Silicon Prairie News Awards 3 KC Startups with Golden Analog

Throw together 400+ entrepreneurial enthusiasts, 48 incredible startup nominees and one giant golden prairie dog and what do you get?  The Silicon Prairie Awards.

Last night, the first annual Silicon Prairie Awards honored those startups and Silicon Prairie members who have greatly impacted our Midwest community in a positive way.  With awards ranging from Mobile App of the Year, Startup Service Provider of the Year and the greatly-anticipated Startup of the Year, 12 lucky and talented nominees from Omaha, Kansas City and Des Moines walked away with a golden analog, appropriately shaped as SPN's mascot, a prairie dog.

I was lucky enough to trek across the heartland with two partners from Think Big to partake in the Silicon Prairie Awards.  And after we climbed the stairs of the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, glided across the orange carpet, got "paparazzied" by a SPN photographer and interviewed with the "Joan Rivers" of the event (Michael Stacy), we finally arrived at the Silicon Prairie Awards.

One thing is for sure--there was a lot of entrepreneurial energy in the room.  Lawyers were chatting with startups, sponsors were clinking glasses with executives and even David Cohen, CEO of TechStars, was making his way through the crowd.  It took everything in SPN's power to actually stop people from networking to sit down for the awards ceremony--obviously, we have a lot to talk about!

The awards ceremony was equally as impressive.  It was all smooth sailing for the SPN team as awards were given to startups, entrepreneurs and service providers from across the Silicon Prairie (namely Kansas City, Omaha and Des Moines).  Kansas City alone had 17 nominees, three of which went home with a golden analog.  Those teams and individuals awarded were Front Flip (Mobile App of the Year), Jake Johnson of Divshot (Startup Designer of the Year) and Greg Kratofil (Startup Service Provider of the Year).  The cities of Omaha and Lincoln seemed to walk away with the most analogs, five in total, and Des Moines claimed four (three of which were awarded to Dwolla!).  Don't worry Silicon Prairie, we love a little healthy competition!

After the awards ceremony, guests were invited to an after party in the Joslyn lobby which was sponsored by Lincoln startup Hudl.  Guests had the chance to walk down Startup Alley, a showcase of nine Silicon Prairie startups including eCreamery, MindMixer, Goodsmiths, Vestn, RAZ Mobile, Stackify, RareWire, Obsessive Software and Bulu Box.

Think Big would like to congratulate all winners and nominees at the 2012 Silicon Prairie Awards.  And another big congratulations to Silicon Prairie News for pulling off an event for anyone passionate about startups in the Midwest area!

Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig

Think Big Counts Down to the Silicon Prairie Awards in Omaha

One week from today, Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum will be filled with hundreds of people in attendance of the 2012 Silicon Prairie Awards. Over 400 entrepreneurs, investors, creatives and professionals will come together to honor the world of startup innovation and recognize individuals and companies for their creativity and success.

The inaugural event will distinguish 12 companies and individuals for particular strengths such as outstanding products, remarkable leadership and noteworthy contributions to the Silicon Prairie community over the course of this past year. The night includes an opening reception, a keynote talk, a closing party and a few surprises along the way.

The awards, which are put on by the people behind Big Omaha, Thinc Iowa and the Startup Job Crawls, will be given to businesses selected by a combination of a popular public vote and a vote by the selection committee.

This year’s awards include:

·       Startup of the Year

·       New Startup of the Year

·       Consumer Startup of the Year

·       B2B Startup of the Year

·       Mobile App of the Year

·       Startup Executive of the Year

·       Startup Technologist of the Year

·       Startup Designer of the Year

·       Startup Investor of the Year

·       Startup Service Provider of the Year

·       Silicon Prairie Community Champion

·       Silicon Prairie Ambassador

When the doors open at 6 pm, the Silicon Prairie Awards festivities will begin. This is not the type of event you want to be fashionably late to— the opening reception will offer everything from complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres to good company. The reception will also feature the Startup Alley, which will showcase nine Silicon Prairie startups...complete with demos and all.

After the opening festivities, guests will sit down for much-anticipated speeches and awards. They keynote speaker, David Cohen, will share his insights on the world of startup. David Cohen is huge in the entrepreneurial community. His company, TechStars, is one of the nation’s most respected startup incubators. His keynote talk will be sure to highlight his experiences with building TechStars and his passion for entrepreneurship.

After David Cohen shares his insights and the awards have been given, guests are invited to enjoy the closing party. There will be more complimentary food and drinks and guests are encouraged to continue to meet one another and learn more about the featured startups.

