Chicago Needs More Angels (or Recognition of Them)

I attended midventuresLaunch this week.  The conference organizers designed the content to be informative and a rallying cry for entrepreneurship in Chicago and the Midwest.  I'm glad to see Chicago entrepreneurs gaining confidence unlike the situation in 2008 when I wrote this blog post.

Several initiatives came out of the conference.  Brendan Mulligan, founder of Artist Data, which was recently purchased by SonicBids, challenged 40 Chicago angel investors to sign up for Angelist by November 1st.  Chicago currently has only 8 angels on the list compared to Silicon Valley's 201 angels. 

Also, the members of the Keynote Panel entitled "The 3 Stages of Not Being Silicon Valley" started a blog to discuss the panel topic before the panel presented.  They had over 12,000 participants from all over the world participate in the discussion.

I'm going to add a suggestion to the mix.  Why not have a blog with a list of companies from Chicago/Midwest that get Angel/VC funding?  Freshwater Venture was a good start, but it hasn't been updated.  I'm thinking something simpler - just a list with Company/Angel/Fund names and amounts.  Maybe Chicago Tech Scene or the ITA could add a page to their current sites?  A comprehensive list really shows that Chicago firms are getting funded and highlights angels and funds that are active in the Midwest.

A page with listing exits would be great, too.  According to Matt McCall in a Fast Company article about start ups in Chicago:

I don't want to misspeak here, but for the last five years, there were I think $23 billion worth of exits out of Chicago and in this region in general.

Publishing a list or chart highlighting the successful exits could be a great boost to entrepreneurs here.

Maybe something like this already exists?  If so, comment!

Off to Potbelly (oh yes, another successful Chicago start up) to grab a sandwich for lunch.

Nominate an Outstanding Technology Student Today: 50 For the Future

The Illinois Technology Foundation, a Chicago-based non-profit organization dedicated to fueling the technology talent and human capital pipeline through facilitated collaboration between academia and industry, has begun accepting nominations for 50 for the Future, an event honoring Illinois’ most promising technology students.

The event, now in its fourth year, is designed to provide students using technology in innovative ways a means to excel by connecting them with business leaders early in their academic careers. The program is open to candidates enrolled in institutions of higher learning throughout Illinois.

Over 30 of the region’s top technology companies, supporting organizations, and institutions of higher learning have become involved in the competition, offering their C-level executives as judges.

Students who win the award will receive recognition at an April event attended by the competition’s judges and nominators, have access to prospective employers via round tables, web seminars and mentoring programs through the Illinois Technology Foundation, and will have preferred status for limited-capacity activities.

To find out more information or to nominate an outstanding technology student, visit www.50forthefuture.org.

Is Chicago Now the 14th City, Technically Speaking?

Several tech leaders banded together to write a response to Greg Burns' column in the Chicago Tribune, where he states that Chicago falls short in tech leadership and focus.

Burns starts his column with the connotation that the $1.2 billion sale of SPSS to IBM is BAD news. In most markets, a local tech company that is purchased for over $1 billion is a major success story. But here, it's another reason to kick ourselves (or for the Trib to kick the tech community again).

Here's the well worded response, which outlines the many resources available to support and lead the tech community in Chicago.

Turning Regional Strengths Into a Global Technology Powerhouse

When a city is known for its broad shoulders, and when a region is known for its work ethic, the status quo does not go unchallenged. Today public officials, private industry executives and academic centers of excellence leaders are collaborating toward a common goal: to make Chicago, Illinois and the surrounding Midwest one of the top technology and life sciences centers in the world. We are cultivating venture capital firms willing to finance startups, increasing public sector support, and combining talent and resources to drive the region’s growth.

We are confident that our region will improve its ability to translate the amazing quality, breadth, and depth of scientific research conducted here into an even more vibrant technology-based community, including the launching and nurturing of startup companies. Our respective organizations, along with other private and public sector leaders, particularly the past and current directors of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), will accept nothing less.

Fortunately we are starting from an often-underappreciated position of strength. Our universities and research centers are world-class assets, as are our global information technology, medical device and biopharmaceutical corporations. When local startups mature and either acquire other companies or become acquired themselves, they represent a desired and healthy evolution for our community. It is only through this process that a sustainable technology ecosystem can develop.

With an eye toward future growth in employment and tax revenues, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn last month approved the state's first capital and infrastructure program in a decade. The package directs approximately $300 million to science and technology investments, and provides several hundred million dollars more for university-based construction projects. The capital plan is expected to create or retain 439,000 jobs in Illinois.

How are we contributing to the growth of our region? Here are just a few examples:

• Since its launch in June 2007, iBIO’s PROPEL programs have helped 48 formation-stage and early-stage life sciences companies by providing entrepreneurs with access to specialized resources and expertise. The iBIO Institute helps Illinois high school teachers incorporate biotechnology into their curricula, and encourages students to explore career opportunities in the life sciences.

• The NanoBusiness Alliance is placing our top science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students in research internships in Chicago-area nanotechnology companies to inspire our best and brightest students to stick with careers in science. It has also relocated its national conference to Chicago, bringing nanotech companies from all over the country to Chicago for local industry to engage.

• The ISTC is fostering public-private partnerships to develop and execute R&D projects, advocating for funding for R&D initiatives, and collaborating with public and private partners to attract and retain R&D resources and talent in Illinois.

• ITA communicates with some 3500 technology companies in Illinois who are engaged in the community, and participates directly in strategy development for many of these companies. The ITA also manages Chicago’s TechNexus, a clubhouse of sorts for the Illinois technology community. Each month, more than 1500 executives interact through the program, and 30 TechNexus companies have attracted more than $27 million in investment capital.

