Startup America Partnership CEO Scott Case was in Iowa for the third time in six months for the April 12 i2iowa Innovators and Investors forum hosted by the Technology Association of Iowa.

Case has praised Iowa’s start-up scene on a national scale, and had attendees at the forum give entrepreneurs in the room an ovation during his keynote speech. StartupIowa launched late last year as the eighth region associated with Startup America, which has now grown to 18 regions. The Business Record caught up with Case to talk about what he sees in the Greater Des Moines start-up world and what the business community should know about the growing momentum of technology-related start-ups in the state.

What do you see in Iowa that keeps you coming back?

The things I see in successful places like Iowa are the leaders. (Start-ups are) a different class of company than a large company or a small (or) medium(-sized established) business. And they’re different. They’re run by founders, they’re growth-oriented, they might start off with only a couple people, but the goal is to be much bigger with their revenue and everything else. They’re a different class of company. What I see in Iowa is the commitment to supporting, understanding and engaging that.

People in Silicon Valley and New York City might not know about the Iowa start-up scene. How much does perception matter?

It matters that people in Iowa know about Iowa. That’s the most important thing. The most important thing that (Business Record readers) can do is recognize that Iowa for Iowa’s sake should be a great place to start and grow a company. And what can you do as Iowans to make that come true? The most important thing is increasing the network density around those start-ups and through those start-ups and being part of that phenomenon. It’s very rejuvenating – the most optimistic people in the world are start-ups. And if you’re a CEO or an executive, you need to spend time with those kinds of people, because they’re figuring out all of the things that you are trying to figure out.

What is the most common misconception that leaders of established businesses have about start-ups?

(Businesses should know) it’s less about the start-up and it’s more about the founders and the founding team of that start-up. If they’re innovating in your world, they’re not going away. So by creating a strategic relationship and finding ways to work together, you can benefit in the long term by having an innovation ecosystem that’s around you. The best companies in the world are figuring this out. I think the misconception is that a given idea or a company in a given stage might be high-risk. There are lots of different ways to engage with those people in those companies that don’t necessarily involve you taking huge risks.