Ames Many computer science and software engineering majors start looking for internships during their sophomore and junior years. They go to career fairs, usually dressed in a suit and tie, or whatever the female equivalent is, shake hands with and smile at people from large companies and talk about how their coursework is somewhat related to their prospective job or internship with that company. During this process, there are usually awkward moments when the student will realize that he/she has absolutely no knowledge of, or interest in, the product of that prospective labor. I know this because I’ve done it, besides the suit and tie get-up. … read more

Des Moines (Editor's Note: The following is a guest post by Ben Milne, co-founder and CEO of Dwolla.) I read this and I was really inspired. My inspiration felt something like wanting to rip my shirt off and scream, "What the hell?!"… But I'm not strong enough to rip my shirt off and I really like American Apparel T's … of which, I just happen to be wearing. I wasn’t inspired by the bitter comments or by the perceived lack of support for entrepreneurs by the local government, but the message the article was sending. It’s not hard to start a business in Iowa or anywhere else. A matter of fact, it’s a fallacy that … read more

Des Moines Our PR guy asked me if the second sentence is necessary. I personally believe it is. Why? Because if you think about it… It's more likely your going to buy a banana than a bitcoin and yet… Even reading this you’re probably spending time trying to wrap your head around what the heck cryptocurrency is and the extension of what it means to our economy, banking system, and trade… Is that is kind of… Mind blowing… And when minds are blown… You get hype… "OMG what is happening. Is virtual … read more

(This is a gust post by Greg Meyer of Gist.) If you're in the business of building a community, part of the strategy probably sounds like this: "go to [anchor city] and [another anchor city]. Have a meetup and get to know our users there. Then, we'll be able to depend upon them to spread the word, just like in Kevin Kelly's 1000 True Fans article." The reality, as you probably know, is a bit different. Getting the Word Out: As part of our effort to launch Gist, we talked to hundreds of people in … read more