After a long weekend, The IA is back with its weekend recap. Here’s what you missed.
Day 3
For its first stop in America’s heartland, The IA visited the University of Nebraska- Lincoln’s (“UNL”) campus. UNL students are impressive as we learn about their foray into entrepreneurship and building start-ups through public and private partnerships. Some students even teamed up to win $58,000 in a national competition against other universities with their stock trading applications.
Next, The IA along with bus tour participants and Hudl took in a high school football game. Headquartered in the Haymarket District of Lincoln, Nebraska, Hudl offers affordable coaching software. Their product allows coaches to develop strategies for their teams.
Day 4
From Lincoln to Des Moines, The IA continued its Midwest tour by stopping at Dwolla. Dwolla provides an efficient, online financial exchange system that bypasses the 8 stops that every credit card transaction makes. Its CEO Ben Milne and Communications Director Jordan Lampe shared stories of how the Internet can make life more efficient and fair to both consumers and businesses.
Later that day, The IA checked out The Iowa Internet Uncaucus, an opportunity for community leaders to come together and discuss political issues (i.e., education reform, net neutrality, protecting local meat farmers, water conservation, etc.) regardless of party affiliation.
Day 5
Start-up Weekend in Iowa City was our next stop. Startup Weekend is a Seattle-based nonprofit that sponsors events across the country. During these events, attendees come together to share ideas, collaborate, and can actually launch startups in 54 hours. In Iowa City, we saw three presentations including the “Shin Digger,” an application similar to Instagram but geared towards events, an information guide for immigrants new to America, and an application used to gather stories from loved ones to pass down to generations.
After a long day, we settled down for our “last supper.”
Day 6
Another city, another great panel on entrepreneurship with Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian, AgLocal’s Naitan Jones, Leap 2’s Mike Farmer, and Local Motor’s Jay Rogers!
Next Stop: St. Louis, MO
