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Research: Talent Attraction Case Study (Nebraska)
Last summer, the Aksarben Foundation approached Chapman and Company about creating a landscape analysis on talent for Nebraska. While this analysis is about Nebraska, there are many lessons for communities throughout the Silicon Prairie region. Here are some broad stroke lessons from the report: The United States is WAY behind on technology talent. This is…
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Funding Roundup for the Week of Oct. 21
It was a strong week for Minnesota. Between Total Expert and ShiraTronics, Minnesota based companies brought in more than $85 million in Venture Funding. There was a little more diversity than in previous weeks with companies in Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin also raising substantial funds. These fundings are aggregate lists created from Crunchbase, SEC…
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An Interview with Seth Derner, Founder of Lincoln-Based (sort of) Vivayic
In a phone interview with Seth Derner, the founder of Vivayic, I discovered something that is truly out of the ordinary. It wasn’t the fact that Vivayic was ranked exactly number 5000 on the Inc. 5000 list for 2019. It wasn’t that a rancher’s kid from Wheeler County, Nebraska had started a customized skill assessment/training…
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Margot Is Creating the Premier Wedding Planning Software
Having spent significant time with Omaha founder, Candace Kalasky, the process of building good wedding planning software opened my eyes to the complexities presented by “the big day”. Ms. Kalasky started her first business, Lovestruck Events (www.lovestruckevents.co) in 2011. It started humbly as a way to help friends with their weddings. According to Kalasky, this…
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Juno launches subscription greeting card service for busy people, draws on expertise of working artists
In our increasingly digital society, it’s easy to feel disconnected. Despite the ubiquity of social media and texting, nothing beats the thrill of face-to-face interaction, though a nice handwritten letter or a greeting card comes close. Jesse and Ross Harding, two brothers raised in Omaha, experienced such disconnection when they moved away from home. Living…
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Exorcise the Ghosts in Your Hallways: CEO Greg Daake on Overcoming the Past
One of author William Faulkner’s most iconic phrases concerns the lingering influence of yesterday: “The past is never dead. It isn’t even past.” (Requiem for a Nun, 1937.) Divorced from context, those lines seem alternately romantic, insightful, absurd, comforting and creepy. In context, they speak of the need to set fire to the failures, lies,…
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Flywheel founder Dusty Davidson at TechBrew
Last week, Dusty Davidson visited TechBrew in Council Bluffs, Iowa. We were in attendance and taped some of what he had to say. In particular, we thought that his response to a question about growing up in the Midwest was poignant. So, we thought that we would share it with you.
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Brian Ardinger Talks IO Summit, Nelnet, and Innovation
Last week, SPN caught up with the Director of Innovation at Nelnet, Brian Ardinger. Brian is also the founder of InsideOutside.io, makers of the IO Podcast and the IO Summit. The Summit is coming to Lincoln on October 20 as part of the Startup Week festivities. The interview covered a number of topics and includes…
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Simple Strat – solving a not so simple problem for marketers everywhere
Last week, SPN had the chance to speak with Ali Schwanke, founder and CEO of Simple Strat. In short, Simple Strat is a Lincoln-based marketing agency that helps B2B companies with growth marketing through a variety of services including inbound and digital marketing, video, and sales enablement. However, Ali and her co-founder Tyler are also…
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Greenlight Natural Opens CBD Dispensary in Benson
In 2005, Chris Potratz was deployed in Kuwait. The war in Iraq had already taken the lives of some 2,000 U.S. soldiers, and many of those who returned were plagued with anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain, as Potratz was. Upon completing his service, Potratz sought relief. He tried pharmaceuticals prescribed by the Veteran Affairs Medical…
A week-long celebration of the startup and entrepreneurial community in Nebraska with events in Omaha, Lincoln, Ashland and Council Bluffs Learn more »