May 10, 2013 by Riane Menardi
Omaha Noah Kagan calls 2012 his “year of failure,” and came to Big Omaha with tips for entrepreneurs who may be a little burned out. His advice? Don’t focus on the money, or even the business. Focus on you. For Kagan, there are three things that control his happiness: wealth, health and love. Wealth "I am the happiest when I'm doing what I want and I’m having fun," he said. When he only focuses on money … read more
May 9, 2013 by Riane Menardi
Omaha Catherine Rohr’s American dream is different than the average entrepreneur’s. Yes, she has a background in investments, but now she invests in people through Defy Ventures, a program that teaches former felons to be successful entrepreneurs. After visiting a Texas prison with a friend, Rohr’s world was turned upside down when she discovered many inmates are profitable businessmen and entrepreneurs, but are stuck in a cycle of incarceration ... read more
May 9, 2013 by Riane Menardi
Omaha Big Omaha has gone 8bit. The annual event is nearly one day in, and even at this highly innovative tech conference, there's still room for old-school style—and Adam Nielsen is proving it. Nielsen is one of this year's Big Omaha artists, live-drawing (yep, that's right—live-drawing) caricatures of the 14 speakers while they're on stage. Images from his computer are projected onto a wall in the event … read more
May 9, 2013 by Riane Menardi
Omaha For Tony Conrad, successful entrepreneurs aren’t starting companies—they’re starting movements. Conrad’s keynote kicked off Big Omaha, where he challenged the audience to think bigger. “Think and ask yourself, 'How does my product impact the world?'” he said. “How does this product capture imagination? And how can this product spark a movement?” Conrad started about.me with this in mind. He saw the site as an opportunity ... read more
October 11, 2012 by Riane Menardi
Des Moines Brad Feld believes that a thriving startup community can exist anywhere in the world. "There's a startup revolution going on in our society right now, and I think everyone in this room is a part of it," Feld said at Thinc Iowa 2012 today. Feld, the a co-founder of venture capital firm Foundry Group and startup accelerator TechStars, among other business ventures, recently released … read more
October 10, 2012 by Riane Menardi
Des Moines To close the first day of Thinc Iowa 2012, four speakers took the stage at The Temple for Performing Arts for a 40-minute question-and-answer faciliated by Antonio Neves, the event's emcee. Gentry Underwood of Orchestra, Ron J. Williams of Knodes, Brian Spaly of Trunk Club and Tara Hunt of Buyosphere, all CEOS, chatted about networks, fashion, admirable CEOs and family, among other things, making for a frank and honest conversation … read more
October 10, 2012 by Riane Menardi
Des Moines Dane Maxwell, the founder of Zannee, lives his life according to three essential priorities that he strives toward in his personal life, relationships and his business: playfulness, healing and support. Maxwell found these guiding forces in an unlikely place: Burning Man, where he met his business mentor, Eben Pagan. Maxwell calls Pagan an "alchemist" who can make money out of thin air. Pagan is also a dating guru, and Maxwell, who was single … read more
October 10, 2012 by Riane Menardi
Cascade Jeremie Miller’s commute starts between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. That’s what time he rolls out of bed in his Cascade, Iowa home and gets in his car. He drives three hours to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, keeping his eyes open for deer and a Mountain Dew close at hand. By 7 a.m. (give or take a half an hour), Miller is boarding a plane. Four hours and 2,000 miles later, he arrives in San Francisco and heads to the Singly headquarters. … read more
May 22, 2012 by Riane Menardi
Des Moines A few years ago, John Jackovin’s 9-year-old daughter received a significant gift — a Yamaha keyboard. It was an exciting moment for the family, and Jackovin wanted to share it with the world. Jackovin (left), who had been working in technology for nearly 10 years, quickly discarded the product registration card that came with the keyboard, and he was struck with an idea: What if there were a way to harness the power of mobile technology and social media to share purchases online — something that … read more
May 11, 2012 by Riane Menardi
Omaha Sarah Prevette's biggest advice to entrepreneurs is to focus on the problem — not the solution. Prevette is the founder of Sprouter, a website that serves startup founders and connects them to resources. She spoke to the Big Omaha 2012 crowd today at KANEKO about finding passion in the problem. "If you have a problem that you've dedicated yourself to solving, you can always change the product," she said. "You keep iterating and changing it." Here's … 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.