In the past we’ve written “top stories of the year” posts based on what our editorial team deemed the most important news of the year. This time we turned that tradition on its head and focused on the numbers. What follows is a look at our 13 most read stories over the last 12 months—chosen by you, our readers.
So we went back and found the stories that garnered the most page views, summarized the news and tried our best to contextualize why it made SPN’s top stories. We even checked in with a handful of entrepreneurs from across the region to bring you the most up-to-date information about the topics you found most interesting this year.
Without further ado, here are the first seven of our 13 most popular Silicon Prairie News stories of 2013:
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13. Straight Shot reveals inaugural class of seven startups, three from Omaha
June 5 (Omaha): Over the summer Omaha-based Dundee Venture Capital announced the seven companies that would take part in the inaugural class of its three-month startup accelerator, Straight Shot. While three of the companies hailed from Omaha, the others came from San Francisco, Minneapolis, Louisville, Ken., and Durham, N.C.
Why it made our top stories: “I think the fact that accelerators have worked so well in so many other places and bringing that to Omaha got people excited,” said David Arnold, Straight Shot’s new managing director. “Looking at places like Boulder and groups like Tech Stars, that can add a lot to the ecosystem. Straight Shot is providing a more structured way to get into the entrepreneurial world. Many are excited about entrepreneurs’ impact on economic development.”
The latest: Arnold said the accelerator’s first class proved that its model works in Omaha and that the community has embraced the program. Round two will hone in and focus on making the program sustainable, he said. The accelerator’s leaders hope to refine the mentorship process and get more sponsors involved to help the young startups. Applications for the second class will open around Jan. 20, with 10 slots this year instead of seven. Selections will be made in April with the program kicking off in June.
12. KC Mayor Sly James seeks young professionals for “Challenge Cabinet”
January 30 (Kansas City): At the beginning of 2013, Kansas City, Mo., mayor Sly James challenged young professionals to get more involved with their local government with help from the city’s Code for America fellows.
Why it made our top stories: An innovative politician is doing something cool and pretty unusual. “I think what interests people is that they saw people who are not usually involved in government, get involved in government,” said Kate O’Neill Rauber, a member of the cabinet. “It’s refreshing to see a city work beyond its usual circles and resources and leverage people in the entrepreneurial and startup world to make the city better.”
The latest: The Mayor chose 30 people to be on the young professional cabinet, and in the six months they’ve been working, the group came up with four areas that can help make KC the best it can be, O’Neill Rauber said.
First, an open data policy allowing for easier access to public information. Second, a focus on developing and fostering entrepreneurship in urban neighborhoods, starting with the Longfellow, Beacon Hill and Manheim Park areas. Third, greater engagement so the public interacts with the city more than when they just have a problem—the group is using MindMixer as a tool for the public to weigh in on the budget planning process. Fourth, pride. O’Neill Rauber says they want to bottle the pride and atmosphere KC felt when they hosted the 2012 MLB All Star game. “We want to make that a year-round sentiment,” she said.
11. Omaha startup with celebrity realtor co-founder reveals plans
January 30 (Omaha): Katrina Campins—a Miami-based real estate agent who appeared as a contestant on The Apprentice in 2004—and Omaha native Jeff Nieto teamed up to create Müvin. The app that allows clients to connect directly with their real estate agent and share their vision for the home they hope to purchase.
Why it made our top stories: A little celebrity never hurts when it comes to marketing a new company. It also helps that more than 200 realtors across Nebraska received information about the product’s launch.
The latest: Since its launch earlier this year, Nieto says the app has changed a lot. Müvin has transformed from a mobile app to software product that functions as a service offering for MLS (multiple listing services). Now the product hopes to make photos better on searchable databases of homes for sale.
“We weren’t comfortable with competing with Trulia’s and Zillow’s—these billion dollar companies, so we made the decision at the end of the summer to try a different rout,” Nieto said.
