Silicon Prairie News

Winfield Not every startup is nimble enough to adapt to the constantly changing economic environment of the last few years, but that ability has been key to the success of Winfield, Iowa's Grasshorse. In 2002, Grasshorse was founded by Stephen Jennings as an animation studio in California. Five years later, he and his sister Kathy Buxton, Grasshorse… read more

Omaha In the weeks leading up to Big Omaha, I conducted an audio interview with Scott Belsky, founder and CEO of Behance, a New York-based company developing products and services for creative industries. Belsky shared information around the creation of the Behance Network, the world's leading online platform for creative professionals, and The 99 Percent, Behance's think tank and annual conference devoted to execution in the creative world. read more

Omaha While an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, Willy Chyr learned to juggle figuratively and literally. Between double-majoring in economics and physics and hanging out with friends, Chyr performed in a local circus. And when opportunity presented itself his sophomore year, he added another ball to his act. "One time an event organizer was looking for a balloon twister… read more

Des Moines A self-described video blogger recently premiered a somewhat unorthodox autobiographical documentary at Impromptu Studio in Des Moines. The film, 101 Days of 12 Second Videos, is an amalgamation of John Pemble’s life from late-2009 through March 20, 2010. John utilized the web-based video platform 12Seconds.tv to publish a literal… read more

Lincoln The bio of Tim Siedell's Twitter account, @badbanana, reads: "Sometimes I just want to give it all up and become a handsome billionaire." Although it's unlikely Siedell will join the ranks of Warren Buffett as one of Nerbaska's billionaires, he's already joined the company of Larry the Cable Guy as one of the state's funniest. Since his first tweet in March 2007, Siedell has accumulated over 370,000 followers, been named one of PCWorld's Top 10 Funniest People on Twitter… read more

Omaha The mission of KANEKO, the venue of the annual Big Omaha event, is to support and promote freedom in creativity, which begins with an idea and a vision to see things differently. Scott Blake, a 32-year-old Florida native, couldn't be promoting this mission any clearer with his 21st century barcode art resembling the most notable faces in modern culture. Blake, a classically trained artist, studied figure drawing for three years and painted bowls of still-life fruit. Now, instead of using a paintbrush with the flick of his… read more

Ames One positive of a recessing economy is that it enables some would-be entrepreneurs to take the risk and launch out on their own. That was the case for Dan and Alex McClanahan, who in 2009 were recent graduates of Iowa State University in journalism and graphic design, respectively. The pair, who are married, thought they had secured post-graduation jobs in Denver, Colorado within their fields, but due to the economic… read more

Sioux Falls On countless occasions Silicon Prairie News has showcased many of the "diamond in the rough" agencies, creatives, firms, and startups right here in our own backyard. The story of Electric Pulp in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is no different. I ... read more