Staff

  • Thanks to the Thinc Iowa community for helping raise the bar

    Some observers of college sports will tell you that athletes improve the most between their freshman and sophomore year. While I’m no coach, I believe that theory has to do with the idea that the initial year sets your baseline. After seeing how your particular skills and ability fit into the new environment, you take…

  • Yes, we saw Ryan from The Office say “Silicon Prairie” last night …

    … and, yes, we got a good chuckle out of it, just as many other Prairie people seem to have. As “The Office” opened its ninth and final season last night, viewers of the sitcom were brought up to speed with a rundown of how the show’s characters spent their summers. As you can see…

  • Mars Cafe reopens Saturday

    The reopening of a coffee shop isn’t something you expect to read about on Silicon Prairie News, but today we’ve made an exception: Mars Cafe is back. The coffee shop located near Drake University was a favorite among Des Moines’ creative class from the time it opened in 2006 until it closed last month. A…

  • A (belated) midyear look at the “10 Silicon Prairie startups to watch”

    One counts McDonald’s among its account holders, another carries recognition from the SXSW Interactive Awards and another had its product featured on the PBS News Hour. Seven months ago, none of these milestones had been achieved, but we’ve seen quick progress and achievements. In January, I presented a list of 10 Silicon Prairie companies that…

  • So, who’s moving to Kansas City?

    In an interview today, Zaarly founder Bo Fishback said Google Fiber will “kickstart a wave of new startup energy and activity” in Kansas City’s startup community. On Twitter, it appears it’s begun. Though not specifically “startup energy,” a Twitter search for “#GoogleFiber AND ‘move’ ” turns up …

  • Straight outta Fayetteville: Thoughts from a startup tour through “NWA”

    One of the most underappreciated aspects of working online is that fact that you can set up anywhere. I choose to work from downtown Des Moines most of the time, but for a few days last week I found myself in Northwest Arkansas (colloquially “NWA”). While there visiting my parents, I took the chance to…

  • Revisiting the question of who’s the No. 2 startup in Des Moines

    Last December, I wrote a post asking “Who’s the No. 2 startup in Des Moines?” In that post, I shared the results of an informal (and unscientific) poll that I conducted around the community to seek out which companies were the “top startups.” While Dwolla was a unanimous selection at No. 1, there was no…

  • Five key points from the Silicon Prairie Stories panel at TechWeek

    I participated Monday in a Chicago TechWeek panel titled “Stories from the Silicon Prairie: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Outside of the Valley.” I was joined by Naithan Jones of AgLocal, Thad Langford of Open Air Equity Partners, Ben Milne of Dwolla and Greg Kratofil of Polsinelli Shughart, who served as our panel’s moderator. This was…

  • Congratulations to Slowdown on five amazing years

    It’s hard to believe but Saddle Creek Records’ physical manifestation, Slowdown, in Omaha’s North Downtown district just turned five years old. Slowdown began in 2000 as an idea to start a rock venue, the club’s website explains. Jason Kulbel and Robb Nansel first sought to renovate a space in downtown Omaha to give the city…

  • Four years in, reflecting on the Big Omaha community

    It’s hard to believe that we’re days away from the fourth year of Big Omaha. It seems like just yesterday we were debating about hosting an event, fondly something similar to an “Omaha Web 2.0 / Social Media” conference. I for one am glad that we decided on the name “Big Omaha” instead of the…