The Silicon Prairie startup ecosystem needs to do a better job of promoting itself and acknowledging success when it happens.
Silicon Prairie News exists to be a voice that promotes startups and makes people aware of exciting news. Over the last decade, we have missed more stories than we have covered. But we’re not alone in doing so.
You may have noticed that we are covering fundings and exits more closely than we have in the past. This is an intentional shift intended to arm our readers with information about what is happening in their local community. We are doing this because we believe strongly that the Silicon Prairie is more than a blog––we are a movement. To be a movement, we should know our heroes.
Often, we do not.
In mid-June 2014, Moody’s Analytics disclosed that it had acquired WebEquity Solutions, an Omaha, Nebraska-based software platform. Silicon Prairie News missed this story.
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The Omaha World-Herald wrote a story about the acquisition, and while it isn’t a bad story, it lacks context and doesn’t help the Silicon Prairie understand the exciting news.
The actual date of the acquisition was July 17, 2014. There was no follow-up article by the World-Herald or by Silicon Prairie News. In Moody’s 10-Q report filed later in July, the company said that they would provide additional information. That information came in October of 2014 with the following blurb from the Moody’s 10-Q report.
WebEquity Solutions, LLC
On July 17, 2014, a subsidiary of the Company acquired 100% of WebEquity Solutions, LLC, a leading provider of cloud-based loan origination solutions for financial institutions. The cash payment to the sellers of $130.6 million was funded using Moody’s U.S. cash.
To be clear, an Omaha based software company was acquired for $131 million.
To this date, few people in the general population (non-startup, non-technology people) know that the company even existed. This happens in every Silicon Prairie community, not just Omaha, but the shame is that this lack of awareness around these successes in the Silicon Prairie perpetuates a myth that exits, particularly exits of this size, don’t happen in the Midwest.
Shortly before writing this article, we looked at Pitchbook’s records regarding this acquisition. There is no disclosure of terms because no article was ever written. Many companies fail to disclose terms for many valid reasons, but the fact that terms are available and never covered is disappointing in this case because it provides such a strong indicator of ecosystem-level growth and success.
Lendingtools.com in Wichita was sold for $13 million. We could not find an article describing this sale. Zave Networks was sold to Google in Kansas City, likewise, we could find good articles but limited terms. Not that every story needs full disclosure. The point is that many company sales have relatively complete sale information, and the general public never sees that information in the Silicon Prairie. This prevents us from telling the stories of successes, both big and small.
We covered WebEquity Solutions in 2010 (https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2010/12/doug-mcgregor-sets-precedent-for-banking-solutions-on-demand/). However, we missed the acquisition story. Everyone missed the acquisition story. This is a problem for the region. We miss hundreds of great startup stories each month.
And that is why we exist. Silicon Prairie News exists to tell stories about startups and technology. We are a movement, not just a blog. To be clear, we are not blaming Russell Hubbard or even the World-Herald. They exist in a different paradigm.
Silicon Prairie News exist to help startups and to help startup ecosystems. It is our fault that these stories are not being told in the Silicon Prairie. It is our earnest intention to do better going forward in telling these great stories around the companies and people who power the Silicon Prairie startup ecosystem.
Our fundamental goal is to talk about the Silicon Prairie and tell the stories of the heroes among us who are starting companies based on crazy, outlandish ideas. To steal Des Moines’ fabulous early startup community leader, Christian Renaud’s imagery, these heroes are the pirates to the Fortune 5000’s navy.
Please help us cover the stories that matter to the startup ecosystems in the Silicon Prairie. You can reach us at editor@siliconprairienews.com and follow us on twitter @siliconprairie.
Help us make heroes out of entrepreneurs and a navy out of pirates.
