason most attended was to share ideas and collaborate on projects, but many also said they came because they wanted to keep up with the industry, get out of the office and give back to the community if possible.
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Nebraska Mobile will hold its next event tonight at 6 p.m. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Architecture Hall.
We asked Dupsky (left), owner of OnFair, Inc., more about why he decided to start a mobile app meetup group and what he hopes will come from it in the future.
Silicon Prairie News: What motivated you to start Nebraska Mobile?
Brandon Dupsky: I come from the ecommerce space and have many years experience managing and organizing groups for ecommerce professionals. Most ecommerce entrepreneurs work in their own silo and welcomed the chance to visit with other ecommerce entrepreneurs to talk shop, share ideas and overcome challenges together. As I talked with many friends who are app developers in Nebraska, I noticed a similar need in the app development space where most developers work in their own silo. The warm welcome of a new group from attendees at our first meeting confirms the need for such a group and the tremendous value of working together and sharing ideas.
SPN: What all do you hope to accomplish with the regular meetups?
BD: The funny thing is, I can’t program to save my life. I can’t develop an app and I have no desire to be an app developer. I’m simply an entrepreneur who saw a need and decided to build a solution. My goals are simple. 1) Offer local developers a vehicle to help them become more successful at what they do through the power of a network. 2) Build awareness of the technical talent in Nebraska to the rest of the world. It’s not about me but about the members and what they can and will develop together.
SPN: Has the group spurred any collaborations or new ideas thus far?
BD: During our first meeting, it was discussed that members should collaborate on projects where possible as well as pursue ambitious goals together. Many members agreed this is an interesting benefit of gathering together and so we plan to have one or more meetings each month focused on hands-on co-development where members sit side-by-side to work on the same project together. Our meetup on June 13th will be our first co-development meetup. It will be interesting to see where this leads.
To register for this event, visit the Nebraska Mobile Meetup page.
Credits: Meetup photo courtesy of Brandon Dupsky. Dupsky headshot from Facebook.com.