10. Boutique Window brings in $650K from Nebraska Global, Nelnet
June 4 (Lincoln): Nine months into their startup journey, Boutique Window co-founders Ella Wirtz and Courtney Rodgers announced the company had closed a $650,000 Series A round, led by software investment firm Nebraska Global.
Why it made our top stories: “I think the news of a new technology company in Lincoln is exciting and the general population is becoming more engaged in that area,” Rodgers said. “We also serve a unique market with small boutique businesses so that may have led to readers. We have a great connection with customers.”
The latest: Since June, Boutique Window launched an app for iPhone and iPad. Rodgers says so far the rollout went well, and that the startup has seen stores in the U.S. and Canada using the app. Next, the team will be focusing on more functionality, refining their marketing message and opening up their market of stores. In the last year, Boutique Window has grown to seven employees with an eighth coming soon.
9. ClusterFlunk closes $100K seed round, looks to expand
July 2 (Iowa City, Iowa): After ClusterFlunk—an Iowa-based education startup—launched in January, its founders quickly logged more than 10 percent of the University of Iowa’s student population as users. Shortly after, the startup closed a $100,000 seed round of funding from Iowa investors, including Dwolla’s Ben Milne, Hatchlings’ Brad Dwyer, Anthony Marlowe of Iowa City Capital Partners and Josh Cramer of Cramer Development.
Why it made our top stories: The popularity of an already growing company took off after this investment from some of Iowa’s biggest names in entrepreneurship. Plenty of Iowa students—and community members—read up on this story about the startup’s college-age co-founders.
The latest: In August, ClusterFlunk founders Joe Dallago and AJ Nelson were named Student Entrepreneurs of the Year at the second annual Silicon Prairie Awards. Three months later they announced that ClusterFlunk will scale its product to 50 major universities across the country beginning in Jan. 2014.
8. Dwolla founder: “Everything no one wants me to say about Bitcoin”
April 8 (Des Moines): From Ben Milne‘s blog: “Bitcoin has found itself somewhere between rational people and this other world of unknowns. The reason being, it doesn’t have a central owner and can be converted between currencies and owners relatively easily. While you could argue those profiting are now owners who care about it’s future, most enthusiasts would not… Bitcoin, like any other protocol, was created for/by a group of people who may or may not have understood how it would be used – even if they dreamt of how it could be.”
Why it made our top stories: Bitcoin is a trendy topic both within and outside of the tech world. And a 1,500 word essay on a controversial type of digital currency, written by a pioneer in the online payment systems, made for great reading amongst the entrepreneurial community.
The latest: Earlier this month, Coinbase—a startup within Bitcoin—received a $25 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz, the same California-based venture capital firm to invest in Dwolla this year. Though the digital currency hit a snag in early December when the Chinese government put a lid on Bitcoin, causing its value to fall nearly $500 in one day.
7. Sprint acquires homegrown Handmark, OneLouder
May 20 (Kansas City): After 13 years of independent existence, Handmark and its mobile advertising subsidiary OneLouder were acquired by Sprint in order to boost its advertising platform, Pinsight Media+. For Sprint, the acquisition is an opportunity to accelerate its growth in mobile advertising, raise its talent level—all 50 Handmark and OneLouder employees were retained—and gain leadership. For Handmark and OneLouder, it’s an opportunity to scale what it’s building and to grow as a team.
Why it made our top stories: A well-known Kansas City social engagement advertising group was acquired by one of the largest corporations in KC, Sprint. That’s a big deal.
“KC has been looking for these success stories of big companies like Sprint taking notice of companies like us,” said Erica Cohen, who does marketing for OneLouder. “They were trying to do more with mobile ads and stuff on the data side and that aligned with our goals.”
The latest: There hasn’t been any radical changes to the company in the last eight months, Cohen said, but they have hit the ground running. “We haven’t missed a beat from the business perspective,” she said. “We have more to come in early 2014 and then we can really leverage each others assets. A lot of people are in the mobile ad space, but we want to be the ones to do it right.”
Tune in tomorrow for the Top 6!
Credits: Article screenshots from SiliconPrairieNews.com.