• Celebrating its 10^th anniversary, World Business Chicago has worked in concert with the public/private sector, and alongside our university partners, to foster the attraction or expansion of hundreds of Chicago-area technology-based firms. We navigate the site selection process for businesses by providing economic and industry data, state and local incentive information, and site location assistance to current and prospective Chicago companies. By working with our area’s leaders to aggressively promote and market Chicago’s strengths as a global technology hub, world-class companies from Boeing to NAVTEQ, Orbitz to CareerBuilder, Motorola to US Cellular call Chicago their home.

Illinois residents and business are fortunate to have a first-rate Congressional delegation that works to ensure investment comes home. Thanks to the number of technology-savvy supporters increasing in Springfield and Washington, and with new public-private partnerships forming constantly, Chicago and Illinois will build upon their demonstrated strengths to create new technology-based solutions in industry, medicine and agriculture. In so doing, we will create new jobs and contribute to a stronger economy in the region and nationwide.

Our organizations couldn’t exist without the active support of private businesses and public research centers, but that doesn’t stop us from aggressively pushing them to accept even greater responsibility for helping Illinois earn its rightful place as a global technology leader. As we dedicate our organizations to the vigilant pursuit of excellence, we encourage our friends and colleagues in the media to celebrate the successes occurring in our backyard. Our businesses and tax base would surely benefit if the world regularly heard about the innovations that emanate from Illinois. We also call upon the business community to apply their broad shoulders and renowned work ethic to this critically important objective. Together, we will leave the status quo behind and create a new and exciting future for Illinois, the United States and the world.

Fred Hoch, President

Illinois Technology Association (ITA)

Dan Lyne, Director, Technology Development

World Business Chicago (WBC)

David Miller, President & CEO

Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO)

Sean Murdock, Executive Chairman

NanoBusiness Alliance

Matthew Summy, President & CEO

Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC)

Chicago Entrepreneurs Prefer Meat and Potatoes

Apparently, New Enterprise Associates managing general partner Peter Barris agrees with the "Pooh v. Tigger" assessment of the Chicago startup scene in my last post. According to last Monday's Tech Matters column by Brad Spirrison in the Chicago Sun-Times:

"Barris appreciates a “less-faddish” and more meat-and-potatoes approach to building new businesses. He says Chicago is a place where profitability is more important than novelty."

Unfortunately, Barris' comments also reinforce the stereotype that Chicago is not the best place to start a new business:

Barris compared area entrepreneurs to grapes in Napa Valley that manage to persevere through "rocky, inhabitable soil". He added: "They have to work at it. The process of working at it is what gives the grapes that distinct quality."

Funny. Chicago's "rocky soil" has many great supportive organizations for the tech community such as the ITA, ITDA and Tech Cocktail; several entrepreneurial centers; great universities; (Fast Company's U.S. city of the year); experienced lawyers; and a huge financial community. There are plenty of Chicago tech success stories - Spirrison lists three in his article. Aircell, based in Itasca, just closed a $265 million round of financing.

So why the bad rap? Does it really matter anyway? Here in Chicago, we just get da job done.

Pooh and the Chicago Technology Community

This week I attended the ITP Policy Kickoff Meeting. I sat with some interesting people - Bret Johnson, director of the Homeland Security Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center
and Laura Hale, founder of a fan fiction history wiki.

I'm not going to comment on the ITP or its role as yet another technology advocacy organization in Illinois. Ron May covered the topic quite nicely in his newsletter.

What I found frustrating at the meeting was Chicago's typical "second city" technology industry attitude. Everyone knows that Chicago is WAY down on the list of locations where VC's invest and that the East and West Coasts are pulling talent from here. Please don't tell me that again.

Can the Chicago tech community please lose the "kick-me" sticker on its back? No one at the meeting mentioned that Fast Company named Chicago the 2008 U.S. City of the Year!

U.S. City of the Year: Chicago | Fast Company

Maybe it was old news to some, but what a great endorsement from a magazine that bills itself as: "A blended media website and community platform for people passionate about business ideas. Our core topics of concern are innovation, technology, leadership, management, social responsibility, design, careers and work/life balance." The award is definitely worth repeating.

Here's one quote from the article:

"A punk rocker from Wales once declared that he avoided L.A., because there they talked about whom they were going to play with; and he avoided New York, because there they talked about the projects they were going to do. In Chicago, he said, they come to work -- without regard for what others might think."

In the world of Pooh, you might say we view ourselves as Eeyore, the intelligent, humble and slightly depressed donkey. Silicon Valley sees itself as Tigger, the bouncy, egotistical tiger who thinks it can accomplish anything, but often doesn't. If Pooh were a VC, would he give his money to Eeyore or Tigger?

Oh, Fast Company, Chicago's tech community says "thanks for noticing me".

Tech Cocktail 7

My law firm, Fitzgerald & Hewes, LLP, is one of the sponsors of Tech Cocktail 7. Stop by our table and say hello if you're there.

Details:

Date
Thursday, February 21, 2008

Time
6:30 pm CT - 9:00 pm CT

Location
John Barleycorn Wrigleyville
3524 N Clark St
Upstairs
Chicago, IL 60657

Be sure to register right away. The event is often fully booked.

Ignite Chicago

Last night, my law firm, Fitzgerald & Hewes, co-sponsored the first Ignite event in Chicago. Ignite events are happening across the country. Thanks to the efforts of Sean Harper and Jesper Andersen the Chicago entrepreneurial community showed up to the party in their party dress.

If you're not familiar with the Ignite events, here's brief description:

If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers.

Last night's event was a cross between a tech event (with free drinks thanks to us sponsors) and a poetry slam. Very cool. You could feel the brainwaves and creativity in the air. My husband, Markus Giolas, founder and president of Real Talent, hopped right on the shadow sculpting contest. We'll see if he won.

Ignite Chicago - don't miss the next one.