STARTUPS Blog
Kevin Kimle
April 1, 2022 10:32 AM
This month, we will publicly mark the name and brand transition to Start Something College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative (AgEI).
Kevin Kimle
August 3, 2021 9:56 AM
Where does entrepreneurial inspiration come from? Each of us has to answer that question individually, but it is interesting when inspirational themes (or perhaps memes) emerge.
I loved the original Star Trek when I was a kid. The opening line from Captain Kirk:
Kevin Kimle
June 25, 2021 4:12 PM
What do investors look for when evaluating innovative opportunities? It depends on the investor, but I am in search of surprise. Innovation cannot be predicted. Innovation cannot be planned. It is not foreseeable.
Kevin Kimle
May 10, 2021 2:25 PM
Dave Krog
May 10, 2021 2:25 PM
This semester’s domestic travel course was project-based, the Farm to Fork Project. Twelve students explored the frontiers of entrepreneurial opportunity for direct-to-consumer agricultural businesses.
Marcie Fahn
November 11, 2020 10:46 AM
Andrew Albrecht (’19 Agricultural Business) grew up on a family farm and has always been thinking of ways to expand the farm. He always wanted to do something in agriculture and become a business owner. Starting July of 2019, he found a market that he figured was there for the taking.
Kevin Kimle
October 16, 2020 11:41 AM
I am occasionally asked by venture capital investors in agricultural and food technology businesses (agri-food tech) about the technology-based interests of the students at Iowa State University. The investors view student interests as a potential leading indicator of technology trends
Kevin Kimle
September 21, 2020 2:43 PM
We recently made a change in the Wall of Fame, moving ScoutPro’s status to ‘merged/sold’ to mark the business becoming a part of Farmers Edge
Kevin Kimle
August 26, 2020 11:34 AM
At the beginning of my appointment at Iowa State University in 2009, I traveled to Palo Alto, California for a conference for venture investors. The event, during the height of the financial crisis, had one panel where a representative of the consumer electronics industry had a bit of a rif
Kevin Kimle
July 29, 2020 1:23 PM
Week 3 of the Contrarian Agriculture Series featured Roxi Beck of Look East and Federico Tru
Kevin Kimle
April 16, 2020 3:20 PM
We were delighted to have Jim Fay join students in ECON 334/Entreprenuership in Agriculture recently for a discussion on innovation, prototyping and new product development.
Kevin Kimle
April 2, 2020 3:17 PM
It was mid-2019, and Jeb Gent (’13 Ag Education) was ready. “I’ve always had in mind that at some point in my career I would start my own business,” commented Gent. “My wife and I have been saving money to help make that transition, so we parted ways with my job and hit the ground run
Kevin Kimle
March 26, 2020 2:09 PM
March 25 was scheduled as a guest-day for ECON 334/Entrepreneurship in Agriculture, part of a regular dose of guest agricultural entrepreneurs that speak to students over the course of the semester in the classroom in Kildee Hall.
Annie Zeimis, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer of One Hop Shop, took a rather untraditional path on her journey to becoming a Cyclone.
Hannah Corey, ('18 agronomy and entrepreneurial studies minor) believes that there are many paths to success. Although her career path after graduation wasn't traditional, she has stayed true to her roots, remaining deeply involved in the agriculture industry.
EllieMae Millenkamp, a senior in Agricultural Business, grew up feeding calves, collecting milk samples, and completing office work on her family's dairy farm in Jerome, Idaho.
The Student Incubator Program offers students the early resources required for starting and building a business. Dave Krog, Start Something-Ag Entrepreneur in Residence, and Joe Riley, entrepreneurial business leader, serve as mentors for the group.
“Often times we put up our own biggest barriers, thinking we aren’t an engineer or expert on something, so how can we ever build something people want?
“Start Something-Ag gave me the foundation necessary to start my own business. The connections gained through the program and my time at Iowa State have been instrumental to the success of my business, thus far.”
Elizabeth Hoppe (’13 Finance and Marketing) spends most of her days in a coffee shop. And no, she isn’t blogging, studying, or catching up with a friend.
The Start Something - Agriculture Program offered a new pilot program during the summer of 2019. This part-time program, the Rural Entrepreneurship Academy, was geared towards students who were interested in opening a business or farm in a rural setting. Those participating in the
