James Linder, M.D. talks about how he sees the university system playing a role in Nebraska’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Startup Nebraska, a statewide effort in conjunction with the Startup America Partnership, launched Friday with a hour-long event organized by individuals spearheading the cause.
“This is very exciting,” Tom Chapman of Nebraska Global, the event’s emcee, opened the program in front of about 40 attendees. “I think we have sort of the startup motif going,” Chapman said, making note of the event’s venue, an unfinished room in the Mastercraft Building, as a metaphor for Startup Nebraska.
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“I have received some feedback where people have said, ‘Well, what does (Startup Nebraska) do? What does it mean? And it doesn’t do or mean anything right now,” Chapman said.
“We have a blank canvas, empty walls, empty office and it’s our job to build something great.”
With its launch, Startup Nebraska becomes the second state in the Silicon Prairie to join Startup America Partnership’s directive of encouraging high growth entrepreneurship in the United States. In December, StartupIowa emerged, and on January 31, Startup Kansas and Startup Missouri will launch.
Adding to Chapman and our own Jeff Slobotski‘s remarks, Steve Kiene of Nebraska Global provided his view of “the state of Nebraska right now,” laying out qualities the state does and does not posses.
“Compared to a lot of other parts of the country, we just don’t have enough good entrepreneurs,” said Kiene, who serves as managing principal of a software venture fund that closed a $37 million fund in 2011. He also said that there’s not enough capital “that has a taste for startups,” there’s not enough of a risk-taking mindset or general community support for startups and, a point he expanded on most, there’s not a general mindset of innovative leadership.
“While we’ve got more startups than ever,” Kiene said, “we’re still falling behind other states, they’re moving faster than we are.”
Speaking to what the state possesses, Kiene said individuals in Nebraska have a strong sense of ethics, are hard working, honest and dedicated. “A lot of places don’t have it,” Kiene said. He continued, “We’ve got people in this community that have a long-term viewpoint.” He also spoke about a rich heritage of non-traditional entrepreneurs, namely farmers, and inspirational leaders, mentioning Warren Buffett, Peter Kiewit and Jeff Raikes.
Check out Chapman, Slobotski and Kiene’s full remarks in the 10-minute video below.
For more on Startup Nebraska, see Chapman’s guest post, “Startup Nebraska: Now is the time to get involved,” and check out the Silicon Prairie Challenege to register startups for the “Startup America Growth Kit.”
For more on the StartupIowa launch, see our post, “Q&A: Renaud on StartupIowa, a statewide initiative launching today“.
Photos from launch
Cupcakes featuring the state of Nebraska and the Startup America Partnership logo help attendees celebrate.
Dusty Davidson of Silicon Prairie News, left, and Tom Chapman of Nebraska Global, middle
From left to right, Chris Augeri, Mailani Veney and Doug Carr network in the Mastercraft Building.*
Right, John Henry Müller and John Hobbs of What Cheer visit with Cody Petersen of SecretPenguin
Dave Nelson of SecretPenguin speaks about his company based in the Mastercraft Building before attendees were given a chance to stop by the entrepreneurs’ offices.
Megan Hunt and her daughter, Alice, speak about CAMP Coworking, a coworking space located in the Mastercraft Building.
Robert Grinnell, owner of the Mastercraft Building, speaks about the creative firms and startups that have chosen to take office in Mastercraft.
Kira Olson and Brittany Mascio of Silicon Prairie News show off the selection of cupcakes at the event.
Image credits: Photos by Amy Engle.
Disclosure: Silicon Prairie News’ Jeff Slobotski has been a part of the Startup Nebraska effort.
*Update 8:20 a.m. – When published, post incorrectly identified Mailani Veney.
