What is Prairie Moves?

Published twice weekly, Prairie Moves is a roundup of career changes, media coverage, product development and other updates from the companies and individuals regularly covered by Silicon Prairie News.

If you or your company would like to submit an item for our next Prairie Moves post, please email editor@siliconprairienews.com or use the form below.

Lead Read

“Kauffman Foundation refocuses after turmoil” – With a CEO search underway and in the wake of trustee departures, the Kansas City Star takes a close look at operations and mission of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

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Quotable

“I think we’re all headed toward an agent economy, where everyone becomes an agent or a service provider instead of an employee at some big corporation.” – Leap2 founder Mike Farmer told the New York Times for a story about the decreasing size of startup teams – New York Times

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Microsoft acquired Overland Park-based PhoneFactor for an undisclosed amount – PhoneFactor Press Release, Microsoft blog, Kansas City Business Journal, SPN and Techmeme links

Fundings

• RAZ Mobile closed $800,000 in Series A funding from a lone, undisclosed investor – SPN

Career Moves

• Shane Reiser, formerly with Kohort, joined Dwolla
• Paloma Velazquez joined Change as a communication intern – Change blog
• Nate Paulson joined BitMethod as a communications intern – BitMethod blog

New Tech

• RecBob launched its rec sports management technology at DEMO Fall – recbob.com, VentureBeat and Press Release
• Lantern released its iPhone app – App Store and Latern blog
• Gitpilot released its Git collaboration software – gitpilot.com and Mac App Store

Product & Business Updates

• SkyVu Entertainment announced a deal with Wildbrain to turn its mobile game franchise Battle Bears into a television series and consumer products line – Press Release, All Things D, PocketGamer.biz, SPN, TouchArcade.com, Kotaku and Kidscreen
• PlanetReuse won the SXSW Eco Startup Showcase – SXSW Eco blog
• Cognovant added Liz Scherer to its advisory board – Cognovant blog
• Hudl updated its Top Play feature – Hudl blog
• Dwolla rolled out API updates – Dwolla blog and The Next Web

Mentions

• Leap2 – When Job-Creation Engines Stop at Just One – New York Times
• Dwolla – How Dwolla Works – Fast Company
• Proxibid – Proxibid shifts strategy as new CEO takes over – Omaha World-Herald
• VoterTide – Education a top tweet topic in first debate – USA Today
• Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation – Kauffman Foundation refocuses after turmoil – Kansas City Star
• Pitch & Grow coming to Des Moines to kick off hectic tech week – Des Moines Register
• Wire Me Awake – Conference Puts Emphasis On Midwest Ingenuity – Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan
• Startup Weekend Columbia – Startup Weekend nurtures bright ideas – Columbia Daily Tribune
• DST Systems helps put Kansas City in the mix for Tech Cocktail showcase – Kansas City Business Journal
• Kansas City Is Boosting Its Tech Startups With Launch KC – Forbes
• Who is Kansas City’s hottest showcasing startup? [Poll] – Tech Cocktail
• Internet 2012 Bus Tour – #internet2012 Denver – Seedlauncher blog
• Internet 2012 Bus Tour – Raikes students hear about Reddit’s success – Omaha World-Herald

Gig Bits

Gig Bits is an occasional feature keeping our readers up to speed on Google Fiber. Read Gig Bits.

• Tech firms will go residential to tap into Google Fiber speed – Kansas City Business Journal
• The Startup Riding Google’s Fiber-Optic Superhighway – Forbes
• Time Warner, AT&T cutting Google-style deals in KC – Kansas City Star
• Google attempts to bridge the digital divide with Kansas City’s poor communities – The Pitch

Blogged

• How we’re different [Episode 2] – Dwolla
• Business development 101: How to grow your network – Alex Taub
• 125 People, 54 Hours, 22 startups – Brent Beshore
• State Rep. Hanusa visits StartupCity – StartupCity Des Moines
• Thank you, Sporting Club members! – Sporting Innovations

Misc.

• Kansas City duo pitches their BagBowl invention on ABC’s Shark Tank – Shark Tank (Video) and Kansas City Business Journal
• The Omaha World-Herald and the Columbus Dispatch teamed up with VoterTide to create Social Gridiron – Omaha World-Herald
• Startup Weekend Iowa City introduced its teams – Startup Weekend Iowa City blog
• Kauffman Foundation Accepting Applications from KC Startups for Nov. 12 Demo Day – Kauffman Foundation
• MindMixer – After Twitter Fight, Metro Tells Contractor to Back Off – Washington City Paper
• Entrepreneur KC radio show debuted Wednesday – The Pitch and SPN
• Kansas City IT Professionals announced Zach Kaplan, CEO of Inventables, will speak at Compute Midwest – KCITP
• ‘Pluggabugg’ curbs iPhone crud worries – Des Moines Register

Credits: Screenshot from kansascity.com