Meet Pamela Finn, Senior Advisor @ Burlington Capital / Founder @ Midwest Women Entrepreneurs Collective 

How would you describe the startup culture in Nebraska?

Nebraska’s startup community has a collaborative and inclusive culture that fosters innovation across various sectors. Entrepreneurs in the state often exhibit resilience and resourcefulness, building ventures efficiently and focusing on industries such as agriculture, biotechnology, health and logistics.

Networking events play a pivotal role in this ecosystem, with gatherings like Silicon Prairie Startup Week bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and potential partners to forge vital connections. This sense of community is further bolstered by organizations like the Nebraska Startup Academy, which provides guidance and mentorship to founders, investors and the broader community, aiming to establish Nebraska as an innovation hub in the Midwest. 

However, challenges remain, particularly in fostering diversity within the entrepreneurial community. A 2023 report highlighted that Nebraska ranked near the bottom nationally for female business ownership, indicating a need for more inclusive support systems to encourage diverse participation in entrepreneurship. My own entrepreneurial journey started in the early 1990s, and I faced a steep uphill climb to get investment support —even with multi-million-dollar contracts from global brands in hand. I was rejected by six banks before the seventh “took a chance on me”. It’s been more than three decades since, and the picture for women entrepreneurs — broadly, but very specifically in Nebraska — hasn’t improved all that much. 

For this reason and many others, we launched the Midwest Women Entrepreneurs Collective, with a focus on networking, education and collaboration.

How do you balance taking risks and making calculated decisions in pursuit of innovation?

Innovation inherently involves risk-taking, and successful entrepreneurs need to know how to balance risk with strategic decision-making. In my experience I have found that risk management and innovation are complementary forces rather than opposing ones, but this isn’t usually intuitive for newer entrepreneurs.

In my years of building and advising businesses, I’ve learned some valuable lessons about getting traction and growing sustainable companies. Here’s what I would recommend Nebraska’s entrepreneurs try:

Fail fast and learn quickly – Healthy risk is not about recklessness; it’s about rapid iteration. Some of the most successful innovation models, such as lean startups and accelerators, emphasize testing ideas quickly and pivoting based on real-world feedback. This has been embraced in innovation hubs like Silicon Valley for many years.

Leverage a strong network and expert insights – Innovation thrives on collaboration. As an entrepreneur, mentor and advocate, I’ve seen firsthand how surrounding yourself with trusted advisors, investors and industry experts helps mitigate unnecessary risks while still pushing forward with bold ideas. This is one of the areas I think is most critical for helping less mature communities, including Nebraska’s community of women entrepreneurs, thrive. The bigger the community, the more opportunity for truly valuable networking. That’s a big part of the reason we founded the Midwest Women Entrepreneurs Collective.

Diversify the approach to risk – One key lesson from the investment world is not putting all your eggs in one basket. Whether working in real estate development, venture investment or business consulting, I always assess risk through multiple lenses: financial, operational and market-driven. A diversified risk approach helps ensure that no single challenge can derail innovation.

How do you define success and what metrics do you pay the most attention to?

For me, success isn’t just about profitability — it’s about creating lasting change or building an entity that is sustainable and scalable. Most of the time, this does not generate immediate financial gain — there’s a reason “unicorns” are so celebrated: they’re rare! — so focus on scalability and long-term viability. 

A truly successful business is one that operates efficiently, scales strategically, adapts to market changes and provides value to customers, employees and stakeholders. In my mind, the most profoundly successful businesses build mutually beneficial relationships along the way.

What are the top one or two challenges / opportunities Nebraska startups face?

Nebraska’s startup ecosystem is at an exciting inflection point — poised for significant growth but still facing critical challenges that need to be addressed. While the state has strong industry expertise, gaps in early-stage funding and scaling opportunities remain hurdles, particularly for entrepreneurs lacking robust communities.

One of the biggest hurdles Nebraska startups face is limited access to early-stage capital and high-growth resources. While Nebraska offers a strong community-driven support network and growing accelerator programs, the ecosystem lacks a density of venture capital. Many startups struggle to secure the funding needed to scale efficiently. As more entrepreneurs look to scale, the limited resources widen the gap between entrepreneurs with deeper connections and those trying to make a go of it more or less alone.

The talent is here, and the ambition is here. The state’s challenge in supporting innovation is helping all people behind great business ideas launch, sustain and scale.

If we can support our entrepreneurs at a statewide level, and build sub-communities to help all kinds of entrepreneurs thrive, Nebraska has a huge opportunity to establish itself as a leader in agriculture technology, logistics, AI-driven automation and robotics. Programs like the Robotics Fellowship and Nebraska’s AgTech and supply chain innovations showcase the potential to build world-class startups right here in the Midwest.

We have several advantages to leverage to get to that point. We have deep industry knowledge, cost advantages and a cluster of exciting innovation hubs. But we need to continue to invest in places like capital access, talent retention and industry-specific innovation to truly become a powerhouse for tech and entrepreneurship. And to truly pay dividends, this investment has to be applicable to all communities of entrepreneurs.

What is one emerging industry or technology that you believe will have a significant impact on the Nebraska startup ecosystem in the next few years?

If I had to select one of the most transformative technologies set to shape Nebraska’s startup ecosystem in the coming years, it would be immersive technology and digital twin simulation, particularly in healthcare, education and advanced training environments.

With UNMC’s EDGE District and the Davis Global Center, Nebraska is positioning itself as a national leader in intelligent, immersive simulation technologies. These innovations have applications far beyond healthcare, extending into manufacturing, agriculture and workforce training.

With the EDGE District, the iEXCEL and Davis Global Center, Nebraska has the potential to become a national hub for digital twin simulation and AI-driven training solutions. Entrepreneurs who leverage this ecosystem now will be at the forefront of one of the fastest-growing tech sectors in the world.