LINCOLN—More than 100 people turned out for a mid-week crawl of local tech startups in Lincoln Wednesday.
The event, part of Lincoln Startup Week, aimed to show off offices of local startups like Hudl, Ebbeka Design and Nobl. Another dozen or so startups had tables setup at the Mill Coffee in the Haymarket.
Visitors, including University of Nebraska-Lincoln students and curious outsiders, toured the spaces, talked with the entrepreneurs and heard how their ideas turned into their careers.
Among the highlights was Nobl’s new office in Lincoln Station in the Haymarket. The software startup aims to improve patient satisfaction in hospitals through their app, which makes the process of hourly nurses rounds more efficient, meaningful and effective.
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The move was necessary as the company has grown from four to eight employees, who, until August, were in the Grand Manse Pavillion, a one-time men’s public rest area that was tiny. It’s used as tailgating area in the fall and Nobl had to find a new home.
Co-founder Brett Byman said nine month leases are unusual, but perfect for a growing startup.
“It worked great for us,” he said. “Then we got lucky and found the train station after looking at maybe 20 spaces.
“The size, price and location, right smack dab in the middle between the old and new Haymarket, was perfect.”
The office features an open floor plan with three breakout conference rooms. One wall has whiteboard paint while others have brightly colored posters of applicable quotes.
Byman says the ultimate goal was to create an environment where employees love coming to work. They designed it themselves.
And while Nobl did entertain the idea of being outside of the downtown area, the energy of the Haymarket is where they wanted to be.
“There is a number of startups that are moving downtown or to the Haymarket and it creates an environment of random, beneficial interactions,” Byman said. “It’s hard to go grab lunch and not run into another founder or your accountant or lawyer.
“It’s an exciting place to be and makes it easy to attracting talent.”
Lincoln Startup Week was also a great place to expose the outside world to Nobl and other startups, Byman said. He remembers doing business plan competitions when Nobl was starting out.
“It has something great for everybody no matter what stage you’re in… if you’re just getting started or growing or looking for co-founders or whatever,” he said. “It creates a different environments to fit whatever stage you’re in as an entrepreneur.”
Lincoln Startup Week concludes Friday with a full day of events including an update on the Nebraska Innovation Studio, plenty of maker-related events, a how-to on conducting a Kickstarter campaign, and a pumpkin carving contest.
One response to “Nobl’s new office highlight of Lincoln Startup Week’s tech crawl”
Way to go Brett! Super excited to see all of your continued success! Come to KC soon.