Starting/Growing a business
Blogs: Business Innovation Zone & www.startupmodels.com
email: MColwell@desmoinesmetro.com
Phone: 515-286-4915
"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." (Margaret Thatcher)
That's Mike Colwell’s favorite quotation. Based on his 30+ years in business, Mike will tell you that doing is much more important than telling. In his role as executive director of the Business Innovation Zone, Mike spends his days coaching, mentoring, consulting, networking and generally asking very tough questions, the kinds of questions most entrepreneurs would rather he did not ask.
After spending more than 20 years in the mobile computing and wireless networking markets, Mike brings his knowledge and battle scars to bear on the goal of making Central Iowa entrepreneurs successful. Focusing on high-growth-potential companies, he works with businesses ranging from a single person with an idea to $10 million companies looking to grow to $25 million. Mike assists with business strategy, business planning, Financial modeling, business plan execution and business model development.
Recently, Mike won the Technology Association of Iowa’s "Investing in Iowa" award for helping to raise more than $4 million for his clients and connecting many people to resources in the region. Mike has recently added additional credentials when it comes to start-up businesses. He is the owner of StartupModels.com, and co-owner of NotifyWorks and casesmpl, all three businesses started in 2011.
Growing up in the Cedar Falls-Waterloo area, Mike worked in several of his father's businesses. He attended the University of Iowa where he promptly sold his football tickets for a tidy profit, majored in management information systems, minored in computer science, managed real estate and did not focus enough on his GPA.
After spending a few years in Seattle, Mike lives in Ankeny with his wife, Beth, where they strive to raise their son, Ben, who regularly pummels his father at chess.
