AOL co-founder talks importance of entrepreneurship to economy

When Steve Case co-founded AOL nearly 30 years ago, only 3 percent of Americans were online.

He watched the popular adoption of the Internet bring connectivity, productivity and prosperity.

Now, he's taking that philosophy on the road with the Rise of the Rest tour, produced by Revolution, UP Global and Google For Entrepreneurs.

The tour celebrates entrepreneurship in unassuming cities around the country, visiting Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Nashville, Tenn. in June and has stopping in Madison, Wis., Minneapolis, Des Moines, Kansas City, Mo. and St. Louis this week.

'The rest is rising, we're just trying to magnify it and accelerate it,” Case said in Des Moines on Wednesday. 'We need to make it clearer to people that there are great entrepreneurs all over the country, not just in a few places.”

Case also spoke about the three waves of the Internet - the first was simply building it, during the AOL days; the second was building on top of it, with platforms like Twitter and Facebook; and the third is leveraging its power to change major industries.

He stressed the importance of context and collaboration in this emerging third wave. To change education, he said, entrepreneurs will need to work with teachers, administrators, schools and universities. To revolutionize agriculture, they'll need to understand farmers, he added.

'My belief is, the next generation of great, disruptive companies that are going to change the world and create job growth, create economic growth, are going to take more perseverance and partnerships,” Case said. 'Be in it to win it over the long run, because most of these big changes are going to take place over decades.”

The day also included a pitch competition, with four of the nine startups involved representing the Corridor. The winner of the competition will earn a $100,000 investment from Case and a trip to the 2015 SXSW Startup Village in Austin.

l Pear Deck, an education tech company

l Re-APP, a mobile application that encourages recycling

l Punctil, a scheduling tool for the health care industry

l VenueFox, an online event planning service

l The Gazette Company's We Create Here initiative explores storylines that will shape the future of Iowa. Learn more at wecreatehere.net or by contacting the reporter at (319) 368-8568.