Gratitude for the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
The EShip coalition led by Diana Wright of the Greater Des Moines Partnership hosted the fifth edition of the Iowa Angel Investor Summit last week. Particularly gratifying was the presence of friends and colleagues from various states in the Midwest Angel Syndicate. For several of us who have grown the coalition over several years, it was encouraging to see the breadth of attendee profiles. With small and midsize businesses, tech and non-tech startups, hardware, software and services companies mingling with angels, venture, and government funding sources all led to a rich experience.
Much like the word’s biological origins, an ecosystem grows over time through consistent nurture and care. Brad Feld coaxed attendees at the Thinc Iowa event in 2012 to think of our (then) infant entrepreneurial ecosystem in 20-year time horizons on a sliding scale with each subsequent year starting a new 20-year cycle. As our team wrapped up the conference and I drove home, Brad’s comments resurfaced.
This reflection, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, recognizes several individuals and organizations who have impacted the ecosystem over the years. A man-made list such as this can never be complete as memory will undoubtedly fail but I hope those I inadvertently miss will forgive me for the omission.
Origins
My opening question for interviews that inspire this Substack’s stories generally seeks to know the origin story - not the day the entrepreneur started the company but rather when inspiration struck. For my point-of-view and work in the ecosystem, mine was in 2010, during a brief walk on the skywalk connecting Mercy Hospital to a parking garage. I was leaving a meeting with Mike Colwell after helping a physician entrepreneur seeking the State of Iowa demonstration funding support. Mike and I had just become acquainted in that meeting and his question “I’ve never met you or know of you - who are you and why you’re helping this physician” began a multi-decade friendship.
I told Mike that I had recently exited my successful entrepreneurial venture and was now looking to help other technologists looking to get started in their entrepreneurial journey. Much of my prior decade was focused inward on customers largely outside Iowa. I frequented downtown DC or Sacramento more than downtown Des Moines. In 2010, I barely knew any part of the Iowa technology or entrepreneurial ecosystem.
He asked if I was open for lunch as there was someone else who was working to do the same. He texted Christian Renaud and the three of us met for lunch shortly thereafter. That lunch became the catalyst for my induction into the ecosystem.
Placemaking 2010-2012
In my “Bookends of Silicon Sixth Avenue” story published here on March 18, 2025, I talked about the seeds of this ecosystem sown by Dan Shipton and friends. I referenced then that the ecosystem began to grow under heavy investment by Ben Milne and his Dwolla team and Geoff Wood and his Des Moines outpost of Silicon Prairie News.
A larger cohort was growing around Ben and Geoff, and I was surprised and gratified to learn of their big-tent approach. No one seemed to question my motive, interest, commitment, desire or ability but simply welcomed me into the mix with invitations to the nascent community’s events.
This would become an early lesson: adopt a big-tent approach, make the table bigger and trust first. A test of this lesson was at hand - Startup Weekend Des Moines 2011 when the event’s organizers Shane Reiser, Levi Rosol, Andrew Kirpalani and others expanded their table for me.
Startup Weekend, a global phenomenon that brought together entrepreneurs, mentors, service providers, sponsors, and the public for a 54-hour marathon building session was regularly hosted across Iowa and in Des Moines from 2010 to 2015. In one of its reincarnations, the entire 54-hour weekend was spent building public works applications. We used openly available government data and extended the connection between the entrepreneurial community and government through the State’s lead data guru, Scott Vander Hart. The effort piqued (then) Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds’ interest enough that she engaged with the startup teams late into the night.
This series of events proved a magnet for attracting current and future ecosystem leaders into a small space where they coexisted for the weekend, eating, sleeping, cleaning, working, dreaming and building together. Although many dissipated at the end of the event, many of today’s ecosystem builders can trace their origins into the ecosystem to one of these events.
Engaged Entrepreneurs
Brad Feld’s guidance to us in 2012 was to build an ecosystem that was led by entrepreneurs and actively resist the urge for the rise of a “CEO of the entrepreneurial community”. Getting individuals who are already deep into building startups to also build ecosystems is nearly impossible, yet many arose and remain connected. Brad Dwyer of Hatchlings and now Roboflow, Andrew Kirpalani then of Workhound and now as an angel investor and mentor, Levi Rosol of We Write Code, Erin Rollenhagen of People Friendly Tech, Casey Niemann of Agrisync, Ben Milne of Dwolla, and now Brale, Brian Hemesath of Catchwind, Tikly, Global Insurance Accelerator and now Volunteerlocal are just a few of the many.
Each is a gentle yet brutal guide - eschewing Iowa nice for directness, mentoring with grace and empathy for the region’s newest entrepreneurs. Though in their second, third or later rodeos, they continue to share wisdom with new entrepreneurs.
Academic Institutions
Innovation-driven enterprises are often birthed on research campuses where students and faculty ideate for the future and commercialize inventions and discoveries. The numerous programs and support systems at Iowa and Iowa State complement the statewide John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers (Iowa, Iowa State and others) and those at Iowa’s private colleges.
