Omaha By now, Big Omaha attendees have been in and out of their seat several dozen times, and some may be wondering: what gives with giving each speaker a standing ovation before they begin? Credit David Hauser of Grasshopper, who started the tradition when he spoke at the second Big Omaha in 2010. "I remember sitting there next to the tech table, with my mic on, going over my notes and … read more

Omaha These days, Diana Kander has babies on the brain. And quite understandably so—the senior fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is six months pregnant. So naturally when she took the stage at Big Omaha on Friday morning, Kander spoke about how “toddlers and startups actually have an amazing amount of things in common.” Both require a name and people to take care of them and both need … read more

Omaha After he set the scene onstage with an armchair and a stiff drink, Marc Eckō this morning shared the ten rules of business he uncovered in The Notorious B.I.G.'s song, "Ten Crack Commandments". Never let no one know how much dough you hold. “In life, we use metrics,” Eckō said. “We will count everything. Quit counting.” Stop seeking validation that can only be found in finite. … read more

Omaha Every year since he was in sixth grade, Antonio Neves has received a nutcracker for Christmas from his mom—a reminder of the moment in his young life where he turned a corner. At Big Omaha today, he stepped away from his emcee duties to share why he has devoted so much of his time to supporting and coaching entrepreneurs. Living through his parents' divorce and 15 moves as a child … read more

Omaha Weren't able to make it to KANEKO today for our fifth annual Big Omaha? Don't worry. We're providing a free live stream starting at 9:00 a.m., thanks to our sponsor Hayneedle. Here's today's schedule … read more

Omaha To get a jump on the action of the final day of Big Omaha, join Des Moines entrepreneur Christopher New and Silicon Prairie News' Jeff Slobotski for AM Reboot, a morning podcast for geeks. Today's hour-long live video show is focused on the people, places and events of Big Omaha. AM Reboot is the flagship program of our streaming media partner, Quadrant5. Here's what's in store for today … read more

Omaha According to Ben Milne, one of the biggest mistakes a founder can make is to abandon the Silicon Prairie and its Midwestern roots. And he should know. Without the community surrounding his Des Moines-based company, Milne said Dwolla probably wouldn't be thriving today. "Had we not stayed here, we would not have made the friendships with people in this room," he said. "Had we not stayed here … read more

Omaha A subtle shift is being felt at Big Omaha this year. Thanks to well-marked recycle bins, art installations, and even conference speakers themselves, the event has a new focus on sustainability. "As our conference gets bigger, it was hard to watch how sustainability wasn't a part of it," our event coordinator Brittany Mascio said before the event... read more