All are invited to the Silicon Prairie Awards and there are still a limited number of tickets available. Whether you’re the CEO of a startup or an entrepreneurial enthusiast from afar, we highly recommend you attend the event. For those of you wondering what to wear, don’t worry about that tux or gown. The attire is startup suave, so come in something classy but not overly formal. We expect to see you at the Joslyn on the 30^th, you’ll be in for an excellent night of startup ingenuity!

...And don’t forget to cheer on your favorite Kansas City nominees!  Although voting ended yesterday, you can still cheer on and support those KC individuals and companies who have been nominated for the Silicon Prairie Awards.  These KC superstars include RareWire, Klink Mobile, Sporting Innovations, LockPath (Overland Park), Front Flip (Overland Park), Leap2, myHomework, Naithan Jones (Overland Park), Chris Caldwell (Overland Park), Matt Angell, Rodrigo Neri, Jack Johnson, OpenAir Equity Partners, Greg Kratofil, Thad Langford, Joni Cobb and Nick Seguin.  

Get Your Pictures Off the Cloud and on your Doorstep with Picsure

If Facebook decided to crash tomorrow, would 800 million people lose their memories? Seriously, not to be old fashioned, but whatever happened to the good, old fashioned hard copy of a picture? Oh, that’s right—it died with the digital camera.

Only a measly 10% of photos make it off phones and cameras and into print, and entrepreneur Terry Roberts just won’t accept that anymore.  He and his wife, Kerri, recently had a baby and realized the importance of taking, sharing and printing pictures with family.

Then came the idea. 

How can you solve the problem of the inconvenient photo printout? Let’s face it—there’s nothing better than a picture you can hang on your wall; you’re just too lazy to go and get it.  With Roberts’ new app and and recent addition TechStars, Picsure, you can get the pictures you take on your iPhone professionally printed and sent to your house – every two weeks – without moving off the couch.  Just put the photos that you want in your queue and Picsure takes care of the rest.  So instead of grabbing your memory card, making a stop at Walgreens and then waiting two hours to pick them up, your pics are sent right to the front door.

Say you could only afford nosebleed seats at the Dave Matthews Band concert.  Good thing Picsure allows everyone at the event to upload their pictures to the app and share them.  So the guy that shelled out a couple hundred bucks for front row seats to impress his girlfriend? You’ll get his snapshots without paying the hefty price. And weddings? Say goodbye to low-quality, expensive disposable cameras and give a hearty welcome to the photo app queen.  The bride and groom can keep the best candid photos of the night – there’s no better wedding present you could give them.

Roberts is the champion to make printing photos more convenient to keep your memories somewhere safer than the cloud or your soon-to-crash hard drive.  Start stocking up on photo albums again; you’re going to need them.

Learn more about Picsure on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/picsureme.  

Entrepreneurial Attitudes In Kansas City [From Brad Feld of TechStars and Foundry Group]

Brad Feld, co-founder of Foundry Group and TechStars, recently corresponded with Herb Sih, co-founder of Think Big Partners, to discuss the startup scene in and around the Kansas City area.  Read the article featured on Brad's blog, Startup Communities and view it below: 

Brad Feld of TechStars
and Foundry Group.

I’ve gotten many emails about how startup communities grow and develop completely separately from Silicon Valley. Following is an overview of what’s driving the Kansas City startup community right now, written by Herb Sih, the co-founder and managing partner of Think Big Partners.

The founders of Think Big Partners toured the startup scene in Silicon Valley before they launched their Midwest business incubator and startup accelerator.  And although the Think Big team uncovered helpful tips during a tour of the Valley (like the impact of coworking spaces, the need for local funders and the importance of a tech culture), they seemed to learn one lesson that was much more impactful after returning back to their home of Kansas City:  You don’t need to be like Silicon Valley in order to get Silicon Valley-esque results.

Herb Sih of Think Big Partners.

And that’s where Think Big Partners started.  They asked themselves, “How can we make a Silicon Valley impact with our own Midwestern roots?  How can we make a dent in the startup and tech worlds in our own city, on our own watch?”  The team answered these questions by developing one of Kansas City’s first coworking spaces, which has been the second home to over 50 entrepreneurs and their startup companies.  Think Big Partners also developed a business incubator and startup accelerator model that has helped to launch and grow some of the most successful Midwestern businesses today.  With collaboration from other Kansas City entrepreneurial superstars such as the Kauffman Foundation, KCSourceLink, Kansas PIPELINE, the University of Kansas City-Missouri Bloch School and others, Think Big Partners helped to make entrepreneurial success one of the city’s main focuses.

And Think Big Partners’ launch was timed just right.  Because soon after the launch of TBP, Kansas City (and the Midwest for that matter) underwent an immense entrepreneurial transformation.

