Meet the 15 founders who will take the Big Omaha stage May 9-10

Turning former inmates into entrepreneurs, creating an online social space for dogs, growing mushrooms in a kitchen and taking an email inbox to zero are just a few of the tasks performed by the companies of our Big Omaha 2013 speakers. To help you get to know the speakers better we’ve rounded up their bios,…

Blogging pioneer Anil Dash will speak at Big Omaha on May 9.

Turning former inmates into entrepreneurs, creating an online social space for dogs, growing mushrooms in a kitchen and taking an email inbox to zero are just a few of the tasks performed by the companies of our Big Omaha 2013 speakers. To help you get to know the speakers better we’ve rounded up their bios, compiled recent media and linked to their Twitter handles and company websites. (Listed in order of appearance.)

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Antonio Neves, THINQACTION

@theantonioneves

The man with the mic returns. Antonio Neves will be our Big Omaha 2013 emcee, guiding us through our conference program with the energy, enthusiasm and effervescent shoulder shakes to keep the momentum going from one keynote speaker to the next. In the past year, Neves has connected with our Omaha and Des Moines conference communities after fully immersing himself in the experience. Ever since, he has become a mentor to many and friend to all.

More on Neves

• Neves shared the best advice he ever received – Inc. Magazine

• Neves revealed three tips for startups to land press – Young Entrepreneur

Tony Conrad, About.me

@tonysphere

Just four days after publicly launching his startup About.me in 2010, Tony Conrad and his co-founder sold it to AOL. But earlier this year, the two spun About.me out of AOL and are now working to make it the “web’s starting point for identity.” In addition to founding startups, his other is Sphere, Conrad’s a part of True Ventures, leading investments in such companies as WordPress, Blue Bottle Coffee, MakerBot and Typekit.

More on Conrad

• After selling About.me to AOL in 2010, Conrad and his business partner bought back the company earlier this year – New York Times

• About.me released mobile version of site in 2012 added “around me” and “random” features – New York Times

Megan Casey, Pack

@megancasey

Squidoo fans will know Megan Casey as the co-founder of the massive online publishing platform—it’s one of the top 40 most visited websites in the U.S.—with notable author Seth GodinNow after joining forces with Big Omaha’s creative art installation powerhouse What Cheer, Casey is taking the power of the lovable pooch and creating an online community for dog lovers called Pack.

More on Casey

• In a personal video, Casey recapped her life since she started squidoo and announced plans to leave and start Pack – Megan Casey on YouTube

• Casey blogged about her newest adventure, why she started it and who’s involved – Pack

Peter Hudson, M.D., iTriage

@peterhudsonmd

Focused on creating efficiencies within the healthcare delivery system and empowering consumers with technology, Dr. Peter Hudson has made a name for himself in the entrepreneurial healthcare space. Last year, he made the CNN Money’s list of “12 Entrepreneurs Reinventing Healthcare.” He also has four exits, three of those to public companies, to his name.

More on Dr. Hudson

• iTriage is now connected to Athenahealth so you can access your doctors directly from the app – The Boston Globe

• Dr. Hudson was invited to be the First Lady’s guest of honor at the President’s State of the Union Address – Denver Business Journal

Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora, Back to the Roots

@VelezAlejandro and @NikhilArora

From what started as a sustainablity project in college to full-fledged waste-to-wages and waste-to-food model company, Back to the Roots co-founders Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora are growing back the food industry one gourment mushroom at a time. The grow-at-home products company has been making waves for its unique urban farming concept and has received press accolades on NBC’s Today ShowHSN and the White House blog for its Mushroom Kits.

More on Velez and Arora

Back to the Roots was featured on ABC’s The Chew, during which Arora showed how the Mushroom box is created – ABC The Chew

The story behind Back to the Roots and their growth thus far – Entrepreneur

Catherine Rohr, Defy Ventures Inc.

@defyventuresinc

Recently named one of five Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, Catherine Rohr represents a story and message of social entrepreneurship in our 2013 lineup. As the founder and CEO of Defy Ventures, she runs the NYC-based entrepreneurship program and incubator to help individuals with criminal histories make a constructive change in society.

More on Rohr

• Rohr named an Ashoka fellow, a network of high impact social entrepreneurs – Forbes

• Rohr talked about Defy and one of her successful graduates of the program – Forbes

Anil DashThinkUp

@anildash

Named a “blogging pioneer” for his early influential work on the Internet, Anil Dash represents not only a writer but also a seasoned entrepreneur and technologist. As the co-founder and director of Activate, he blends his knowledge and expertise to advise companies about the opportunities at the intersection of technology and media.

