Rap Genius co-founder and five more to join Big Des Moines lineup

We’ve been hard at work putting together the first round of speakers for this year’s Big Des Moines. We leaked our first six speakers at the Silicon Prairie Awards and now, we’d like to formally introduce the individuals who will take the stage October 10-11 and share their stories, encouraging you in your entrepreneurial ventures.…

Jeremie Miller, founder of recently acquired Singly, spoke at last year’s conference. Many new and experienced leaders of the national startup community join us this October 9-11. 

We’ve been hard at work putting together the first round of speakers for this year’s Big Des Moines. We leaked our first six speakers at the Silicon Prairie Awards and now, we’d like to formally introduce the individuals who will take the stage October 10-11 and share their stories, encouraging you in your entrepreneurial ventures.

Big Des Moines, like all Big Series events, focuses on bringing together an intimate audience of entrepreneurs and startup enthusiasts to learn and become inspired by one another. We feel it is important every attendee has the opportunity to connect with every person in the room. Because of this, the experience is tailored to a smaller crowd. If you’re interested in attending the conference, we encourage you and your team to sign up today to secure your spot. Stay tuned for more announcements. 

Purchase your Big Des Moines ticket

Please help us welcome our first six Big Des Moines speakers. 

Clara Shih, Hearsay Social

@clarashih

Besides founding the leading social sales and marketing platform, Clara also sits on the board of directors for Starbucks. She authored “The Facebook Era,” which is now used as a marketing textbook at Harvard Business School. Her experience and knowledge runs deep coming from past positions with Google, Microsoft and Salesforce.com. Clara has been named one of Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, Fast Company’s Most Influential People in Technology, and one of Businessweek’s Top Young Entrepreneurs. 

Mahbod Moghadam, Rap Genius

@mahbodmoghadam

From Stanford law school to lyrical genius, Mahbod’s passion for understanding rap music led him to start Rap Genius with his two friends from college. You may have heard how Andreessen Horowitz invested $15 million earlier this year and Ben Horowitz’s fascination with rap music. Mahbod was recently named to Fast Company’s 100 most creative people in 2013 and we are excited to welcome to Big Des Moines the same creative spirit he brings to Rap Genius. 

Colin Hunter, Alton Lane

@AltonLane

Take a step back in time and get to know your newest tailor. Colin’s goal is creating premium custom menswear while focusing on a personalized shopping experience. After co-founding Alton Lane in 2009 his goal is to revolutionize the luxury menswear market. With a background working with top executives in Fortune Global 1000 companies, Colin understands the needs for premium menswear and will bring a designer’s edge to his talk on starting up Alton Lane. 

Ryan Freitas, about.me

@ryanchris

Specializing in interaction and user experience design for 15 years, Ryan knows a thing or two about engaging websites. Co-founding about.me with Big Omaha speaker Tony Conrad, Ryan also is an advisor and investor in several companies, including Branch, Sprint.ly, editorially and Blue Bottle Coffee.

Jason Johnson, August

@jcjohnson

From your smartphone to your deadbolt, Jason is helping to remove that bundle of keys in your pocket. As a managing partner of the startup incubator Founders Den and former VP of Dolby Laboratories as well as the Chairman of the Internet of Things Consortium, Jason is bringing a wealth of knowledge to share with you. He also has founded and sold several companies. 

Alex Forrester, Rising Tide Capital

@ADForrester

Mixing social justice, entrepreneurship and microfinance, Alex co-founded Rising Tide Capital in May 2004 with his then Harvard classmate, now wife, Alfa Demmellash. The goal is to eliminate barriers to success by connecting people living on the poverty line to knowledge, social and financial capital. Rising Tide currently has 300 graduate businesses up and running with about 280 getting ready to launch. 

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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