Des Moines "If there's one thing that's been consistent in everything that I do," Antonio Neves told the Thinc Iowa audience Oct. 11, "it's that I am a professional question asker and I am a professional opportunity identifier." For the next 25 minutes, Neves, who emceed the event, employed both those qualities in a motivational talk to open the final day of Thinc Iowa 2012. He asked the audience: "Would you bet on you accomplishing what you … read more

Des Moines "Being an entrepreneur can be magical," Ron J. Williams says, "but it ain't magic." Williams, the co-founder and CEO of Knodes, opened with that message and proceeded to draw the distinction between magical and magic during his talk Oct. 10 at Thinc Iowa 2012. Williams said people tend to romanticize the entrepreneurial narrative of someone scribbling … read more

Des Moines With the ascent of Apple, the notion that an emphasis on design can drive business success has become more commonplace in recent years, Gentry Underwood says. But Underwood, the co-founder and CEO of Orchestra, doesn't need to look toward Cupertino to see the impact that a design-centric approach can have on a company. After all, Underwood's own … read more

Des Moines Ryan Graves can trace his career at Uber back to one tweet. Well, one tweet and a whole lot of hustle. Graves, Uber's Global GM and VP of Operations, spoke Oct. 11 at Thinc Iowa 2012 about helping build Uber, the San Francisco-based startup that provides on-demand car service through a mobile app, and he reflected on the lessons he's learned in … read more

Des Moines Silicon Valley visitors bureaus and tourism boards in the market for a spokesperson probably won't come calling Brian Spaly any time soon, and that seems fine by Spaly. The Trunk Club CEO is perfectly happy in Chicago, building his business. That much became abundantly clear when Spaly stepped on stage Oct. 10 at Thinc Iowa 2012. "I think sometimes it's good to … read more

Des Moines When Lesa Mitchell stepped on stage Oct. 12 at Thinc Iowa 2012, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's vice president of innovation and networks sported a shirt — green, and emblazoned with "MIT" in large, white letters — that required a disclaimer. Mitchell, who gave a talk on women in entrepreneurship, explained that MIT is not her alma mater … read more

Des Moines A revolution is brewing, and no city in the world is safe. So said Brad Feld, a managing director of Foundry Group, in his talk Oct. 11 at Thinc Iowa 2012. Feld, who has played a major role in building the startup community in his adopted hometown of Boulder, Colo., believes that, with the right ingredients, any city in the world can become a thriving … read more

Des Moines Tara Hunt, the co-founder Buyosphere and director of digital content at Tuxedo Agency, opened her talk Oct. 11 at Thinc Iowa 2012 with an admission. "I'm used to giving really motivational, inspirational speeches that are about kicking ass and taking names," she said, "and I haven't been feeling so kicking ass and taking names recently." … read more