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Cedar Rapids and Iowa City

  • Add a bonus to your boring employee benefits plan

    (Guest post by Josh Cramer.) Before you gouge your eyes out thinking I’m going to launch into a seminar on 401Ks or a rant on how screwed up our health care system is, let’s step back and consider another side of employee benefits. Sure, we offer a health care plan and IRA plan to our…

  • Prairie Moves: TechCrunch tabs Zapier one of best at Y Combinator Demo Day

    Lead Read: “TechCrunch’s Picks: The 10 Best Startups From Y Combinator’s S12 Demo Day” – Columbia, Mo.-born Zapier was named one of TechCrunch’s top 10 of 75 startups that participated in Y Combinator’s Demo Day Quotable: “Lots of coffee leads to lots of code, which leads to lots of cool stuff.” – FormZapper founder Andy…

  • Three more speakers join Thinc Iowa, limited tickets still available

    Today we’re adding to our speaker list by welcoming three more phenomenal individuals to our Thinc Iowa slate. One has been named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the 100 people “changing the world in a positive way,” one led the team that created what LifeHacker dubbed the “best to-do app for iPhone,” and…

  • Thinc Iowa 2012 tickets now on sale!

    Join us in Des Moines, October 9-11, for our two and a half day conference on innovation and entrepreneurship. With more than a dozen nationally recognized speakers and hundreds of attendees coming in from across the country, Thinc Iowa brings connections, collaborations and celebrations. Our season ticket holders have already claimed …

  • Prairie Moves: Kansas City pivots to become a smart city

    Lead Read: “Pivoting To Create A Smart City” – Fast Company’s Boyd Cohen compares Kansas City’s decision to secure Google Fiber to the pivot made by a lean startup. Quotable: “From my interactions with Omaha startup folks, they’re smart, authentic, hustling entrepreneurs who would rather lose their house than their investors’ money. We love that…

  • Feld, Neves, Morrill and more join Thinc Iowa 2012 lineup

    With this year’s Thinc Iowa conference expanding by a day to include two full days of speakers, we’re excited to welcome more than a dozen nationally known speakers to the event stage. These individuals will share more than their background and expertise in startups, investing and mentoring. They’ll also share meals, parties and an experience…

  • A (belated) midyear look at the “10 Silicon Prairie startups to watch”

    One counts McDonald’s among its account holders, another carries recognition from the SXSW Interactive Awards and another had its product featured on the PBS News Hour. Seven months ago, none of these milestones had been achieved, but we’ve seen quick progress and achievements. In January, I presented a list of 10 Silicon Prairie companies that…

  • Incubator with StartupCity Des Moines ties comes to northwest Iowa

    Leann Jacobsen hopes establishing StartupCity Spencer, an incubator using the same name and approach of a Des Moines incubator, can put the northwest Iowa town of less than 12,000 people on the entrepreneurial map. “With the talented people that reside here …

  • Cast your votes on the 48 finalists of our Silicon Prairie Awards

    The month of our inaugural Silicon Prairie Awards has arrived. It’s time to unveil the 48 finalists across 12 categories that recognize individuals and companies for their outstanding products, strong leadership and noteworthy contributions to the community over the last year. In June, we opened public nominations, receiving more 1,200 submissions. Our 16-member selection committee…

  • We’re hiring: SPN Community Builder in Kansas City

    In the midst of our ongoing efforts to tell the stories of the region’s startups, creatives and entrepreneurs, we’re extremely excited to announce a new chapter in our own story: Silicon Prairie News is hiring for the position of Community Builder in Kansas City. Our mission is simple – build creative startup communities – and…