Powderhook is an online marketplace that helps users find places to hunt and fish. 

For an experienced entrepreneur like Eric Dinger, finding a field he is passionate about is almost as important as building a business.

Now with his newly launched Lincoln-based startup Powderhook—an online marketplace that allows individuals to find places to hunt and fish—Dinger is doing both.

Thanks to our sponsor

Become an SPN sponsor »
Meet our sponsors »

Over a span of about 10 years, Powderhook’s co-founder grew his first company, a PR and marketing company formerly known as Thought District. At the end of 2012 Dinger sold the company and began thinking about what his next venture should be. Dinger says he took some time off and spent time meeting with the smartest people he knows.

“I have a lot of ideas, but I kept coming back to the idea that I should start a company in an area that I passionately enjoyed,” Dinger (right) told Silicon Prairie News. 

For Dinger that area ended up being recreational hunting and fishing. “Once we finally got the idea and I started losing sleep over it, I knew I was on to something,” he said.

While Dinger describes himself as a non-technical co-founder, Powderhook recently brought on two other co-founders—Randy Terbush as the startup’s CTO and Heath Roehr as the vice president of product development—to round out the team.

Powderhook allows hunters and anglers to search online for available sites to hunt and fish. Inversely, individuals with land for hunting and fishing can list their property sites on Powderhook and work out arrangements with interested parties. Currently the site is a live prototype with several thousand early users and more than 1,000 hunting and fishing sites logged in Nebraska alone.

So far the startup has been funded by Dinger, but the startup is positioned to grow rapidly in the next year. However, Dinger says right now one of Powderhook’s largest challenges is finding qualified rails developers—the startup currently is looking to hire three in the coming months. 

Credits: Product photos courtesy of Powderhook. Eric Dinger photo from StartupGenome.