Des Moines startup, KC high-speed internet top year’s 10 biggest stories

An Omaha startup signed a TV deal, a Columbia, Mo. startup went from Startup Weekend to Y Combinator in eight months and a Kansas City entrepreneur who sold his company for more than $125 million last year returned to found another startup and fund others. These are three of my picks for the year’s 10…

An Omaha startup signed a TV deal, a Columbia, Mo. startup went from Startup Weekend to Y Combinator in eight months and a Kansas City entrepreneur who sold his company for more than $125 million last year returned to found another startup and fund others. These are three of my picks for the year’s 10 biggest stories, which are stories that received our attention at the time and that we’ll be talking about for years to come.

For a second year, I selected the biggest stories by asking three questions:

  • Was the story notable in the national tech press?
  • Was it immediately impactful to the Silicon Prairie region?
  • Will it be impactful to the region in the future?

My picks are below, including a few that almost made the list. I encourage you to share your top story of the year in a comment below.

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The year’s 10 biggest stories

10. Social Money hires new chief executive, changes direction (January)

What: In a three-week period, SmartyPig announced new leadership, changed its name (to Social Money) and introduced its first enterprise product.

Why big: Social Money, one of the Des Moines area’s most notable startups, pivoted to offer its technology to a larger market. “The scale we’re experiencing today… is beginning to wildly exceed our expectations,” Social Money co-founder Michael Ferrari told SPN in April.

 

9. Matt Watson puts personal earnings from 2011 exit to work (January)

What: Less than a year after a successful exit from his last startup (VinSolutions sold to Autotrader.com), Matt Watson (left) put his personal earnings into play by founding another startup and investing in others.

Why big: Watson’s involvement in Kansas City’s startup community is an example of activity that’s crucial to the growth of such a community. Watson, 31, has invested in five startups, including his own, and purchased a developer-focused blog network.

 

8. T8 Webware become Banno, opens Des Moines office (July)

What: Within one month’s time, Cedar Falls, Iowa-based T8 Webware expanded its operations to Des Moines, changed its name and re-affirmed its commitment to building products for the financial industry.

Why big: T8 Webware’s arrival to “Silicon Sixth Avenue” in Des Moines strengthened the city’s startup scene, giving it a third notable fintech startup and another company with a community-minded CEO, Wade Arnold (left).

 

7. Kauffman elects local CEO, caps Kansas City-focused year (December)

What: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation filled its open CEO position by electing one of its own, prominent Kansas City businessman and the former chairman of its board, DST Systems chief executive Tom McDonnell (left).

Why big: With this election, “the board also reinforced Kansas City’s importance to the Foundation,” a Kauffman Foundation press release said. The news put an exclamation point on a year in which the foundation created two impactful events for KC entrepreneurs, 1 Million Cups and Startup@Kauffman Demo Day.

 

6. Kansas City holds “One Week” (June); KCITP produces major events (June and November) (tie)

What: Kansas City played host to the inaugural One Week Kansas City, a week of events to celebrate the city’s entrepreneurs and startups. Grassroots tech community organization KCTIP held a hackathon and tech conference.

Why big: “Startup Communities” author Brad Feld calls for events that engage the entire entrepreneurial stack. One Week Kansas City and KCITP’s events (Hack the Midwest and Compute Midwest) accomplished this and spurred others, such as Lincoln Startup Week, to action.

5. Zapier goes from Startup Weekend to Y Combinator to funded (June)

What: Less than one year after winning Startup Weekend Columbia, Zapier earned a spot at notable accelerator Y Combinator, relocated to California and raised a seed round.

Why big: Startup Weekend, which now occurs regularly in the region, churned out a success story with Zapier. The startup, which maintained a presence in Columbia, showed what a group of guys who dare to quit their day jobs can do just after one year.

 

4. Union Square Ventures leads Dwolla, Pollenware investments (February and September); Andreessen Horowitz leads AgLocal (tie) (June)

What: Union Square Ventures of New York and Andreessen Horowitz of Menlo Park, Calif. led funding rounds of Silicon Prairie startups.

Why big: Investments from “brand name” venture capital firms increased the exposure and helped validate the startups based in the Silicon Prairie. “The opportunities are certainly not limited to the Bay Area, Boston, and NYC these days,” Union Square’s Fred Wilson wrote in a blog post on the occasion of his firm’s investment in Pollenware.

 

3. Battle Bears inks TV show development deal (October)

What: SkyVu Entertainment signed a development deal to bring the characters of its popular mobile game franchise Battle Bears to television.

Why big: Originally released in 2009, Battle Bears has picked up a cult-like following. The TV development deal got the franchise one step closer to becoming a household name. That announcement followed closely on the heels of SkyVu’s August announcement of seed funding led by Chicago’s Lightbank. Then, less than three months after SkyVu signed the TV deal, the Battle Bears games surpassed 20 million downloads

2. Google Fiber goes live; entrepreneurs go grassroots (November)

What: Google Fiber went live in the Kansas City, Kan. “fiberhood” Hanover Heights. A Kansas City developer started a program, Homes for Hackers, to encourage entrepreneurs to move to the city, and other Kansas City startups instigated a “Startup Village.”

Why big: Google Fiber going live brought unmatched attention to Kansas City, keeping the city in the headlines of tech blogs and major media outlets alike. Homes for Hackers and Startup Village capitalized on that attention with efforts that have already impacted the city’s starutp community, including attracting talent to the city.

1. Ashton Kutcher returns to Iowa to announce Dwolla investment (April)

What: Ashton Kutcher, a Hollywood celebrity and tech industry angel investor, returned to his home state of Iowa to announce he had participated in Dwolla’s most recent funding. Kutcher joined the startup’s founder, Ben Milne, on a Silicon Prairie News live webcast to make the announcement.

Why big: Kutcher’s star power put a powerful spotlight on Dwolla and, in turn, Iowa and the region’s startup community. “Dwolla can only be built here,” Kutcher said in a live video interview with Silicon Prairie News in April. The video interview with Kutcher and Milne was our most-read story of 2012.

Also considered

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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