#big omaha

[peppermintquartz]

Someone owns this place now but it is legit my dream home.

[oath-omaha]

Yahoo Omaha once again sponsored the Big Omaha conference for 2016. Big Omaha is the biggest event of the year for the Silicon Prairie's startup and tech community. 

The conference achieved three rare feats this year: an almost 50:50 gender balance amongst speakers (rare among tech conferences), strong representation of people of color amongst speakers, and close to zero waste creation, due in part to sponsorships by Yahoo and Human Design, a Boulder, CO design and branding firm. Together, the sponsorships kept the conference’s ecological impact as small as possible.

[oath-omaha]

We are so excited to be partnering with Big Omaha again this year. 

Our sponsorship this year will help Big Omaha towards their goal of becoming the first zero waste conference in Nebraska and all attendees will receive an amazing water bottle to keep for years.

We can’t wait for this year’s conference and look forward to seeing everyone there!

[theiopodcast]

Spend some time with next week’s Inside Outside podcast guest Brad Feld (subscribe on iTunes to get the episode when it hits). 

Thanks to Silicon Prairie News for their link to Brad’s Big Omaha 2015 presentation. 

[jovenistheworst]

Big Omaha 2012: Eddie Huang

"I'm about money. I'm also about a healthy disrespect, right?

Life is a pool inhabited by sensitive, small-minded, boring people like this woman on this floating yoga mat. Alright? She makes-- This woman makes no sense! She wants to float on this yoga mat as close to the water as possible, read her book, check her cellphone, and not get wet. She's totally unreasonable. So I was in the Hamptons, I saw this woman, I told my boy 'you're on that technology shit, get your iPhone ready. I'm gonna cannonball.'

I got this chick, her book, stupid wet. But you see her man? That's her boyfriend in the back. He loved it so much, he was taking a photo too. Cuz he's dating this unreasonable woman, so he's the most unhappy.

But that's the thing with business. Customers, they're unreasonable. Before you even have a chance to put your product out there, to put your name out there and tell your story, all your friends-- all your counselors or consultants-- everyone's telling you all these things that you need to be or you can't be, or that's gonna offend people. Don't listen to any of them. You're the only one that matters. And if you don't tell your story, nobody's gonna buy it."

[bessiebizlinks]

Former TED Fellow, chef and owner of Baohaus, infamous hustler, writer, VICE TV show host, and fellow Taiwanese-American Eddie Huang's speech at Big Omaha before he really blew up with his show on Vice and his book Fresh off the Boat.  I want to show an image of entrepreneurial success that isn’t a pedigree educated White billionaire like Marissa Meyer or a brash bad boy White person college drop-out like Steve Jobs.  This is not meant as a disrespect, I admire Meyer and Jobs deeply, but there are other avenues and images of success to celebrate. Eddie Huang isn’t making Silicon Valley billions, but he’s a king of street hustle and succeeding on his terms. He stays true to himself and our  culture, making it as particular kind of innovator.  Eight Business Lessons From The Speech 1) People are haters. The world is full of "sensitive small minded boring people who are unreasonable" who will criticize you, your ideas, and your product.  But "if you don't tell your story, no one is going to buy it...  Don't ever let people curb you."

2) Don't be embarrassed by the hustle. Get money. A lot of entrepreneurs are embarrassed to ask for money and get money. I lived in the Bay Area for a long time, so there's definitely a lot of that "it's not about the money it's about the cause, money is bad and corrupting, etc." attitude. No, money never sleeps. I get money- I'm about getting paper.  Before I moved back to LA to attend USC, which consumes my time now, I ran small time hustles (I re-sold thousands of dollars of EDC tickets in the lobby of Caesar’s Palace that weekend) so I could pay for my current degree and future MBA, hit the books, and I'm not ashamed of it.  3) Know your audience. This is a no brainer, but it pays to look at who you're serving when you hesitate about something controversial or risky. I think this applies to personal branding too. I wish I figured that I’m much more useful to myself, to my clients, and to the people I work with if I was just myself versus trying to fit expectations much earlier in my career. 4) When you Get Money, people will listen to what you have to say. Arriving and becoming commercially viable buys you identity capital. Even at a micro-level, I’ve noticed when I hit  “successful yuppy” status, it meant some meager form of social capital. Suddenly, I’m a person worthy of asking for advice from. People wanted to listen to what I had to say and my opinion matter, and I could be influential (not to mention sell my services and advice) in my own corner of the world.  5) Don't forgot your whys. Eddie talked about how initially people were afraid to align with the Obama brand in streetwear.  He sold his Obama t-shirts on subways,  His fellow law students laughed at him at selling them in the school cafeteria.  Have a burning motivation for what you're doing.   Your enthusiasm won’t waver.  6) You can mess up and come back. Nice undertone in his speech and his story. Felony probation as a child of Asian immigrants, not an ideal situation. But he came back with a vengeance, graduated from law school, practiced at a white shoe law firm before making it as a chef, food personality, author, and cultural critic. 7) You Have to Tell Your Story. Presenting yourself and your product in a compelling narrative is everything.  It doesn't matter "how many bitches on floating yoga mats are out there, you have to tell your story, and that's it."  8) No one is going to defend the things you care about but you.  I think this is the heart of every entrepreneur and anyone who really cares about anything. This is what motivates people to get up everyday. Are you working toward something you care about everyday?

[instinblog]

Big Omaha Wrap Up

The second day of speakers was highlighted by an energetic Brian Wong, a cannonballing Eddie Huang, and Wufoo's Kevin Hale with an unheard of 29000% return to his investors.

Rigo got interviewed by Silicon Prairie so look out for that.  He also made a quick $150 writing a couple of ios prototype apps.

Dinner was highlighted by a zaarly bet which we'll blog the details of somewhere else. 

All in all, Big Omaha was a great conference for us.  It's easy to say we're planning on coming back for 2013.

[instinblog]

Big Omaha Urban Wine Co. Party

We didn't get back until 2 am last night from the Urban Wine Company.  This was the kind of experience that makes everybody talk about how great Big Omaha is.

First off, the wine company was great atmosphere.  The music was down low enough that people could talk easily.  There was a nice patio where half the crowd hung out.

Then the amazing part of the night was how the speakers from the day stuck around all night and were still there when we were leaving.  We got to talk for awhile with Savil Lavingia and Philip Rosedale.  Check out Rigo's tweet about laying on the floor - they're supposed to be meditating.

We also had some great fun talking with Uncle Dave for awhile.  Our intro went something like, "We're instin"..."What the hell is that?"..."It stands for einstein without the e's"..."oh, i see, a couple of brilliant guys making apps so now your einsteins"..."we build education apps"..."oh wow...."

And just like the first night, we made a bunch of new conections with other small guys trying to do the same thing we are.  Nick was one that stood out because he's doing location based advertisements too.  

There's no way to fit everything and everybody into this post, but all in all, just this event was worth the trip to Omaha.

-Keith