Hundreds of partnerships formed. Thousands of cups of coffee every Wednesday. Fondly known locally as “church for entrepreneurs.” 1 Million Cups, originally initiated in 2012 by Kauffman labs, is rockin’ the nation. Earlier this year we reported that Fargo joined 26 other U.S locations participating in 1 Million Cups events. Now, Fargo is #26 out of 70 participating cities, all energized every Wednesday morning from around 9 – 10 AM from coffee and entrepreneurial spirit.
The weekly 1 Million Cups event here in Fargo, North Dakota, has come a long way since its debut in January of last year. The average attendance is nearly 200 people, and coffee is always served hot – courtesy of Danielson Legal, LLC. Those who have attended ten events are called up before announcements every week and are gifted with an official 1 Million Cups mug. These are now a highly coveted commodity – when loyal 1MC attendee Jodee Bocke accidentally broke hers she said she was “heartbroken.” Of course, it was promptly replaced.
Over this year we’ve seen a colorful assortment of guests take the stage; from local startup idea-makers like Mama Jean with Z!ng and Sarah English with Beach Interactive, to prominent community leaders like CEO of Intelligent InSites, Shane Waslaski and President of North Dakota State University, Dr. Dean Bresciani. Not to mention the variety of other things that have taken the stage in conjunction with the presentations – from 3D printers to Labradors to drones.
Dog IDs and Fargo 3d Printing bring some props on stage.
The event became so popular that midway through the year it outgrew the original space at the Plains Art Museum, moving to a larger venue at the Stage at Island Park. Many attendees were inspired to create other meet-ups modeled after 1 Million Cups, such as Group Think which began hosting an “early service” before 1 Million Cups, Fargo Game-Makers meet-up for programmers and artists to share their work, and Prairie I/O which will debut their high-tech meet-up this month.
Big changes have come as a result of these presentations as well. Partnerships form over mugs of coffee in the lobby, companies find new employees to fill a position, and some ideas shared on stage are backed up by interested investors. Notably, a presentation on the drone safety software being designed by Botlink, formerly known as Aerobotic Innovations, landed them an investment from sources who wish only to be known as local businessmen. The funding is allowing them to hire on 6 new employees and move to a bigger office – all because of the publicity from 1 Million Cups.
In short, we can wholeheartedly look back on this year with 1 Million Cups and see it as a great success. Of course, this would not be possible without your participation. With your continued support, 1 Million Cups will continue to grow and thrive. And the lineup for 2015 is already looking spiffy.
For your reading pleasure, we have compiled a list of this past year’s speakers with a brief description of the event. Be sure to click on the “Read more here” to see our full article covering the event. Thank you for sharing your coffee and conversation with us this past year!
1 Million Cups Fargo 2014
January 22, 2014: David Batcheller, Appareo Systems. The inaugural 1 Million Cups, which was held in the Plains Art Museum, featured David Batcheller, President and COO of Appareo Systems, LLC, which specializes in innovative avionic assistance technologies from flight training to in-flight GPS systems. Read more here.
January 29, 2014: Sarah English, Beach Interactive. Miss English presented the current project Beach Interactive is working on: Abettor’s Letters, a video game that teaches French to students through an interactive story. Read more here.
February 5, 2014: Blaine Booher, Clifton Labs. Clifton Labs is a computer engineering firm that assists in creating hardware, software, web, and mobile products for businesses. It is based in Cincinnati and Booher has since expanded to Fargo. Note: at this event, coffee was served in ceramic cups. Fascinating. Read more here.
February 12, 2014: Holly Anderson Battocchi, Elinor Specialty Coatings. Holly shared about the company she created with her husband Dante, which specializes in creating metal coatings that protect against rust and other types of wear. Read more here.
Courtny Evanson (left) and Jake Joraanstad (right)
February 19, 2014: Courtny Evanson, Nevaeh. Evanson was the winner of North Dakota Women’s Startup Weekend, with an idea for a massage table that doubles as a comfortable breast pumping station for new mothers. Read more here.
February 26, 2014: Rick Berg, AdShark Marketing. Berg presented on the marketing company, which focuses on search engine optimization and paid search tactics. They are the first certified Google Partner in the North Dakota region. Read more here.
March 5, 2014: Mike Dragosavich, One Herd. The online clothing store founded in Fargo boasts official licensed North Dakota State University gear for the national Bison fan base. At this event, Mike discussed how One Herd moved from an idea to a fully-fledged business in a matter of weeks. Read more here.
March 12, 2014: Startup Weekend Winners, Hack Fargo. This event featured the winners from Startup Weekend 2014. Hack Fargo, a group promotes the accessibility of Fargo government and city data by presenting collected public information in a standardized format. Read more here.
March 19, 2014: Kirk Anton, Heat Transfer Warehouse. Initially bootstrapped and involving a sole employee, after four years Heat Transfer Warehouse is now a 16-person entity with offices in Fargo, Cincinnati, and Las Vegas. Read more here.
