October 31, 2011 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines The ninth speaker in our Video Series is Douglas Olson, who is a partner director of development for Microsoft Expression Studio, Microsoft's suite of creative and design applications. Olson, who has worked nearly two decades in the startup world to complement his time working for a corporation at Microsoft, shared vignettes from his experiences … read more
October 31, 2011 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines The eighth speaker in our Video Series is Luke Vandermillen, who heads up marketing for retirement and investor services at the Principal Financial Group, a Des Moines-based financial services provider. A Fortune 500 company founded in 1879, The Principal is firmly entrenched on the "corporation" side of the conversation between startups and … read more
October 28, 2011 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines The seventh speaker in our Video Series is Ben Milne, co-founder and CEO of Dwolla, a payment platform that allows users to send and receive funds from any other user at a flat rate of 25 cents per transaction. In his talk, Milne discussed the unique challenges and advantages associated with building a business in Iowa, addressed what he views … read more
October 27, 2011 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines The sixth speaker in our Video Series is Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership, which is an independent, private-sector entity that brings together mentors, advisors, funders, major corporations and service providers to deliver the resources needed to help entrepreneurs start and scale companies. In his talk, Case described the types of … read more
October 27, 2011 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines The fifth speaker in our Video Series is Jerri Chou, founder and managing partner of Lovely Day, which works to make innovative social solutions the new standard for "business as usual." A social innovation expert, Chou also founded All Day Buffet, an organization whose mission is to change the world through creativity and business … read more
October 27, 2011 by Danny Schreiber
Des Moines The fourth speaker in our Video Series: Robbie Vitrano, co-founder and chairman of Trumpet Group, a venture marketing company that is a manifestation of the reinventing of New Orleans. In his talk, Vitrano shared a personal story to show how creativity can be applied in a way that has more impact both in business development and community building. … read more
October 26, 2011 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines The third speaker in our video series is Andy Murray, founder and chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi X, a worldwide advertising network for which he oversees marketing and advertising and technology efforts. Also this year, Murray launched Mercury 11, a company that mentors entrepreneurs with disruptive ideas. … read more
October 26, 2011 by Danny Schreiber
Des Moines The second speaker in our Video Series: Paige Craig, co-founder and CEO of BetterWorks, a platform where businesses can quickly create better, more rewarding work environments for their employees. In his talk, Craig focuses on passion and how to build a company, honing in on one of his principals, thinking big and executing small. In the second half … read more
October 25, 2011 by Danny Schreiber
Des Moines First up in our Video Series: Ben Silberman, co-founder of Pinterest, an online pinboard site that gives its users a place to discover new things handpicked by other users. In his talk, Silbermann shared the story of his journey to entrepreneurship, the story of co-founding Pinterest and a few things that are inspirational to him and his … 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.