Since the launch of Think Big Partners, entrepreneurship seemed to explode in and around the Kansas City area.  Startup companies such as Zaarly, Dwolla and LiveOn have flourished in the Midwest.  There has been so much startup success that the Midwestern region has become known as Silicon Prairie.

But it isn’t Silicon Valley that has defined the terms for Silicon Prairie.  The Silicon Prairie area is an entrepreneurial movement in its own right.  For instance, Silicon Prairie has become the home of the nation’s first Google 1-Gigabit Fiber Network, has been named the IT hub by The Wall Street Journal and is gradually becoming known as The City of Entrepreneurs.  This has all been on Silicon Prairie’s watch—not Silicon Valley’s.

But how has this entire region grown its startup scene without help from Silicon Valley?  The answer is obvious: with entrepreneurial attitudes.  Silicon Prairie is all about collaboration.  At one moment, you’ll see that H&R Block has rejuvenated its entrepreneurial mentorship program and the next, you’ll find that The Kauffman Foundation has invested in Kansas PIPELINE initiatives.  In one instant, you will learn about Think Big Partners’ Gigabit Challenge business plan competition and the next, you’ll see five new coworking spaces pop up around the Midwest.  Everyone is working on entrepreneurship together—making the Midwest one of the nation’s up-and-coming entrepreneurial hubs to date (we like to also call this “coopetition”—where competitors end up cooperating together instead of competing against each other.  This is one of the main reasons that Kansas City and the Midwest have become so entrepreneurial.)

Kansas City: It's the people in that make this community
an entrepreneurial one.  

It’s not about having a Silicon Valley attitude—it’s about having an entrepreneurial attitude.  It’s about partnering with other organizations in and around your area.  It’s about thinking big with entrepreneurs that sit next to you in your coworking space.  It’s about collaboarting with tech gurus, social media wizards and community leaders at cool business events.  It’s the people that make a community an entrepreneurial one—not the location—and it’s up to you to contribute.

Follow Brad! @bfeld

Follow Herb Sih! @thinkbigKC

How Did Startup Weekend Actually Startup?

Startup Weekend in San Diego.

What do most of your weekends consist of?

Guzzling beer on the Lazy Boy while watching ESPN?

Sleeping in until 1:00 in the afternoon and grabbing a bowl of Cap’N Crunch?

Maybe it’s time to start doing something productive with your weekends.  And we have your opportunity:  Startup Weekend Kansas City. 

On April 15-17, Think Big Partners is proud to host Startup Weekend Kansas City—an opportunity for entrepreneurs to develop feedback on an idea, learn new skills, meet co-founders, and test the entrepreneurial waters.  Startup Weekend is a risk-free environment where everyone is expected to roll up their sleeves and dive into the exhilarating world of startups.  It’s all about collaboration, it’s all about coworking, it’s what we’re all about!

But how in the world did the idea for Startup Weekend, well…start up?

It was a late night in June of 2007 at TechStars when the idea was coined.  Danny Newman and Stan James discussed how they missed collaborating on projects with others now that they were working on bigger projects, later David Cohen and Joe Scharf pushed founder Andrew Hyde to take the concept into reality. In May of 2009, Marc Nager and Clint Nelsen really saw an opportunity to help Startup Weekend continue to grow and took over the operations of Startup Weekend.  When everyone started collaborating, Startup Weekend became a success because of its drive towards coworking, idea-building, and entrepreneurship. 

Today, there are at least three Startup Weekends that occur each weekend in various cities…and not just in the U.S.!  You can find Startup Weekend in Paris, Kyoto and many more!     

So what are you waiting for?  You have an idea, you have a free weekend, and it’s time to put them to good use!  Put down the bag of Lay’s potato chips, get off your Lazy Boy and join us for Startup Weekend, coming to Kansas City April 15-17 at the Think Big Partners business incubator (1800 Baltimore, Kansas City, Missouri).  Register today!  Now’s your chance to Think Big! 

Written by Allison Way.  Allison is a writer for Think Big Partners, Kansas City’s early stage business incubator and startup accelerator.  To read more of Allison’s work, check out the Kansas City Entrepreneurship Examiner as well as her articles on Helium, BrooWaha and eZine.  Follow Allison! @AllisonThinkBig

5 Great Startup Pitches from TechStars Demo Day

TechStars, a unique and very successful business accelerator that can now be found in Boulder, Seattle, NYC and Boston, recently had a Demo Day in which several promising startups presented.

For the uninitiated, accelerators take on very early stage startups for a brief period, offering them support, mentoring, and often investing seed capital in them. TechStars is probably the second most prominent such program, after Silicon Valley's Y-Combinator. There are now over 60 accelerator programs in the U.S. alone and growing.

Here is the article, My five favorite startup pitches from TechStars Demo Day , that showcases some of the pitches.