“They did not know it was impossible, so they did it.” -Mark Twain

Oblivious to the extraordinary

Every so often you meet those individuals. The people who are doing something extraordinary but seem oblivious to the fact that it is. I had such an opportunity at ThincIowa.

Ben Milne, founder of Dwolla, spoke about his dream of creating a world-class company while still having a cornfield in his backyard. He’s raised money, he’s developed an all-star team and he’s created Dwolla, a product striking fear into the heart of the banking industry. And he’s done this all in Des Moines, Iowa, seemingly unaware that he’s not supposed to be able to do this.

The middle frontier in Sioux Falls

Here at 9 Clouds, we want to take people to the frontiers. The frontiers of their ideas, the frontiers of their passions and the frontiers of their perceived limitations. And while the frontier seems to imply the edge or far away, as Ben has shown, it can be right in your home town. In fact, what place is more on the metaphorical edge than the middle of the middle of the country.

Tomorrow, Ben will come to Sioux Falls, a center of finance and a launching pad for bright minds to leave and find creative work elsewhere. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. If we don’t know that it is impossible to start a business, raise money and live in the Midwest, we’ll do it. And Ben is.

I’m excited to hear him speak at the Innovation Expo tomorrow, and if you can make it, you should come see what the frontier looks like in the Midwest.