Omaha These days, Jim McKelvey's best known for his work as the co-founder of Square, the mobile payments company that enables anyone with an iPhone to accept credit card transactions. But that's just the most recent chapter of the McKelvey story, which includes endeavors far more distant and varied — from his years as a glass-blower to his experience writing a college text book as a college freshman. On May 10 at Big Omaha 2012, McKelvey drew on that… read more

Omaha Yael Cohen was floored three years ago when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, but it didn't take Cohen long to stand up and start fighting. "I'm not a researcher, so I can't contribute scientifically to the race for the cure," Cohen said on May 10 during her talk at Big Omaha 2012. "And I'm really f---ing impatient. I wanted to do something where I could see my impact and I could use the skills I had." So Cohen started what today has grown into F--- Cancer … read more

Omaha It didn't take much time teaching at an underfunded New York high school for Charles Best to realize the severity of the disparity between opportunities enjoyed by students at different schools in the U.S. "When I started teaching in the Bronx," Best said, "I saw firsthand that all schools are not created equal." Best and his fellow teachers would chat in the lunchroom about things they longed to offer their students but lacked the funds to … read more

Omaha Brian Wong, the founder of mobile rewards network kiip, pulled from his personal and professional experience as an entrepreneur to convince the Big Omaha 2012 audience that people can create their own luck. "I'm here to say that you can control it," Wong said Friday. "And I'm going give you 10 steps to do that that's based on sort of the last few years of sort of trial and error – a lot of error – but I hope … read more

Omaha Ben Lerer once had his sights set on the grand finale, the part in which he thought his company would receive enough money to "crash planes into boats, or other awesome stuff like that." But over time, he learned that what's more important than the destination is the daily work, the entrepreneurial journey on the way to the destination. With that in mind, at Big Omaha 2012 Lerer shared his story of personal growth that coincided with the growth … read more

Omaha The Big Omaha 2012 Video Series presented by Microsoft BizSpark kicks off today with the opening remarks by our emcee, Antonio Neves of THINQACTION. In line with Neves' welcome, this post serves as an introduction of the series: 18 videos featuring the 14 speakers and two special guests who took the stage at Big Omaha, an annual event to inspire, educate and connect entrepreneurs, especially those … read more