Seeding Success: The Nebraska Startup Job Mixer Story

When Justin Krug graduated from UNO CBA in 2021 with his BSBA with concentrations in Marketing and Business Management, the Omaha native knew exactly where he wanted to work; at a Nebraska-based startup company.

“I’ve been working in a startup environment for nearly five years—during my undergraduate career on a part-time basis for a handful of startups in town, and now, full-time at a startup called Workshop, where I’ve been for the last two and a half years. These kinds of companies are doing truly amazing things and I just knew that I wanted to be a key part of the story in helping them succeed,” Krug said.

So, when Krug had the idea for a job fair where other Nebraska startups could recruit and attract talent like his, he took the idea, and the Nebraska Startup Job Mixer was born.

“The whole concept of this event stemmed from my positive experience working at Workshop (a successful early-stage startup company based in Omaha that is growing fast). I felt like I truly hit the lottery with this being my first job out of school, and I wanted to help more young professionals/recent grads learn about opportunities at these smaller (but fast-growing) companies, that oftentimes are not posting on things like Handshake (a job search site) or may not always attend the career fairs,” Krug said. “I want to help more young professionals stumble their way into the startup community because unless you know someone, it’s hard to kind of find it,” said Krug. “But once you do, the community and everyone around it is so encouraging and will really stick their necks out for you.”

On April 19, Krug and his co-organizers will hold their third iteration of the event at The Granary in Ralston. The bi-annual event has quickly gained notoriety as one of Nebraska’s staple events in the entrepreneurship and startup scene, seeing as their first event brought together over 250+ attendees and nearly 20 Nebraska-based Startup companies seeking talent.

“We have three goals for this event, number one is to help these companies find talented people to work for them - because finding talent is the 2nd biggest obstacle facing startup founders. Number two is to spotlight all of the amazing companies being built right here in Nebraska and showcase the amazing work they are doing. And our third goal is just to have fun, it is rare to get this many company founders in a room together where we can create connections and community,” Krug said.

Krug emphasized how vital it was to assemble a top-notch volunteer team to make this event what it is today - all of which are high-achieving young professionals with ties to UNO CBA or UNL who either work at a NE-based startup company today or work at organizations that fund/support startups in the area.

Like Josh Bartels, a class of 2023 UNO CBA graduate who currently oversees the Nebraska Angels as Interim Executive Director. “The Startup Job Mixer leaves a lasting impact months after the date of the event. It's amazing to see how one conversation can lead to an opportunity that changes the course of a young professional's career. Hearing about how someone landed a job by having one conversation at our event makes it exciting to host each year,” Bartels said.

Joshua Peterson, a 2022 UNO CBA alum who is now the Marketing Director at an Omaha-based startup company called Elevator, had this to say about the impact of this event: “This recurring event grants the Nebraska startup community multiple opportunities to seek out up-and-coming young professionals and bright talent. It's so fulfilling to be able to provide an environment that enables individuals to get plugged into the startup community and learn about so many amazing job opportunities at these companies. It's truly a pleasure to help establish an event that brings so much talent into one room and to know that we are changing people's lives one event after another is exciting!”

As the events continue to grow, the group thinks the future looks bright for these small businesses.

“More and more startups are building in Nebraska - and we need to help those startups find top-notch talent right here in our backyard,” said TJ Andresean, one of the co-organizers and a class of ‘22 UNO CBA alum. Andresean currently works as a Senior Financial Analyst at a family investment office that invests in assets including startup companies.

If you are interested in attending the event on April 19, it will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at The Granary in Ralston. For more information go to https://www.linkedin.com/company/nebraska-startup-job-mixer/about/