Posts by SPN Newsroom
Prairie Portrait: Beka Doolittle of The Pink Store
Silicon Prairie News: For those who aren’t familiar with The Pink Store’s origins, what’s the story behind the business? |
Beka Doolittle: I was living in a house with our three teenage boys and my hubby when the idea for The Pink Store came to me. I knew I wasn’t the only one who loves the color pink and decided to begin building a company where anyone could shop for a variety of primarily pink products. I registered The Pink Store LLC in January 2007, but when I lost my job in 2009, I knew my idea would soon come to fruition. By March 2011, my hubby and I …
Read MoreWatch the eight pitches of Startup Weekend Omaha (Video)
After the winner of the fourth Startup Weekend Omaha was named Sunday, event judge Mark Crawford, CEO of Invest Nebraska, called the eigtht ideas pitched “extremely diverse.”
“It wasn’t all software,” event judge Bart Dillashaw, an attorney and the president of the Nebraska Angels, said. “You had some hardware and stuff that was like games.”
On Monday …
Read MorePrairie Moves: Business Journal talks entrepreneurship with Peter deSilva
Lead Read
“Up Close: Peter deSilva, president of UMB Bank” – The Kansas City Business Journal’s Alyson Raletz interviews Peter deSilva, the champion of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Big 5 initiative to make Kansas City America’s “most entrepreneurial city.”
Quotable
“What I’m trying to get at, in what feels like ten billion words, is that a lot of …
Read MoreIowa part of inaugural Google for Entrepreneurs Week
Google on Monday announced Google for Entrepreneurs, an umbrella effort of its programs and partnerships that support startups and entrepreneurs around the world. To kick off this effort, the internet giant Sunday began hosting its first annual Google for Entrepreneurs Week, 33 events across 13 countries. Among those events is a Google tools and products training session Wednesday morning in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Google for Entrepreneurs is partnering with the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce – which earned the organization a mention in Google’s Google for Entrepreneurs announcement – to host the training, which runs from 7-10 a.m. …
Read MorePrairie Portrait: George Jurgens of Hatchlings
Silicon Prairie News: What led you to Des Moines and Hatchlings?
George Jurgens: Eight years ago I was invited to a friend originally from Iowa’s lake house on Lake Panorama. Ever since then I’ve been visiting every year and got to know Brad through mutual friends. |
After graduating from university this year in England, I started looking for jobs with startups in the U.S. Brad was an ideal contact and offered me a position with Hatchlings, a business I’ve seen grow over the last few years. I didn’t realize until I started work at Hatchlings how huge the startup scene in the Midwest is, and I am excited to see where it will be in 10 years. Depending on how the visa situation goes, I’d love to stick around and be a part of that …
Read MoreWi-Fi product promising simplicity wins Startup Weekend Omaha
SimplyFi, a concept for a Wi-Fi router and extender, won the fourth Startup Weekend Omaha on Sunday, beating out seven other teams. Let’s Brew, an online resource and store for home brewers, and Small Potatoes Co., a marketplace for home gardeners and locavores, placed second and third, respectively.
“We thought SimplyFi was a cut above the rest …
Read MoreStartup Weekend Omaha pitches begin at 6 p.m. at The Mastercraft
The nearly 48-hour window that teams have to finish their Startup Weekend Omaha projects comes to an end at 6 p.m. today when each presents their ideas in a five-minute pitch. This free and open to the public event takes place in room 214 of The Mastercraft building (1111 N. 13th St.). If you’re attending, look for Startup Weekend Omaha signs. …
Read MoreThe eight teams of Startup Weekend Omaha (Photos)
Startup Weekend Omaha is nearly 30 hours in. Its 60-some competitors have formed eight teams and spread themselves throughout The Mastercraft, occupying four offices in the North Downtown building to see their ideas through.
Before those ideas were pitched Friday, Omaha co-organizer and former Startup Weekend COO Shane Reiser kicked off the event with an overview of the competition: teams have until 6 p.m. on Sunday to build a product and put together a pitch. With more …
Read MoreWatch eCreamery try to close a “sweet deal” on Shark Tank (Video)
The co-founders of Omaha-based eCreamery appeared Friday on ABC’s Shark Tank, pitching the five “sharks” for a $250,000 investment in exchange for 33 percent of their company.
“Who doesn’t love ice cream?” Abby Jordan opened the pitch. “However, no one in the $23 billion ice cream industry is positioning ice cream as a gift.”
Ecreamery, an online custom ice cream and gelato shop, plans …
Read MorePrairie Moves: Sporting News looks at Sporting Innovations tech
Lead Read:
“Sporting Kansas City’s business plan could revolutionize American sports” – Sporting News recaps the success and reveals the ambitions of Sporting Kansas City and its technology spin-off, Sporting Innovations.
Quotable:
“During the week of August 27 – September 1 …
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