More on Dash

• Dash blogged about his talk to a Harvard class titled “How We Lost the Web” – Dashes

• Dash named to BetaBeat’s “2012 Tech Insurgents” list – BetaBeat

Ben Milne, Dwolla

@bpmilne

From Finovate to the Dublin Web Summit to SXSW, Ben Milne has graced stages far and wide to share the story, challenge and courage that goes into building Dwolla. At Silicon Prairie News, we’ve tracked the Des Moines startup from its beginnings in 2008 through its investment rounds and product development, and we are grateful to have had Milne as a friend and supporter of the Silicon Prairie.

More on Milne

• Forbes named Milne to its “12 Most Disruptive Names In Business” list – Forbes

• Dwolla partnered with the State of Iowa to provide Iowa taxpayers an innovative electronic payment option – Office of the Governer of Iowa

Marc EckōMarc Eckō Enterprises

@marcecko

As an active Big Omaha participant, mentor and friend of our conferences Marc Eckō understands the vibe of Big Omaha. As a 2011 speaker and 2012 attendee, he not only has veteran experience but he has also found a way to integrate himself into the conference community and connect with our attendees. As a result of the network of phenomenal individuals surrounding our event, Eckō has made investments in three Silicon Prairie startups since August.

More on Marc

• Eckō spoke on starting up Complex Magazine at Uncubed conference – NYC Uncubed

• In September, Eckō will release his first book, “Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out” – Eckō Unlimited

Dave McClure500 Startups

@davemcclure

As the founding partner of 500 StartupsDave McClure has helped the accelerator program specifically aid startups with design, data and distribution. With 30 investments so far in 2013, 500 Startups represents a fragment of the more than 100 investments made by McClure. With more than 20 years in Silicon Valley, we are looking forward to the wisdom he will share and we welcome him to our conference.

More on McClure

• McClure spoke on finding success through failure at Startup Grind – Startup Grind

• Thirty-two startups graduated at 500 Startups’ Demo Day event in February – TechCrunch

Cindy Gallop,& IfWeRanTheWorld and Make Love Not Porn

@cindygallop

Outspoken and possibly best known for her four-minute 2009 TED talk, Cindy Gallop has been dubbed an “advertising maven” with revolutionary new business models. Her work with IfWeRanTheWorld, is a culmination of taking the risk, finding a way and making it happen. This platform echos the ideas of Big Omaha, and with Gallop’s story, background and challenge to change mentality, her message will strongly identify with and inspire our audience.

More on Gallop

• Gallop discussed the future of starting a business and how she started IfWeRanTheWorld – How to Write a Business Plan

• Gallop’s Make Love Not Porn beta launch, which gathered 130,000 subscriptions, was featured on Mashable’s 39 unforgettable moments in tech startup history – Mashable

Noah KaganAppSumo

@noahkagan

Noah Kagan can be accredited as the man behind the Facebook status, the man behind the initial marketing plan of Mint and the man behind KickFlip (now Gambit), a payment company for social games with the number one app of its time. As the founder and chief sumo of AppSumo, “a medley burrito” of products, tips and sources for entrepreneurs, Kagan will join Big Omaha and provide guidance and advice for our crowd. 

More on Kagan

• Kagan spoke with Tim Ferriss on creating a $1 million business in a weekend – Four Hour Work Week

• Kagan talked about the six steps to a “lovegasam,” how to get customers that love your product – GrowHack

Tom SerresRally.org

@tomserres

Named to Forbes’ America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35Tom Serres comes to Big Omaha with a background in raising political awareness. Through Rally.org, he has created a new way to raise money for causes that matter through websites and online software used by fundraising campaigns. Last year, his company took to AngelList where the online funding platform helped his company close a $7.9 million Series A round, the largest round ever for the crowdfunding site.

More on Serres

• Last year, Serres rasised $7.9 million in seed funding for Rally.org – Wall Street Journal

• 27,000 peopled have started rallies on Rally.org, recording five-million donations to date: Bloomberg

Gentry UnderwoodMailbox

@gentry

Earlier this year, you may have found yourself on Gentry Underwood‘s 380,000-person waitlist for his inbox app, Mailbox. Or, perhaps you were in our audience for his Big Series conference appearance last year in Des Moines. When he joins us at Big Omaha, his story is a bit different. With his app’s expansive popularity and recent acquisition by Dropbox, he has more specifics to share.

More on Underwood

Underwood’s startup Orchestra launched Mailbox with a queue feature for new users – The Next Web

Dropbox acquired Mailbox, plans to grow it separately rather than integrate, for now – Forbes

Grab A Big Omaha ticket!

Thanks to KANEKO’s expansion this year, we still have seats available. General admission tickets are $599 and special entrepreneur/startup discounted tickets are $399.


Credits: Anil Dash photo by Scott Beale / Laughing SquidPhotos courtesy of respective speaker.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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