About a month ago at 1 Million Cups Omaha, the weekly startup community event, a group of military veterans, together with local venture capitalist Scott Henderson, decided to tackle a disconnect between the defense and startup ecosystems in Nebraska.
“I'm an Air Force vet, I was in for 10 years,” said Jorden Gershenson, now the chief technology officer at Aulendur Labs. But when he got involved in the startup world, Gershenson found himself practically alone with a defense-oriented business, despite a critical mass of tech talent at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue.
“I'm going, ‘Where are all the defense guys?’” Gershenson said. “The same in (the defense world) … we're not bringing the startups and the people with the new bright ideas to come check this stuff out.”
