Des Moines Gopal Miglani, the founder and president of BitRouter, spoke Monday for a lunch and learn at StartupCity Des Moines. He started his first company in 1997 and today heads up BitRouter, a provider of software for digital TV platforms that has its headquarters in San Diego and its engineering office in West Des Moines. "At some point, it dawned on me, I was the one making the sale, and the guy in the suit next to me was making the commission," Miglani said about the decision to launch his first business. Over the course of an hour, he talked about dealing with government regulations … read more

Des Moines Inc. has named Dwolla founder and CEO Ben Milne to its "30 Under 30" list, an annual feature showcasing 30 entrepreneurs and co-founding teams under 30 years of age who are "solving big problems." "Dwolla isn't just taking on PayPal," Inc.'s spotlight says about the Des Moines-based online payments startup. "Ben Milne's start-up is disrupting the whole … read more

Kansas City A passion for problem-solving has led Matt Watson to launch Stackify, a software startup that aims to make troubleshooting and support easier for software developers. "I love to build things and I love to solve problems." Watson said. "I like to help users solve their problems and make their lives easier. For some reason it is just fun for me." Watson, a long-time Kansas City, Mo. resident, launched Stackify in January to solve the frustrations developers … read more

Lincoln Mobile media has been Gary Kebbel's mission since 2007, when he was on a Fullbright scholarship teaching in South Africa. “When my students were bored with me, they’d take out their dumb phones - not smart phones - and do their mobile banking,” Kebbel said in a phone interview. “And I realized then that we in the U.S. are so far behind… in our use of mobile technology.” That’s why Kebbel this month … read more

Kansas City "I did not expect to have a lot of traction at all," Rodrigo Neri said around noon today, a little more than 12 hours after releasing Syte, an open-sourced personal website that offers social integrations. "I was just hoping a few people would use it." Neri, who's had success attracting more than a million users to his app myHomework … read more

Kansas City Over the past three weeks, Ken Miner, the director of national accounts at Overland Park, Kan. startup Front Flip, has been reaching out to friends for help – online and offline. In April, Ken's wife Kris (left) was diagnosed with Stage 4B Large Cell Lymphona, a very intrusive form of cancer that carries a life expectancy of 1-3 years. Doctors called for immediate, aggressive treatment, prescribing a stem cell and bone marrow transplant. The path to the … read more

Omaha A tweet earlier this month yielded a couple dozen congratulatory replies for Omaha developer Zach Leatherman. After spending six years with one of Omaha's largest corporations, Union Pacific, Leatherman (left, with wife, Traci) announced he is making a move to work with Boston-based Filament Group. The six-person design studio is, according to our tipster, John Henry Müller of What Cheer, a "force pushing the web forward." In September, for example, Filament was responsible for the … read more

Omaha What's in a name? Would the Silicon Prairie by any other name smell as innovative? That question — or a less wannabe-Shakespearian rendition thereof — is one we frequently encounter in our coverage of the entrepreneurial landscape in the heart of the Midwest. Some people welcome use of the phrase "Silicon Prairie" with open arms. Others just can't stand the term. Through the magic of Google Alerts and Twitter filters, the team at Silicon Prairie News has become a reliable watchdog for mentions — favorable or otherwise — of "the Silicon Prairie." … read more