March 26, 2014: Dr. Erin Nyren-Erickson, HQC Biosciences. Dr. Nyren Erickson’s company’s mission is to develop solutions for faster detection of biological threats, anything from blood infections to many other practical applications. She is currently running her work out of NDSU’s technology incubator. Read more here.
April 2, 2014: Aaron Hill, Fargo Brewing Company. Attendees at this event were treated to free samples from the recently opened Fargo Brewing Company, started by Hill and his business partners. Hill shared how the Brewery was born out of realizing Fargo did not have one; that, coupled with ND being a beer-loving state, seemed a good opportunity to start a business. Read more here.
Aaron Hill (left) presents at 1MC
April 9, 2014: Coy Yonce, Mantis Digital Arts (Brookings, SD) and Ryan Raguse, Virtual Farm Manager. The event marked the first 1 Million Cups held at the Stage at Island Park. Although developing products in radically different fields – Coy in children’s entertaining education and Ryan in farming management – the crowd was able to discover similarities in the end user experience. Read more here.
April 16, 2014: Ross Almlie, BreadVault + Dave Carlson, Oak Grove Lutheran School. Attendees were treated to a lesson in finance at this event, by these two middle school teachers who have created BreadVault: a virtual personal finance lab that enables its users to make all kinds of investment, budgeting, and finance decisions. Read more here.
April 23, 2014: Scott Anderson, Melville Kids Studio. Anderson shared about how he transitioned from work life, to stay at home dad, to entrepreneur. Melville Kids Studio now sells easy-to-assemble furniture for children. Read more here.
April 30, 2014: Clint Howitz, dogIDs + John Schneider, Fargo 3D Printing. Two quickly growing local startups; one creates personalized products for man’s best friend, the other offers expertise for all your 3D printing needs. The two startup founders shared roadblocks, victories, and stories of starting a business. Read more here.
May 7, 2014: Scott Bintz, RealTruck + Misfit Incorporated. Bintz shared his story of starting from scratch and rising to success, now one of the largest and fastest-growing startups in the area. Representatives from the creative movement, Misfit Incorporated, also shared about their mission; combining talents to build communities. Read more here.
May 14, 2014: Garrett Moon, co-founder of CoSchedule. Moon, who also co-founded Todaymade, presented on his new company which provides a manageable calendar for social media scheduling. Read our exclusive interview with Moon here, and more on the event, here.
May 21, 2014: Dr. Erin Nyren-Erickson, Discovery Express Kids + Scott & John Meyer 9Clouds/Digital Literacy. Dr. Nyren-Erickson presented on the STEM group Discovery Express Kids, which aims to make science more fun to learn for kids. Scott and John Meyer shared about the Digital Literacy project which aims to “improve the digital literacy of our clients so they can build the business they want from wherever they are,” according to the website.
May 28, 2014: Alexandra Haass, MBA Adventures. Haass presented on the nationwide program known as MBAxAmerica, which sends students across America to work with companies in various capacities. Read more here, and be sure to check out applications – they’re currently accepting for 2015.
June 11, 2014: Saurabh Tyagi, Medytex. Tyagi, who won the Startup Weekend 2014, presented his healthcare app Medytex, which provides users easy and efficient communication with their doctors. Read more here.
Tyagi (left) and Greg Tehven (right)
June 18, 2014: Ryan Fritz, Office Sign Company. This Fargo-based startup designs custom made signs, from corporate door signs, conference room signs and executive nameplates to full color custom signs for office doors, cubicles and walls.
Waslaski (left) and Coolbroth (right)
June 25, 2014: Shane Waslaski CEO of Intelligent Insites + Kyle Coolbroth Co-founder of CoCo. With a record-breaking attendance of over 351 attendees, these two powerhouse speakers presented on their respective companies. Read more here.
July 2, 2014: Miguel Danielson, Fargo Startup House and Co-founder of Emerging Prairie. At this special event, Mr. Danielson officially announced the Fargo Startup House; a home where entrepreneurs can live and work, free of charge. Their sole requirement is that they use the space to collaborate and work hard. Read more here.
July 9, 2014: Holly Anderson Batthochi, Elinor Specialty Coatings. For the second time, Holly Battochi took the stage, giving updates on how here metal-protection startup was moving along.
July 16, 2014: Mama Jean, Z!ng, Jeremy Neuharth Co-founder of Sycorr. Mr. Neuharth is the co-founder of Sycorr, which is a premiere software solutions company focused on banks, credit unions, and other select financial companies. Read more, here. Mama Jean has been a chef since a very young age, and has recently opened a restaurant, Z!ng, based around a mobile app menu, which allows users to select what they want in advance, pick up the ingredients, and cook a quick, homemade style meal at home. Read her story here.
July 23, 2014: Dan MacCombie, Co-founder of Runa. The Brooklyn-based startup is a widely acclaimed for producing clean energy drinks using guayusa leaves provided by Amazonian farmers. MacCombie and his business partner Tyler Gage have an incredible story. Read more here.
