The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.
After 6+ years of being heads down with Bloom.com, I’ve spent the past several weeks getting re-engaged with the Omaha Startup Community. I’ve been sitting in on pitches and presentations by Straight Shot incubator companies, attending 1 Million Cups weekly meetups, breaking bread, having a cup of java, or a barley malt with consultants, executives, innovators, angel and venture capitalists, reconnecting via email and LinkedIn, and chasing down the internet gopher holes trying to sort out the various players.
I know less now than when I started. Nevertheless, I can only say I’m literally blown away by how much the startup community has matured in such a short time.
There is more activity than ever before. Certainly, there is a plethora of innovators and ideas, including everything from turning your dog into a beer drinking buddy to improving patient care. More importantly, however, is they’re being set up for success like never before. There are a variety of startup incubators and accelerators where they have access to resources, mind share, and mentoring tailored to their needs. Furthermore, the talent pool has markedly improved. This is partially attributable to the fact that Omaha isn’t such a fuddy-duddy town anymore. In addition, there is available staged capital for those with the right ideas, passion, and execution.
What’s different is the culture. All of this activity…it doesn’t look forced. I don’t mean people aren’t working their tails off (they are). What I mean is, it seems natural. 10 years ago, companies that succeeded did so in spite of being in Omaha. Today, companies will succeed because they are in Omaha.
We talk about the successful innovators, those founders of the companies that arrived at the shaft of the hockey stick. We applaud them, and rightfully so. But we neglect to shine the light on the innovation innovators. Those who looked at Omaha 10 years ago and said, “we’re going to change this startup barren wasteland into a vibrant, thriving entrepreneurial community.” I hold my glass up high to those people (I’d say who they are, but I haven’t quite identified them all yet).
If you’re an innovator, an entrepreneur, never has the opportunity been greater for exploring your passion in Omaha than it is today.
Rambo, CXO 
