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Silicon Prairie: The makings of a new startup scene – Part 1
In an article featured on Forbes.com on Monday, Anneke Jong of The Daily Muse spotlights seven regions around the country that are burgeoning hubs for startup activity, including our very own Silicon Prairie. Each region has a name that plays off of the “Silicon” in Silicon Valley, which Jong describes as “a metonym for the…
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How Techmeme could fuel growth of regional tech blogs (like this one)
On Thursday, our story on Dwolla’s new feature, “Instant,” yielded our highest traffic day ever, an important accomplishment to cap off a major year of growth for Silicon Prairie News. By itself, the traffic was cause for celebration, but more important to our team was how the traffic came about. It was the result …
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Who’s the No. 2 startup in Des Moines?
Over the past week or two I’ve asked several folks in Des Moines the same question, “Who is the No. 1 startup in Des Moines?” The answer, almost always, is Dwolla. Some say it quickly while others try to determine a measurement criteria before answering, but either way Dwolla is where they end up. The…
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Think different
If I remember correctly, I was in my middle school keyboard class when I first took notice of a series of black and white images that encouraged me to “Think different.” As we tested for our highest WPM (words per minute), it was hard not to take a break, stare up at the series of…
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Business Record finds increased interest in entrepreneurial education
I love that our friends in the larger publications in Des Moines are writing more and more about the startup community in the area (did you see Juice just highlighted “The Startup Scene” as part of their “Hot in Des Moines” issue?), and I was especially excited to see that the Business Record ran a…
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Want to help grow the Silicon Prairie? Forward this job opening
In our community, it’s often asked, “What’s the most important element to grow our entrepreneurial ecosystem?” The answer: talented and passionate people. In 10 days, the city of Omaha will be losing one of those individuals. Tom Chapman (left) will be departing the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, where he’s served as the director of…
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Thank you! Three years down, and many more ahead (Video)
Thank you. It’s absolutely amazing to look at what we’ve accomplished together as a community over three years. We at Silicon Prairie News are more committed than ever to continue building as well as highlighting the great work taking place, and we have some exciting things in store over the next several years. For a…
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Could the Silicon Prairie use a slice of PIE? A look at the Portland incubator
One of our friends in the Pacific Northwest, Rick Turoczy of the blog Silicon Florist, is about to help serve up the second helping of the Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE) as co-founder. Modeled after TechStars – a Boulder, Co.-based startup accelerator that takes an equity stake in exchange for its three-month program involving seed funding,…
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Continuing the discussion on ‘starting a business in Iowa’
Last month, the Des Moines Register ran an article titled “Why is it so hard to start a business in Iowa?” in which the writer, Lynn Hicks, asked several entrepreneurs and community members, “What can state or local officials do to help startups and create an innovative culture?” In the article, four main ideas were…
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Where do the entrepreneurs hang out? In Des Moines, it’s at Amici.
A mentor or professor from my past — I don’t even remember who at this point — mentioned to me that upon moving to a new city the first thing he did was seek out the coffee shops where the local tech entrepreneurs hang out. That, in his opinion, was the best way to get…