November 23, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines Dane Maxwell set out Oct. 10 at Thinc Iowa to impress upon the audience how to, as he put it, "create a business out of thin air ... even if you have no idea, no money and no credibility." How, one might wonder, did Maxwell acquire that know-how? "I learned how to do this," he said, "because I had no money, no idea and no credibility." Down on his luck and … read more
November 23, 2012 by Michael Stacy
We're hard-pressed to think of a Startup Weekend anywhere in the region that's been documented as thoroughly with video as last weekend's Startup Weekend Kansas City. And although we can't claim credit for the video work — that credit belongs to SWKC's organizers, the in-house video gurus at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Shane Guiter from Kansas City Public Television — we can compile it all in one place, in an easily digestible form … read more
November 22, 2012 by Danny Schreiber
Des Moines Neal Sales-Griffin decided in 2010 to leave one of the best jobs he said he's ever had – a founder-in-residence at a venture capital firm – to fulfill a desire to pursue three things: solve problems, make things and have fun while doing it. One year later, his pursuit led to the founding of The Starter League, a Chicago web development and design school. On Oct. 11 at Thinc Iowa 2012, Sales-Griffin shared the story … read more
November 21, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines At the conclusion of the opening day of Thinc Iowa 2012, attendees took a trip "inside the startup studio." Or so the discussion was dubbed by Antonio Neves, the THINQACTION founder and Thinc Iowa emcee, who moderated the 40-minute question-and answer session on Oct. 10. Neves was joined on stage by a quartet of entrepreneurs: Tara Hunt … read more
November 21, 2012 by Danny Schreiber
Washington, D.C. Sen. Jerry Moran used the occasion of Global Entrepreneurship Week last week as an opportunity to take the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and make another pitch for Startup Act 2.0, a bill he co-sponsored to "address critical needs facing entrepreneurs today." The senator from Kansas opened his pitch, as he has done before, by telling the story of entrepreneurship in his home state. "In Kansas … read more
November 20, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines For Steve Greenwood, the idea that "relationships are complicated" is more than just a truism. Want evidence? Look no further than the spreadsheet of personal contacts that Greenwood meticulously curated for the better part of a decade. At its peak, the document had 7,000 contacts and more than 30 columns of tags. The complicated work of tending to that massive … read more
November 19, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Des Moines Danielle Morrill has years of experience working for startups, but when she spoke at Thinc Iowa 2012 on Oct. 10, she was just six months into her first stint as a startup CEO. Earlier this year, Morrill helped found Referly, a social shopping platform that rewards users whose referrals help generate sales. And since then, she said, there have been … read more
November 18, 2012 by Michael Stacy
Kansas City The sixth Startup Weekend Kansas City wraps up this evening with a closing pitch session that begins at about 4:45 … 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.