Kansas City The race to bring driverless vehicles to roads near you is heating up, but Tim Sylvester thinks he has found an answer within the road itself. His Kansas City-based Integrated Roadways creates pre-cast sections of road layered with sensors that measure stress and ice conditions… read more
April 1, 2013 by Megan Bannister
Kansas City As of this morning, Kansas City developer Tyler Hillsman's baseball tracking app, Race to the Pennant, had been downloaded 10 times. But with the excitement of Major League Baseball Opening Day, and a shout out from notable tech blogger John Gruber, it became the top paid sports app in the App Store by mid-afternoon. An iOS application built using the app creation studio of Kansas City, Mo. startup RareWire, Race … read more
April 1, 2013 by Fred Bauters
Kansas City Kansas Citians with Google Fiber are spoiled by gigabit speeds when they're at home, but how do they access the ultrafast internet connection when they're on the go? "We realized that the answer was all around us—utility poles," Michael Plump, product lead for Fiber to the Pole, said today on the Google Fiber … read more
March 29, 2013 by Joe Stych
Kansas City Our inaugural Big Kansas City event kicked off Wednesday with talks from eight entrepreneurs and innovators. Staying true to traditions established at sister seminars Big Omaha and Big Des Moines, our first day wrapped up with a speaker Q&A session. Jamie Wong of Vayable, Dhani Jones of BowTie Cause, Micah Baldwin of Graphicly, and Dan Martell of Clarity fielded questions about the … read more
March 29, 2013 by Patti Vannoy
Kansas City Ryan Downs, the CEO of Omaha-based Proxibid whose career spans working on a rural Nebraska farm as an 8-year-old to helping guide PayPal through its initial public offering, credits the Midwest's entrepreneurial ecosystem to helping him advance in his career. At our Big Kansas City event Wednesday, he broke down that ecosystem into six elements: Education - His Nebraska public school education, from kindergarten through … read more
March 29, 2013 by Megan Bannister
Kansas City You may recognize Dhani Jones from his college football career at the University of Michigan or the 11 seasons he spent playing in the NFL. He might look familiar from his appearances on TV shows like "Dhani Tackles the Globe" on Travel Channel or ESPN's "LiveBIG," but Jones also cares about making a difference through his organization, BowTie Cause. The cause increases awareness and raises money … 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 28, 2013 by Megan Bannister
Kansas City On a spring break trip to Morocco while studying abroad, Jamie Wong, co-founder and CEO of Vayable, discovered her love for travel and desire to have unique experiences. When she spoke yesterday morning at the inaugural Big Kansas City, Wong used her experiences traveling to more than 35 different countries to stress the importance of embracing originality and following passions in order to be a successful entrepreneur. Wong and her team … read more
March 28, 2013 by Geoff Wood
Kansas City The following sponsors each stepped up to become a major sponsor of Big Kansas City and we're excited to not only recognize them for their commitment here but also throughout the event. Please share let them know you appreciate their commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation in the Silicon Prairie. … read more
March 28, 2013 by Chris Wolfgang
Kansas City "The first Sphero sucked," Adam Wilson said Wednesday during his presentation at our Big Kansas City event. Prototype your minimal viable product The co-founder and chief software architect of Boulder-based startup Sphero nevertheless encouraged attendees to prototype their ideas. "What's your minimal viable product?" He asked. For Sphero, a spherical robotic gaming system that fits easily in your hand, the shortlist consisted … 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.