Silicon Prairie News

5650_b4021ff9fb_small May 3, 2013 by Megan Bannister

Des Moines Ecommerce startup Goodsmiths today introduced Swipe, an app that allows its online shop owners to accept credit card payments offline while keeping their online inventory synced. "It's a totally new product that honestly for us, for Goodsmiths, it's going to disrupt the craft fairs, art shows, farmers' markets … read more

5651_54c1da6d25_small May 3, 2013 by Danny Schreiber

Omaha Flywheel, the Omaha startup on a mission to make web hosting easy for designers, is in month two of its private beta, with more than 150 design firms and freelancers using its product. "We're a hosting company, but we also look at ourselves as a software company," co-founder Rick Knudtson said. "We're trying to solve problems for creative … read more

5625_f504d43a82_small May 3, 2013 by Joe Stych

Des Moines For Paloma Velazquez, writing HTML is a pretty big shift from her previous writing experience. Last May she graduated from Grinnell College with degrees in English and political science. At the time, she was working as a communications coordinator for BitMethod with their app, Change. But after winning a two-year scholarship for Treehouse—a web development education tool—and teaching herself to code, Velazquez recently landed a position as a front-end developer at Des Moines' Webspec Design. … read more

May 2, 2013 by Fred Bauters

Kansas City Kansas City Startup Village has been covered by media far and wide, but it has yet to land on a magazine cover. Ben Barreth, creator of the Homes for Hackers program, did just that this week, making it onto the front of Government Technology magazine, a publication focused on information … read more

5622_4d95916c46_small May 2, 2013 by Brittany Mascio

Omaha Big Omaha inspires giant ideas, and this year we're adding a simple and expressive design twist to those ideas by incorporating high fashion. It's a design theme we can't wait to display in the experimental elements at our fesitivites that take place next week and one that will help make Big Omaha 2013 the most fabulous conference on innovation and entrepreneurship. We invite you to join the party fun. … read more

5648_f5df6e2f70_small May 2, 2013 by Danny Schreiber

Omaha Social media news isn't a norm on SPN, but when Nebraska's best-known resident joins Twitter, it becomes news, at least for Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune and of course, Mashable, among others. Warren Buffett this morning signed up for Twitter, and during a live video chat with Fortune, he sent his first tweet: Warren is in the house. … read more

5644_b202a42136_small May 2, 2013 by Fred Bauters

Kansas City Numbers, analytics and reports can statically tick away on an entrepreneur's computer with the hope that they will provide insight on a startup's growth and trajectory. But what if the milestones motivating startups were dynamic? Rodrigo Neri, co-founder of Kansas City education app-maker Instin, recounted … read more

5646_1ca8cd8427_small May 2, 2013 by Danny Schreiber

Omaha Omaha's Warren Buffett is "leaning in." Motivated by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" movement and Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer's HR policies, at 11 a.m. today, Buffett will take questions via Twitter on the topic of women and work. He'll answer the questions in a live Fortune video event that aims to promote his latest essay, "Warren Buffett is Bullish on…Women," published this morning on the magazine's website. The billionaire investor … read more

The polls are open!

Through August 22, help us decide the winners of our inaugural Silicon Prairie Awards, which will recognize 12 companies and individuals. You can vote once per day per category.
Winners will be announced live on stage at
our August 30 event.

Vote!