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Des Moines recently started working on the next phase of our community-wide vision plan called Capital Crossroads 2.0 and I was invited to participate in a few meetings with the consultants, yesterday, to help represent the view of the entrepreneurial community. It was a lot of fun—I'm never shy about sharing ideas and I kind of nerd out on things like this going back to my undergrad days in the Community and Regional Planning program at Iowa State.
Several times in the discussion I found myself pointing out ideas from Paul Graham's recent post: How to make Pittsburgh a startup hub. Paul covers a lot of interesting ground there and it all supports his comments on the need to attract young people to a community:
"When I was a kid, this was a place young people left. Now it's a place that attracts them. What does that have to do with startups? Because startups are made of people, and the average age of the people in a typical startup is right in that 25 to 29 bracket."
He quantifies his observation by pointing out that 7.6% of Pittsburgh residents are ages 25-29 so they have a leg up on the rest of the country since the national average for that bracket is only 6.8%. In case you're curious (I was) in Polk County we're slightly ahead of that with 7.77% of our population between the ages of 25-29, according to the most recent data available on desmoinesmetrodata.com (2014).
The bulk of his post is how Pittsburgh can attract more young people to support its startup community. Each of those topics is relevant anywhere in Iowa, and worth exploring by anyone on this list, even though they might, at first blush, seem tangential to developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem: continuing to foment their youth-driven food revolution, encouraging walkability and public transit, focusing on historic preservation, staying "socially liberal" and properly utilizing a world-class research university, etc.
I'd love to know your thoughts on Paul's ideas and how they could impact startup communities in Iowa. Check out the post and then reply to this email to let me know your take.
Geoff
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Iowa Startup Accelerator launches Aging 2.0 Cedar Rapids Chapter
CBJ Business Daily (Dave DeWitte, May 10)
Last week NewBoCo (parent organization of the Iowa Startup Accelerator) launched an Aging 2.0 chapter in Cedar Rapids, the first in this state. According to its website, Aging 2.0 is a "global innovation platform on a mission to accelerate innovation to improve the lives of older adults around the world" by connecting, educating, and supporting innovators and entrepreneurs. The launch also included a pitch competition and Aging Innovation Summit. iTR Diagnostics (Cedar Falls), a company focused on testing for early diagnosis and monitoring of Parkinson's disease, took home first prize in the pitch competition which means they will move on to the Aging 2.0 Global Startup Search competition.
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Female entrepreneurs to compete for investments in the Invest in She competition
The Gazette (George C. Ford, May 10)
Six female entrepreneurs will compete next month in Cedar Rapids for a total of $40,000 in funding. The Invest in She competition, to be held at The Kirkwood Hotel & Convention Center, is hosted by Iowa Women Lead Change (IWLC), and has awarded more than $110,000 to 18 female entrepreneurs across the state over the last three years, according to the Gazette.
The six finalists include Michelle Owens of Delve MIY, Allison Poss of Girls With Ideas, Katriece Ray of PartWhere, Emily Roberts of Western Wise, Melissa Sheehy of Balanced Fitness & Health, and Lesley Triplett of Dumpling Darling.
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Seeking female angels
Business Record (Joe Gardyasz, May 13)
New details emerged this week about the women's investor network being spearheaded by the Iowa Center of Economic Success (Clive) in partnership with River Glen Private Capital (West Des Moines) that was first mentioned here in The Pull #127. The network now has a name, FIN Capital, and eight founding members: Connie Wimer, Jolene Vermeer, Katie Roth, Rita Perea, Mary Lawyer, Janette Larkin, Karen Jeske and Teresa Adams-Tomka.
FIN Capital is planning recruitment events in June and July with goals to grow to 25 investors by the end of the year.
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Minimum Viable Podcast—Episode 22
Geoff Wood & Matt Patane
Matt Patane, technology and innovation reporter for the Des Moines Register and Geoff Wood, community builder at Gravitate, sit down for an in-depth discussion of the companies, events and ideas making news in the Iowa innovation community.
Topics discussed on this episode: Dwolla, Shazam and faster national payment infrastructure, TelePharm and telepharmacies throughout the state and several quick hits on ISU research.
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