Government and non-government agency connections
The entrepreneurial ecosystem in Iowa is inextricably tied to local and state government (as you saw with Scott Vander Hart and Kim Reynolds above) and non-government agencies. Three deserve a callout for their connection, support, and consistent engagement.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) under Debi Durham’s leadership has maintained a series of entrepreneurial support programs throughout her tenure. Working closely with Governors, legislature, and business leaders, Debi believes in and supports this ecosystem with presence, team, and financial support whenever possible. IEDA continues its support for programs that unlock low-interest loans and royalty agreements for entrepreneurs and financial support for programs like the Iowa Angel Investor summit mentioned at the opening of this article. Debi’s team members, Anna Lensing, Megan Brandt, Anne McMahon remain ever-present and supportive of this ecosystem.
The Greater Des Moines Partnership is the other influential entity with incredible influence on the entrepreneurial community and has persisted its support through three consecutive CEOs. CEO Martha Willits initiated this when she hired Mike Colwell and funded entrepreneurial support in 2007. Her sponsorship must’ve rubbed off her successor and our dear friend, Jay Byers, who added his contagious energy and doubled down by actively expanding the ecosystem throughout his vast network. He handed the CEO reins to Tiffany Tauscheck who similarly champions the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Two suburban entities stand out for consistency - the West Des Moines chamber and the Ankeny EDC. Jo Eckert and Clyde Evans of the WDM Chamber became friends of the entrepreneurial community, extending support from the western suburb through coworking spaces and sponsorship. In a parallel but different move, the Ankeny EDC gathered a group of angel investors from its community and complemented a different statewide effort for increasing angel activity. Ankeny Angels continues today as an entity and a partner to the statewide efforts under Joey Beech’s leadership.
Risk Capital - venture, angels, friends & family
We’ve discussed a bit of the history of public, private angel and angel group funds, venture capital and institutional capital sources recently in Medicis of the Midwest I, II and III, but gratitude for increasing investment bears summarizing here. Beginning with John Pappajohn’s personal commitment and extending through Matt Kinley’s work first at John’s Equity Dynamics and later his and David Miles’ ManchesterStory, the incessant and often thankless work by Craig Ibsen and his colleagues, Dave Tucker and Liz Keehner, of Next Level Ventures and Eric Engelmann of ISA Ventures, we may not have the growing venture ecosystem in Iowa. Harris Vaccines and Smart Ag’s successes led founders to reinvest in the Ag Innovation ecosystem via Ag Startup Engine putting other ag-first ventures on a path to success.
I’d be remiss in not mentioning the nearly 100 members of Plains Angels angel investor network who view, consider or invest in startups culled from nearly 600 applicants annually or those part of FIN Capital, Ankeny Angels, Ames Seed Capital and numerous other private groups that listen to entrepreneurial vision, invest in the founders and help build businesses from barely an idea.
Entrepreneurship Coalition (EShip Coalition)
I started this note mentioning Diana, a colleague and instigator of a 12-person cohort she formed in 2021. The dozen she curated represented a diverse (geographic, age, gender, background, experience) cohort who attended a two-year program at MIT to accelerate entrepreneurship regionally. Though we could’ve parted at the end of the two-year program, she polled us to continue or disband. The group chose to continue, voluntarily, and now comprises many original and new members. The coalition boasts educational events, storytelling, advocacy and inspiration for others as its current initiatives. The tent, in spirit of the 14-year-old lesson, remains big and open to others. This Substack, along with those of 11 other writers originally came together as a collective meaning to tell startup stories to raise cultural awareness for entrepreneurship, to decouple the word entrepreneurship from its culturally negative meaning of unemployed.
Independent voices
As is normal for any entrepreneurial venture, there remain supporters and cheerleaders who opt to work outside the tent, lifting entrepreneurship in their unique ways. Ben McDougal captures caffeinated conversations via his podcast and books. A revolving team of volunteers at 1 Million Cups Des Moines gathers entrepreneurs on most Wednesday mornings since fall 2012 and continues to ask and answer its originating question - 'what might you achieve if you gather entrepreneurs around a million cups of coffee in cities around the world?’
Clashing Journalists with Startup-y People
The earliest startup community found friends in a few journalists. Lynn Hicks and Marco Santana of the Des Moines Register, Kyle Oppenhuizen of the Business Record, Geoff Wood and his team at Silicon Prairie News were instrumental in putting Des Moines on the national startup stage. In Jay Byers’ private and public motivation to us, that podium was punching way above our weight, but he didn’t see that as a limiting factor - he saw it as aspirational. That aspiration and work have landed this documentarian in a community of professional journalists who capture and tell stories in poetry, prose, film, narration, photography, baking, novels and song.
Looking back 15 years and at Brad Feld’s coaxing to think in 20-year horizons, I know the Central Iowa community absorbed that lesson. I could’ve never imagined what has become of this, my, community. And cannot imagine what successors will make in the next 20. I only know that it will be richer, broader, healthier, and welcoming in the hands of the dozens named here and the nearly 160 who showed up at last week’s summit and their mentees to come.
And for that I am thankful. Happy Thanksgiving, all!
It strikes me as how no one can really operate as an island. We belong to systems and their support into larger ecosystems can mean the difference between early launch, sufficient nurturing, input and ideation, isolation and network building, success and failure. If we want an entrepreneurial system that flourishes, we have to support all sides of it. That applies to the systems in our personal lives as well. Thanks for recognizing, lifting up and encouraging others in this space.
Once again, important history, and a glimpse into a world I have never been a part of, and never will be. Fascinating!