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The Kauffman Foundation held their first ever ESHIP Summit last week in Kansas City, bringing together about 400 people from all over the world who had some familiarity with the term "entrepreneurial ecosystem". The idea was to get all these folks in one large room and work through some of the foundational elements of what is becoming a burgeoning industry: intentionally working to grow your community's ecosystem. Or as I usually refer to it "startup community building".
One thing that I've thought a lot about since the conference is the idea that ecosystem building doesn't usually come from people who are elected or really chosen for the position in any way. They're just people that recognized the need, jumped in to do something about it and have been willing to spend their time and resources to see it through. That was expressed on stage—or rather via Skype—from Boulder-based investor Brad Feld, the guy who literally wrote the book "Startup Communities" and kicked off a lot of this discussion in Iowa when he spoke at Thinc Iowa in Des Moines in 2012. That creates a lot of challenges but I think its a good thing and it parallels my experiences over the past 8 or so years of being involved in this type of work.
Iowa was well represented at the summit by at least 10 or so folks, mostly from the Central and Eastern parts of the state, including our own Andy Stoll who recently joined the team at Kauffman and chaired this event.
For more on the ESHIP Summit, check out this blog post from my friend Tom Chapman in Omaha or take a look at Jami Milne's beautiful photo project on Clay & Milk showcasing many of the faces of ecosystem building across the country.
Geoff
PS. Both Gravitate locations will be closed on Monday and Tuesday next week in celebration of Independence Day💥
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Iowa City's MERGE opens to innovators
The Gazette (Elianna Novitch, June 22)
One of Iowa's longest tenured coworking spaces, the IC CoLab in Iowa City, has officially expanded to become MERGE. Led by Iowa City Area Development and created in conjunction with the City of Iowa City, the University of Iowa’s Office of Research and Economic Development and John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, the space held is formal grand opening on June 15.
“MERGE is the physical manifestation of support for those who want to make an idea a reality,” ICAD's Mark Nolte told The Gazette. “MERGE offers a low-cost environment rich in support, resources and mentorship to help new companies chart their course.”
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CR native leads launch of Google job-search feature
Corridor Business Journal (Steve Gravelle, June 27)
Google recently released "Google for Jobs", a new search engine tool that consolidates the major job search websites into one listing, eliminating duplication and integrating other tools like Google Maps to show commute times.
The lead on the project Nick Zakrasek, a product manager for the company that grew up in Cedar Rapids and appreciates his Iowa upbringing.
“My roots in Iowa have been just incredibly valuable for me,” Nick told the CBJ. “Coming out here to Silicon Valley, I think a lot of people don’t realize how dynamic the economy is out there in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.”
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SecDSM wants to help keep you secure on the Internet
Clay & Milk (Joey Aguirre, June 22)
Clay & Milk profiled a non-profit organization for information security professionals called SecDSM this week. The group started off as a small monthly user group of interested individuals and has grown to include more than 140 members,
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Rocket Referrals TV
Torey and Carl Maerz, the bro-founders of Des Moines-based Rocket Referrals were the latest early stage tech company to get highlighted in IPTV's ongoing "Iowa Entrepreneur" television series. They share their episode with Oskaloosa's Musco Lighting.
$185 Million
Have you ever wondered what the arts and culture segment of the creative class contributes to the economy in a community like Des Moines? $185MM and 5,700 FTE, according to a recent study published by Americans for the Arts.
The P is silent
Meet the Pterosail, a wind-assisted recumbent tricycle that allows you to experience the feeling of sailing while on land. Its being developed in Houston by Iowa expat and Naval Reservist John MacTaggart. While he's been working on the idea for a nearly a decade, he recently quit his day job to go full time on the company and expects his first sales yet this summer.
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We're growing! Gravitate Valley Junction is now open
Over the past few months we've been in talks with several community leaders in West Des Moines about expanding the Gravitate community and programming to their fine city and I'm excited to share that we're now officially up and running with a second location: Gravitate Valley Junction at 318 5th Street (yeah!).
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