We're just two weeks away from Big Omaha 2011, and we want to share a conversation we recently had with Dan Martell, co-founder of Flowtown, a company focused on providing web-based tools that allow small businesses to measure their online marketing efforts. In November, Silicon Prairie News contributor John T. Meyer wrote a Tools for the Trade piece on Flowtown. Martell has an interesting entrepreneurial background, and that's why we're thrilled to have him in the lineup for this year's event … read more

West Des Moines Justin Schoen won't build your e-commerce website. That is to say that he's not a designer. Though his business is helping businesses market themselves online, don't just assume he's all about web design. "A lot of people ask," Schoen said as he sat in office in Clive, Iowa. It's a point of confusion that the University of Iowa graduate and MBA student is quick to clear up. He has a couple of experienced firms he consults that do design work… read more

Lincoln SitStay.com was the first online pet store, and it's still growing after 15 years. Earlier this week, we profiled owner Darcie Krueger. When I met with Krueger, I asked her to give us some advice for entrepreneurs. Along with "don't buy the airplane," another thing Darcie says that’s gotten her company through the down times is her outlook on competition: "I don’t care about the competition, there’s enough money out there for everybody, and there… read more

Lincoln Calvin Pappas seems to eat, sleep and breathe online privacy policy. Sometimes almost literally. Pappas, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Nebraska and founder of online privacy manager SelectOut.org said he has brushed up on internet privacy by reading more than 600 policies — most of which amount to 2,500 words of drowse-inducing legalese. “It’s a good way,” he said, “to fall asleep at night.” And for Pappas, it’s been a good… read more

Des Moines (SmartyPig CEO Bob Weinschenk, middle, poses with co-founders Jon Gaskell, left, and Michael Ferrari pose for a picture at Finovate 2009. Photo by Christophe Langlois of Visible Banking, from clanglois.blogs.com.) When you're in the air as much as Bob Weinschenk, you should know where you're headed – even if the route is winding and long. But even the CEO of Des Moines-based SmartyPig, who commutes over 2,000 miles a week for his job… read more

Lincoln When I arrived at SitStay’s warehouse to interview owner Darcie Krueger, she was finishing up the hiring process with her new customer-service employee. She told me that while I waited for them to wrap up I could play catch with her dog Gibbs. As I was throwing the ball down the office hallway, I could tell that SitStay’s culture was laid back, pet-friendly and really fun. During our interview, Krueger confirmed what I had guessed about SitStay. read more

Des Moines One would think that with more than 100 programmers and tech entrepreneurs crammed into Cabaret in West Glen on Wednesday, March 2, all eyes would have been on the TVs showing Steve Jobs introducing the iPad 2. Instead, they were fixed on founder Ben Milne and the rest of the Dwolla team as the social payment service presented its newest… read more

Lincoln Almost 10 years ago to this day, a Silicon Prairie-based ecommerce startup, SitStay, was featured by Inc., a print and online magazine featuring stories and tips for small business owners. At the time the article was published, SitStay was in its fourth year of operation, and while the previous year saw the iconic dot-com failure of Pets.com, the Lincoln-based startup was recording its fourth year of profits. Today… read more