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  • Introducing William Fisher’s View from the FishBowl: ‘Why me?’

    (Editor’s Note: Help us welcome William Fisher, a new regular guest contributor to Silicon Prairie News! In his series kicking off today, View from the FishBowl, Fisher will be contributing articles aimed at helping entrepreneurs in our region.) Recently, I was asked by Silicon Prairie News (SPN) to contribute articles on a frequent basis to…

  • Big Omaha – Bo Fishback: ‘Learning really fast is way more important than being an expert’

    “You guys caught me at a weird time,” Bo Fishback said. “I am going to be super honest about what we are doing, where we are in the process … we are 9.5 weeks into a startup that we’re working on.” That was how Fishback, the CEO and co-founder of Zaarly, opened his presentation at…

  • The twitterverse replies: What is Big Omaha?

    About halfway into my drive to Omaha last Wednesday for Big Omaha, I realized that I was in the car with two fellow Des Moines residents who were, as Big Omaha MC David Hauser affectionately …

  • Jeremy Harrington sketches out Big Omaha 2011

    Jeremy Harrington, the Des Moines-based user experience lead for Voce Communications, literally put his pen-to-paper to create an impressive set of “sketchnotes” documenting the presentations at Big Omaha. Harrington’s series covers most the keynote speakers as well as others who appeared on stage, including MC David Hauser, Nebraska …

  • Prairie Moves: John Hobbs, Levi Rosol, 80/35 app and more

    Published every Tuesday, Prairie Moves keeps our readers informed about career moves, media coverage, product development, and more from the companies and individuals we cover on Silicon Prairie News. If you or your company would like to submit one of the items below for our next Prairie Moves post, please email info@siliconprairienews.com. And if you…

  • Big Omaha – Marc Eckō: ‘Just because you talk about it doesn’t mean you did it’

    Marc Eckō is a serial entrepreneur. His roots to business are tied deeply to his love of art and popular culture. He is the founder and chief creative officer of Mark Eckō Enterprises, a billion dollar full-scale global fashion and lifestyle company. Eckō was the youngest member ever inducted into the board of directors for…

  • Many thanks to the hundreds involved in Big Omaha!

    As we roll into the new week following last week’s amazing Big Omaha festivities, we wanted to pause to share a few thoughts with you. First off, thank you! Thank you for supporting what we’ve built over the course of the last three years culminating in Big Omaha 2011 where over 600 people came in…

  • Big Omaha – Travis Kalanick: ‘Whatever it is that you’re afraid of, go after it’

    Travis Kalanick is the co-founder and CEO of Uber, a startup working to provide high-quality, on-demand car service booked easily through a user’s iPhone or SMS. His previous company, Red Swoosh, was sold for $19 million in April 2007. Prior companies include Scour, the world’s first p2p search engine, where Kalanick also achieved the distinction…

  • Big Omaha – Philip Kaplan: Turning cool ideas into successful companies

    Philip Kaplan’s presentation was a nice mix of “this is how I became awesome” and “this is how you can be awesome, too.” His story started with a little backdrop on his move from W-2 employee land, where he was building sites for another firm, to running his own show. It was one of those…

  • Big Omaha – Neil Blumenthal: ‘Glasses are fun, but they are un-fun when they are $500’

    The past three months have been a whirlwind for Neil Blumenthal. On February 15, he and his co-founders launched Warby Parker with features in GQ and Vogue. Three weeks after launch, his designer frames and eyeglass company shattered their one year target sales goals, sold out of their top 15 styles, and had a waiting…