Topic: Don't Panic - 16 Years of Building What's Next in Lincoln
Brian Zimmer is Co-Owner and Chief Strategy Officer at Don’t Panic Labs, a software innovation firm in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the team partners with everyone from entrepreneurs to publicly traded companies. For 15 years, he has worked with hundreds of founders, corporate innovators, and leadership teams to turn uncertain ideas into real products.
Drawing on a foundation in software engineering, design thinking, and innovation processes, his practice centers on co-creation, the structured collaboration between teams and their customers. He makes the case that innovation, AI adoption, and corporate transformation are leadership challenges, and that the work of designing what comes next belongs to leaders at every level of every company.
Brian has testified before the Nebraska Legislature in support of state innovation policy, serves on the Tech Nebraska Advisory Board, and participates in the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development. He also participates in the Nebraska Angels and has performed investment diligence for the Nebraska Global venture fund. As an educator, he teaches at Nebraska Methodist College and has served as both faculty and coach at the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s Jeffrey S. Raikes School Design Studio. He received the 2026 Startup Executive Award from the University of Nebraska Entrepreneur Awards. Brian holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with minors in Computer Science and Psychology, both from UNL.
