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  • Guest Post: Answering Scott Case’s challenge to the Silicon Prairie

    At Thinc Iowa in Des Moines last month, Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership and founding CTO of priceline.com, described the mission of the Startup America Partnership. Initiated by the White House but operating as an independent, private-sector entity, the Startup America Partnership is dedicated to growing more resources for entrepreneurs in the…

  • Guest Post: Thursday’s AWS Lean Startup live stream is worth a watch

    I’ve often said that getting a technology startup launched has never been easier. So many services, software and …

  • View from the FishBowl: The Perfect Pitch, Part 3: Finally, the pitch

    OK. We know our audience, and we have down cold both the industry and the company we are pitching. Now, let’s make some sausage. I like to get those I work with to follow some simple rules that I have witnessed that are effective. My idea of a perfect pitch is one that tells them…

  • View from the FishBowl – The Perfect Pitch, Part 2: Know your company

    In my last article, I explored how to answer the question regarding how to create the perfect pitch. In my opinion, it is predicated on you being able to understand your audience, the company you are presenting and any outside elements that influence the decision. After you understand these items, then you are ready to…

  • Guest Post: Lessons learned from failure

    (This is a guest post by Jonathan Kay). Odds are, you have a blog reader. You have all your favorite sites and RSS feeds hooked in, and I would even venture to say you start your day off each morning by skimming through all this content. You probably read a handful of “five tips on…

  • Guest Post: Think you have the Next Big Thing? 5 questions to ask yourself

    (This is a guest post by Bo Fishback) When I left what I thought was my dream job to launch a start-up, I truly believed I was onto something huge. Initially, I was following my instincts; however, looking back, some key indicators reinforced my gut feeling. Think you’re on the precipice of the next big…

  • View from the FishBowl – The Perfect Pitch, Part 1: Know your audience

    I have been asked a number of times how to create the perfect pitch. Young (or old) entrepreneurs want the template that will result in funding with the fewest number of steps and the minimum amount of time. After all, we all want it now … and we want it with whipped topping and nuts.…

  • View from the FishBowl: Can you talk the talk? OK, but focus on walking the walk

    Recently, I was honored to spend an evening with an outstanding group of young people who participated in Startup Weekend Omaha. Wow, was that refreshing! What I saw was a super group of young people trying to figure out how to walk the walk … knowing they’re already beginning to understand how to talk the…

  • Guest Post: Of internships and new grads

    (This is a guest post by Doug Durham.) Internships are new to us. In fact, hiring people straight out of college is new to us. Historically, we have built our teams by hiring experienced (or relatively experienced) people often via word of mouth recommendations. We have always been quite protective of our culture and the…

  • Guest Post: Every business doesn’t begin with millions in cash

    (This is a guest post by Tej Dhawan.) There is ample news about the idea that popped into an entrepreneur’s head in the shower, the demo was created by lunch, VCs lined up to lend money by dinner and acquisition happened in the quarter that followed. Scant attention is shared about those who logged 60…