Oct. 3rd - 3:00pm - The Rococo Theater - Free
Join Steve Case for a Fireside Chat interview where he will be discussing the city's startup economy. Come listen to Steve talk about the challenges and opportunities facing entrepreneurs, the Rise of the Rest concept, and how this is the best moment in recent history to start and scale a business in Nebraska.
Startup Pitch CompetitionOct. 3rd - 4:00pm - The Rococo Theater - Free
During the Rise of the Rest Pitch Competition, 8 of the most innovative startup companies in Lincoln & Omaha will be given the opportunity to pitch Steve Case and a panel of all-star judges, with a $100,000 investment prize going to the winning startup. Join us to hear from some of the most innovative and creative entrepreneurs in your city as they deliver their 5 minute pitches!
Companies pitching to Steve Case include:
Oct. 3rd - 6:00pm - The Rococo Theater - Free
After a great day, Steve Case and the ROTR crew will be hosting an open-bar networking party for entrepreneurs, investors, and all other members of the Lincoln & Omaha entrepreneurial ecosystem. Join us to celebrate all the amazing progress in Nebraska, meet the people making it happen, and enjoy a few drinks with new friends!
Those attending the Pitch Competition will have first priority into the Happy Hour, which has limited space, so be sure and register for the Pitch Competition as well!
Why spend the time and energy investing in software design and architecture? Andy Unterseher, software engineer at Don’t Panic Labs, discusses why they believe upfront planning and design is necessary for successful software and companies.
In technology startups, software engineers face many tasks that take energy away from building products. While not all of these distractions can be eliminated, automation can significantly reduce them. Anne Ruskamp, software engineer at Beehive Industries, covers the impact of putting short-term efforts toward automation and how you can identify tasks that are good candidates for automation.
Patents can be valuable to a startup companies success. Startups holding patents are more likely to secure investment, more likely to be acquired, and more likely to achieve long term success than startups without patents (http://bit.ly/2cUpP2N). Find out more about why patents and trademarks are important for startups and what resources are available from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). J. Allen Shriver, Supervisory Patent Examiner with the Rocky Mountain Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office, will share his expertise in this session.
One-on-one sessions to ask specific questions about your startup and patents and trademarks will be available after this session. If you would like to take advantage of these office hours, you must sign up for an individual session here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uspto-individual-sessions-tickets-28009100975.
Do you measure how well your culture and processes enable your team to realize the motivations that initially got them into your industry? Chad Michel of Don’t Panic Labs discusses how they use the concept of “Funability” to help their team stay productive and experience satisfaction in their work.
This interactive panel session will explore the experiences of four startup founders who chose strategic partnerships to grow their business. Come ready to ask questions and learn about why they partnered, how they found a partner, what they would do again, what they would do differently, and ultimately how the decisions they made helped (or hurt) their companies.
Panelists include Mailani Veney (Deal-Any-Day), Ben Pankonin (Social Assurance), Scott Niewohner (Black Box), and Vishal Singh (Quantified Ag).
Any startup founder knows that customers are the key to success, which is why buyer personas are a critical part of marketing efforts. You need to understand what your average customers look like, what’s important to them, where they are, and how they might find you. Building buyer personas means digging into demographic data and anecdotal feedback as well as behavioral insights, which can be applied to use cases and real-life scenarios. Expert marketer Ali Schwanke will teach you how to build buyer personas and use them to guide your overall marketing strategy.
Ali Schwanke is the founder and CEO of Simple Strat, a marketing agency with a focus on strategy first. She’s also a Startup Weekend alumni, co-founder of Ignite Lincoln, and startup community advocate and marketing advisor.
Beverages, snacks, and prize drawings will be provided courtesy of Forgelight Creative.
In May of 2016, Mark Zmarzly successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign for the new Hip Money app. He surpassed the $15,000 goal in 5.5 days and ended up raising $21,600, which put Hip Money into the top 50 all-time top apps on Kickstarter. Hear more about the goals, creative elements, and execution of the Hip Money campaign and learn some good reasons to consider a Kickstarter for your own startup.
Mark Zmarzly is an innovative entrepreneur who is changing banking forever for everyone’s benefit. As founder of Hip Pocket, Mark and his team have developed software that does everything from allowing people to compare their mortgage and retirement savings with their peers to saving money and prepaying debt with a simple swipe right from the Hip Money app.
Beverages, snacks, and prize drawings will be provided courtesy of Forgelight Creative.
Hear from local journalist, Matt Olberding; Silicon Prairie News Managing Editor, Ryan Pendell; and startup PR extraordinaire from Bulu, Mariah Nimmich, about PR for startups. This panel, moderated by Forgelight Creative co-founder and CEO, Tyler Sprunk, will answer your PR-related questions, explore the importance of PR for startups, and cover tips and tricks for effective PR.
Matt Olberding is a Lincoln native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who has been covering business for the Journal Star since 2005.
Ryan Pendell is the Managing Editor of Silicon Prairie News. In 2009 he received his MFA in Writing from the Art Institute of Chicago. Since then he has taught college writing and has written for regional and national online and print media. In 2014 he was publications editor for the Sundance Film Festival. He lives in Omaha, Nebraska.
As Director of Public Relations, Mariah Nimmich coordinates Bulu, Inc. press coverage nationally, showcasing Bulu Box and Bulu Marketplace in media outlets like CBS, Buzzfeed, Forbes and more. Her favorite activity is to #BangTheDrum for the achievements of the Bulu Crew! Mariah is also a board member and Communications Chair for nonprofit TEDxLincoln, and heavily involved in Lincoln events like LNK DNA and Startup Week.
