May 8, 2013 by Annie Sorensen & Fred Bauters
Omaha We all know the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, but what about the Six Degrees of Jeff Slobotski? Big Omaha is bound to create thousands of connections, which will continue on long after Friday. Attendees can see the relationships being built as they scan … read more
April 18, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Kansas City Code for America fellows have started working with Kansas City officials in Kansas and Missouri as part of a regional approach—the first joint application to be approved for the program—to create lasting relationships between the cities and entrepreneurs. They also aim to produce web-based entrepreneurial tools for the government to use. With no word yet on what those might be, we thought we … read more
April 3, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Kansas City Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., together are a 2013 Code for America partner city, and Abhi Nemani, the organization's chief of staff, shared his passion for more connected governments during the final afternoon of our Big Kansas City event last week. "We're trying to show what's possible for governments," Nemani said. The San Fransisco-based nonprofit aims to show cities how to better use the web to increase efficiency, transparency … read more
March 29, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Kansas City The importance of hustle and motivation in the making of a successful entrepreneur was central to Dan Martell's talk Wednesday at our Big Kansas City event. Martell is the founder and CEO of Clarity, a community of more than 7,000 entrepreneurs that offer advice over the phone to users across the world. Motivation trumps knowledge Martell shared the story of one of his earliest startups and hiring his first few employees. Jumping … read more
March 27, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Kansas City All of Big Kansas City's design, from the digital goods that launched in January to the physical signage in the venue today, are done by Kansas City, Mo. design firm Cremalab. Founded in 2009 by designer, artist and entrepreneur George Brooks (right), the company describes itself as a design lab "with creativity and coffee always brewing." "Crema is the golden layer of the espresso," Brooks said. … read more
March 7, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Kansas City It's been nothing but "research and listening and learning" during the first four weeks of the partnership between Code for America and the Kansas Cities, said Ariel Kennan, one of the three fellows assigned to Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. Code for America is a non-profit organization that partners with local leaders to change the way cities work through technology and public service. … read more
February 21, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Kansas City University of Kansas versus University of Missouri – might finally be quantified. Fannect, a mobile app that promises once and for all to determine which team has the best sports fans, is now available for iOS and Android devices. Co-founded by Hunter Browning, 19 and Will Coatney, 24, Fannect is a sports app that combines social networking with competitive gaming, doling out points to measure a team's best fan and which team has the best group of fans. Using Fannect, fans can play games that measure their … read more
February 20, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Kansas City The Klink Mobile team is growing. Alan Alvarado of Mexico City joined the mobile transfer startup in December, taking on the role of CTO. Jean-Olivier Buteau of Miami* is Klink's new vice president of business development. Together, along with part time resources in Kansas City, Mo. and a team member in Afghanistan, they round out a small international team that covers two continents and three countries and the combined ability to speak nine languages. "Our main focus right now is building the team and finding the right talent," Klink founder and CEO Jessie Bishop said. … read more
February 8, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Overland Park The future of education may be right here in Kansas City, tucked away in a modern building in Overland Park, Kan., bustling with teenagers. The Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS), part of the Blue Valley school district, takes an entrepreneurial, innovative approach to education that aims to provide more than 900 junior and senior high school students with hands-on, real world experience. … read more
January 31, 2013 by Annie Sorensen
Santa Monica Living up to its name, startup accelerator Launchpad LA has helped Kansas City-born Divshot leap into the next phase of its business. Divshot, a drag-and-drop interface builder for web apps, was conceived in April 2012 at Startup Weekend Kansas City. Three months later, co-founders Michael Bleigh and Jake Johnson won a national pitch competition that included a finale in Los Angeles. With the win in L.A., came the opportunity to pitch at Launchpad, a Santa Monica-based accelerator founded by Mark Suster. Their momentum didn't stop as the duo received an invite to join the accelerator. … read more
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.