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Steve Case: “All great ideas start as weird ideas”
As the co-founder and former chief executive officer of AOL, the co-founder and CEO of investment firm Revolution and the chairman of the Startup America Partnership — to name just a few of his endeavors — Steve Case has a résumé that could make even the most serial of entrepreneurs blush. But when Case took…
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From startup “why” to startup style, speakers cap day with lively Q&A
To close the first day of Thinc Iowa 2012, four speakers took the stage at The Temple for Performing Arts for a 40-minute question-and-answer faciliated by Antonio Neves, the event’s emcee. Gentry Underwood of Orchestra, Ron J. Williams of Knodes, Brian Spaly of Trunk Club and Tara Hunt of Buyosphere, all CEOS, chatted about networks,…
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Gentry Underwood: “Be willing to ride that whole wave through”
Designer and entreprenuer Gentry Underwood is the CEO and co-founder of Orchestra, an app labeled as the “Best To-Do List for iPhone” by LifeHacker. This afternoon, he was the final individual presenter on day one of Thinc Iowa 2012. His message, centered around how thinking like a designer can help startups succeed, brought the audience…
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Ron J. Williams: Entrepreneurship can be magical, but it ain’t magic
Ron J. Williams, the founder of Snapgoods and Knodes, spoke to Thinc Iowa 2012 attendees at The Temple for Performing Arts in Des Moines Wednesday afternoon about the importance of passion, a strong team, simplicity, clarity and focus. “Your success will be determined not by lightning striking or an apple hitting your head,” Williams said.…
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Steve Greenwood: The complexity of relationships
A core theme of Thinc Iowa 2012 is relationships. And Steve Greenwood, the founder and CEO of Brewster, is all about relationships. Brewster launched this summer, and Greenwood shared the intimate story about how the app was created today at The Temple for Performing Arts. Brewster’s goal is to understand who you know and to…
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Dane Maxwell: “How you treat your wife is how you treat your business”
Dane Maxwell, the founder of Zannee, lives his life according to three essential priorities that he strives toward in his personal life, relationships and his business: playfulness, healing and support. Maxwell found these guiding forces in an unlikely place: Burning Man, where he met his business mentor, Eben Pagan. Maxwell calls Pagan an “alchemist” who…
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Danielle Morrill: “Shot selection is important”
As the second speaker to take the stage at The Temple for Performing Arts for Thinc Iowa 2012, Danielle Morrill, the CEO and co-founder of Referly, took the opportunity to say what she believed most startup CEOs needed to hear. As someone who had to learn to call her own shots after founding Referly six…
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Brian Spaly: Debunking common myths about startups
Brian Spaly, the CEO of Trunk Club, filled The Temple for Performing Arts with Midwestern enthusiasm at Thinc Iowa 2012 as the opening speaker of the conference Wednesday morning. That’s because Spaly decided to launch Trunk Club, a men’s clothing service that sends clients personalized trunks of clothing, from Chicago rather than New York City,…
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Snapshots from the Thinc Iowa Opening Party
Before settling in at the The Temple for Performing Arts today for a full slate of speakers at Thinc Iowa 2012, conference-goers descended upon Wooly’s on Tuesday night for tunes, libations, conversation and, of course, plenty of photo booth fun. Pictures have been said to be worth considerably more than words, so we’ll let the…
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Frequent-flying Iowan Jeremie Miller to make short hop to Thinc Iowa
Jeremie Miller’s commute starts between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. That’s what time he rolls out of bed in his Cascade, Iowa home and gets in his car. He drives three hours to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, keeping his eyes open for deer and a Mountain Dew close at hand. By 7 a.m. (give or…