Oct. 10, 2023

This paid event listing is sponsored by the Innovation Expo.

Speakers from multiple states will share their entrepreneurial journeys Nov. 2 in Sioux Falls as part of the 20th annual Innovation Expo.

“We wanted to bring together a speaker lineup this year that could highlight the different stages of startup company development, interwoven with each speaker’s personal experiences and expertise,” said Tom Eitreim, executive director of the Enterprise Institute, which produces the event.

The first Innovation Expo was held in 2004 in Brookings. Ever since, it has been held in Sioux Falls, offering a way to stay current with the needs and interests of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Innovation Expo started out as an event with booths for businesses to market themselves, educational breakout sessions and even a contest for inventors to pitch their product called the Whatchamacallit Contest,” Eitreim said. “Over the years, we have shifted to a shared experience event bringing in entrepreneur and investor speakers to provide specific content and tactics that can help entrepreneurs or those with an interest in becoming an entrepreneur, while also providing networking opportunities for entrepreneurs, students and investors.”

Attendees will find an interesting and inspiring mix of entrepreneurs and investors as speakers, networking opportunities, knowledge-sharing and community-building within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“It’s an ideal event for entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, industry professionals and those interested in fostering entrepreneurship,” Eitreim said.

This year, the focus is on bringing speakers who are actively involved in building and investing in scalable startup companies, he added.

“Their unique blend of founder stories and practical insights, gained through their experiences in starting, scaling and investing in startups, will both inspire and educate the attendees.”

Speakers include:

Rob Walling, a serial entrepreneur who has started six companies — five of them bootstrapped. He runs MicroConf, the largest community for non-venture track SaaS founders, and TinySeed, a category-leading accelerator for B2B SaaS. He has invested in more than 150 startups. His podcast, “Startups for the Rest of Us,” has 670 episodes and over 10 million downloads.

Darrell Vesterfelt, a visionary leader who builds and scales businesses. He serves as the chief operating officer of the School of Traditional Skills, a company he co-founded. Additionally, Vesterfelt co-founded Homestead Living, a publishing house focused on books and magazines for those interested in homesteading. Previously, he served as the director of growth for Convert Kit, where his strategy took the company from $98,000 to $625,000 monthly recurring revenue — in just over one year.

Patty Post, the founder and CEO of Checkable, an innovative health care company aimed at empowering moms to save time and reduce the cost of care through innovative at-home testing kits. In 2019, she launched the business, providing an innovative platform that offers accurate at-home tests, easy access to telemedicine and prescription providers through a user-friendly app and the ability to make clinical, evidence-based decisions from the comfort of home.

Maddie Peschong, a branding photographer and coach who is obsessed with teaching creative entrepreneurs how to build a profitable business by being themselves. Through coaching, digital products and personal branding photos, she helps women discover their magic so they can stand out in a saturated market, confidently scale their income without trading more time for money and do only work they love.

John Bunting, the founder and CEO of Beeso Studio, a startup studio focused on scaling technology startups. He has 20 years of experience in technology and has worked for several Fortune 500 companies.

Justin Blase, the founder and sole full-time employee at TedsVintageArt.com, a seven-figure e-commerce brand based in Sioux Falls. The company sells wall decor products to both consumers and businesses through its website and other online marketplaces.

“Our aim is to showcase speakers who can shed light on how to address various challenges at different stages of startup company development,” Eitreim said. “The stages include everything from the initial idea and securing the first customer to successfully launching, scaling operations, optimizing marketing strategies and securing investment.”

Startup Sioux Falls will co-host this year’s event. The program is from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Sioux Falls, followed by a closing party at the new MarketBeat Theater inside Startup Sioux Falls’ new downtown headquarters, 100 E. Sixth St.

To learn more and register with a 50 percent discount, click here.