In 2006, David Graff, Brian Kaiser and John Wirtz, three students from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln decided to create a software that could help football coaches to manage their teams, develop new strategies and have a real time communication with their team players while gathering data from their opponents’ previous games. The idea sold quickly, and the startup project proved to be Silicon Valley worthy. But instead of flying to the West Coast looking for funding, Graff and his partners decided to stay close to home, where everything started. This is how Hudl started, with less than 10 employees, offering its services to little local teams, and today it has grown to become a well established company with more than 400 employees working in 14 different countries and providing services to more than 140,000 active teams from different sport disciplines and 3.5 million active users.

Since Hudl, the city of Lincoln has became the epicentre of an entrepreneurial revolution as every day, there are more startup entrepreneurs leaving the high tech hot spots of San Francisco, New York, and even Silicon Valley to seek a more inclusive and less competitive environment to develop new technologies and ideas. This is what people in the region are beginning to call “Silicon Prairie”, comparing it to Silicon Valley in California, home to companies known worldwide such as Windows, Facebook, and Yahoo!.   

But why would anyone move from the West Coast to the Midwest to start a new company? It sounds almost as crazy as moving from Hollywood to Alaska to begin an acting career. But, once you think it through, it’s as logical as it gets. Nebraska is one of the safest states in the United States, and also one of the cheapest. According to Trulia.com, the median home in San Francisco can cost up to $1.1 million, while in Lincoln, it’s about $158,000. The University environment also keeps the city developing both culturally and intellectually as the researching campus of UNL keeps growing day by day, making it more convenient for new local entrepreneurs to stay close to home.