July 30, 2014: Andrew Dalman, Brainchild InnoVentures. BrainChild Innoventures is a student run company that provides prototyping, design, and consultation services. Read more here.
August 6, 2014: John Meyer, Lemonly. This startup, based in Sioux Falls, SD, creates beautiful videos and infographics that communicate complex data in an easy-to-understand way. Or, as they say on their website, turning lemons into lemonade. Read more here.
August 13, 2014: Terri Zimmerman, Packet Digital. Packet Digital is an “emerging world leader in the design, development, and marketing of advanced power management integrated circuits (PMICs) for portable electronic devices and embedded systems,” according to their website. Basically, they’re helping us save power in dramatic ways, and they’re based in Fargo! Read more here.
August 27, 2014: Drew Spooner, DinnerTies. NDSU student Drew Spooner shared about Dinner Ties, a community project that invites the world to dine in Fargo. Local middle school students Seralyn Blake, Hunter Koehmstedt, Zach Milbrandt, Haison Nguyen and Joram Stith also presented their mobile app Snapdocs, which won the nationwide Verizon Innovative App Challenge. Read more here.
September 3, 2014: Gary Inman President of the Information Technology Council of North Dakota – Dakota Fiber Initiative. Mr. Inman spoke about the Dakota Fiber Initiative’s effort to bring high speed fiber Internet to the state. Their efforts have clearly been successful, as North Dakota was recently reported to be leading the nation when it comes to fiber optic Internet access. Read the story here.
September 10, 2014: David Batcheller, Appareo Systems. Appareo is a national leader in custom design, development and manufacture of innovative electronic and software solutions for original equipment manufacturers, as well as direct-to-market consumer products. They have also recently partnered with Specialisterne – read why it made the news, here.
September 17, 2014: Lauris Molbert CEO of TMI Hospitality, and Mike McGee, co-founder of The Starter League (Chicago, IL). Molbert spoke about the story of TMI Hospitality, which was recently sold for a “ten-digit-number,” and how it was able to reach such success. McGee shared the story behind the Starter League he co-founded, which now offers coding classes to students from around the world. Read his story here.
McGee talks about turning down work in the Obama 2012 campaign in favor of coding school.
October 1, 2014: Rachel Black and Sam Jacobs, GoodSurv. The team presented their app, which allows users to give customer feedback to restaurants while donating a good cause. No more of that silly “go to the website at the bottom of this receipt and give us feedback” nonsense. Fun side-note: co-founder Sam Jacobs thought of the idea for the startup while eating a burrito. Read their story here. Watch the video re-cap, here.
October 8, 2014: Bill Burgess, Simply Made Apps. Burgess shared how his three man team had problem with the software used to track employees. So they made a better one, and founded Simply Made Apps. He also referenced Arrested Development during this presentation; a memorable moment, indeed. Read more here.
October 15, 2014: Edie Ramstad, Weave Got Maille. Ms. Ramstad shared how she started her company, which makes chain maille for jewelry, simply as a way to keep busy. She now sells over 1 million rings a day to customers worldwide. Read her story, here.
October 22, 2014: Alex Warner CEO of Pedigree Technologies. Warner introduced attendees to the idea of “the Internet of Things” – telling us that pretty soon, everything will be as smart as our smart phone. Even our refrigerators. Read more here.
October 29, 2014: Shannon Luney, Girl Develop It Fargo. Luney and her co-organizer Megan Beck have brought the national program Girl Develop It to Fargo, and have begun offering classes in coding to Fargo locals who are interested in learning some basic coding skills. Read more here.
November 5, 2014: Marlo Anderson, Autonomous Highway. Anderson, also known as the Guru of Geek, presented on the work being done to create an autonomous highway stretching from Canada to Mexico. Read more here.
November 12, 2014: Shawn Muehler, Aerobotic Innovations (now Botlink). Muehler and his drone took to the stage, to show how North Dakota could own the drone industry. With a first-of-its-kind software model, he and his team at Botlink are pioneering the way to creating less hazardous drone piloting. Read their story here.
November 19, 2014: Dr. Dean Bresciani President of North Dakota State University. Over 200 people came to see Dr. Bresciani speak about the ways a university can be a valuable asset to the entrepreneurial community. Read more here.
Dr. Bresciani (left) and Greg Tehven (right)
November 26, 2014: Joseph Taralson, Buzzcut Mobile. Taralson presented on the expansion of Minneapolis-based app Buzzcut to Fargo, where they know offer the ability to see specials and happy hours at nearby restaurants. Read more here.
1 Million Cups is a nationwide movement that was initiated in April, 2012, by Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Its goal is to promote entrepreneurship and spur startup community growth simply over weekly cups of coffee. Their motto? “Building communities, one cup at a time.”
Neighboring 1 Million Cups events can also be found in Bismarck/Mandan, ND, Grand Forks, ND, Brookings, SD, and Yankton, SD.
Learn more here.
