Raising capital for a new or growing company can be a challenging process, not only because it involves convincing people and investors that the company is worth investing money  into and its growth potential, but also because it can involve a myriad of complicated legal issues. Most capital raises involve the use of an attorney, ideally one that is knowledgeable in the area of the private offering of securities and understands the complexities of private offerings at the federal and state levels. This blog post will spend a few paragraphs setting the background for private offerings and the “exemptions” used and then go to describing the Form D that is filed with the Regulation D exemptions and what info, if any, parties interested in obtaining information on “deals” in Iowa can take from those Form Ds that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Welcome to the sesquicentennial edition of The Pull (woot! I've been waiting several weeks to roll that word out).

This newsletter launched on July 23, 2013 and 150 weeks later its not only still alive but its flourishing.

Matt Patane, technology and innovation reporter for the Des Moines Register and Geoff Wood, community builder at Gravitate, sit down for an in-depth discussion of the companies, events and ideas making news in the Iowa innovation community.

Topics discussed on this episode: GoFundMe stats, Power Rankings, Men's Style Lab guideshop, Cognizant expansion and state funding awards and the Accelerate DSM event

Feedback, thoughts or suggestions? Hit us up on Twitter or email the show at mvp@gravitatedsm.com

As a natural part of what I do, I’m constantly thinking about the role of a “community” in helping to support innovation and particularly those building startup companies. For most of the past year, however, I’ve also been thinking a lot about the role of startups in a broader community context as I’ve participated in the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute’s Community Leadership Program.

Welcome back to the Iowa Startup Power Rankings! We kicked things off with a bang last month as Tourney Machine was a clear number one after their big news of being acquired by Sports Illustrated Play. They are absent from the list this month (sorry folks—an acquisition or IPO means you're ineligible moving forward) and we welcome three new companies to their first ever power rankings.

Located in one of the neighborhood’s newer buildings, Scenic Route shares the block with two clothing stores (Locally Grown Clothing and Matilda Muse), and a stationary shop (Pink Print Company) with residential space upstairs. With dozens of shops and other restaurants mere blocks away, the coffee shop is almost always bustling with Capitol staffers on their lunch break, friends grabbing a coffee between errands, or students typing away on their laptops. When it comes to East Village essentials, you won’t find a better place than Scenic Route to host a meeting or put the finishing touches on a presentation.