Tyler Sprunk is co-founder and CEO of Forgelight Creative and Managing Editor for Cultivate Press. Tyler is also a proud supporter of the startup community through events such as 1 Million Cups, Startup Week, and LNK DNA.
Beverages, snacks, and prize drawings will be provided courtesy of Forgelight Creative.
Are you still trying to understand why your company brand is one of the most important elements of your company? Yes?! Then don't come to this presentation. This session which is part presentation, part workshop, part peek-behind-the-curtains isn't meant to make believers of branding. This session is for brand believers looking for concrete explanations and tangible action items to build company brands and help that brand echo throughout company culture. If you're sold on the idea of branding but don't have a damn clue about what to do next, this sesh is for you. Paul Jarrett is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bulu Box and has over a decade of experience in marketing, advertising and branding from Nike in NYC to Adobe in San Francisco - he's gonna break it down for you.
Paul Jarrett's Startup and Advertising Agency work experience spans the country. From NYC to San Francisco, Paul has launched million dollar brands such as Neebo and executed multi-facted campaigns for billion dollar brands such as Lowe's and Nike. In 2010, Paul joined Complete Nutrition where he became the Vice President of Marketing and an Executive Board Member. He built the MarComm department, trained dozens of franchises and positioned Complete Nutrition and its products for success in a saturated market. The company's growth skyrocketed. In fact, it was one of the fastest growing startups in the U.S. Paul's experience at Complete Nutrition was the precursor to starting his own company. In 2012, Bulu Box was born.
Beverages, snacks, and prize drawings will be provided courtesy of Forgelight Creative.
"Two Magic Questions" is a disciplined and respectful approach to working with others, to strategic communication, and to focused and faster sales.
Mailani Veney grows businesses with the aloha spirit - ensuring everyone benefits in a relationship. She is the co-founder and CEO of DealAnyDay, a nationwide marketing technology company that provides mobile marketing analytics to help small businesses attract more customers and increase profitability. Mailani created the "Two Magic Questions" approach and has honed it over 25 years - resulting in millions in sales successes and good relationships.
Beverages, snacks, and prize drawings will be provided courtesy of Forgelight Creative.
Want to sell your wares online? Jill Liliedahl will give quick and dirty tips for getting online quickly, saving money in key areas, and spending your time on what matters to make the sale.
Jill Liliedahl is a short-nosed dog enthusiast, CEO of SitStay, Chief Popsicler at Pop Art, and co-launcher of Ladies Who Launch-Lincoln.
Beverages, snacks, and prize drawings will be provided courtesy of Forgelight Creative.
Hiring the right salespeople can accelerate your growth and catapult your company forward. Hiring the wrong salespeople could hurt your reputation and waste your precious cash. In this small panel, we’ll learn from team-building expert, Marianne Worthington; and founder of Hail Varsity, Aaron Babcock, about how to hire the right salespeople. Bring your questions and join us for a discussion exploring everything from compensation structure to interview techniques and much more. The conversation will be moderated by Forgelight Creative co-founder and CEO, Tyler Sprunk.
Marianne Worthington is the founder of Work Warrior LLC, a company that helps organizations and non-profits build fearless, strong, and skilled teams. Work Warrior focuses on team, leadership, and process development.
Aaron Babcock is the owner and publisher of Hail Varsity, a magazine that covers Nebraska athletics through a combination of world-class photography, unforgettable stories, cutting edge analysis and commentary.
Tyler Sprunk is co-founder and CEO of Forgelight Creative and Managing Editor for Cultivate Press. Tyler is also a proud supporter of the startup community through events such as 1 Million Cups, Startup Week, and LNK DNA.
Beverages, snacks, and prize drawings will be provided courtesy of Forgelight Creative.
Not every business is ready to launch an affiliate marketing program. Learn if you're ready and what it will take to get it off the ground.
Stacy L. Carlson will be leading this discussion on affiliate marketing. Stacy is the COO of SitStay.com and CEO GottaPixel.com.
Beverages, snacks, and prize drawings will be provided courtesy of Forgelight Creative.
To reinforce their commitment to the local communities they serve, Windstream launched its digital content series Locally Crafted to celebrate the best of independent, local culture across Windstream's vast footprint. From small business owners and craftsmen to bloggers and musicians, Windstream continues to highlight innovative and important individuals that are transforming and evolving their industries.
KBS Executive Director Sam Chotiner will host a fireside chat with two Lincoln-based entrepreneurs featured in the Locally Crafted series, Christopher James, Founder of Porridge Papers, and Vishal Singh, Founder of Quantified Ag, to discuss their craft and the development of their innovative businesses.
Revo can’t even begin to tell you how excited we are to have three incredible companies come and share their stories!
Come join us for lunch and listen to our panel of social impact rockstars talk about their why and how they decided to tackle social issues using smart business models. Brooke Mullen, founder of Sapahn based in Lincoln, Andrew Vrbas, co-founder and CEO of Pacha Soap, based out of Hastings, and Leslie Fischer, co-founder of TAGG, based out of Omaha will all be joining us. We’re betting you will be full of food and inspiration when you leave this event!
The nonprofit sector has fought the stigma for years because someone decided to name us by our tax status. It’s not the way we should run our businesses – and yes, your nonprofit needs to be treated like a business. In order to allow your mission to not just survive and truly thrive, we need to diversify our revenue, and not continue to rely on traditional donations and grants. Randy Hawthorne from Nonprofit Hub will be leading this workshop, giving nonprofits the tools they need to start generating revenue, and stop depending just on donations to run their nonprofit.