Tech In Chicago

Stu Grubbs is a Co-Founder and CEO of Infiniscene, a startup building the easiest way to livestream video. They enable gamers, and now Facebook and Youtube streamers, to easily create beautiful live broadcasts in their web browser without any experience or expensive hardware. As Stu mentions during the show, a lot of Chicago startups are new tech solving old problems so it is awesome to to have a startup empowering live streamers being built here. It is definitely both a cutting edge problem and solution.  listen on itunes listen on google play In This Episode You Will Learn: How difficult it is to setup a lifestream today Why quality will always be the differentiator with content creators How big e-sports is today? Hint: a lot bigger than you think How e-gamers make more money on content then competition What Infiniscene got out of Techstars Why starting a company is the real way to see if you are good at something How a landlords faith in him allowed Infiniscene to survive What kept him going when he was

David Rabie is the Founder and CEO of Tovala, the creator of a smart oven that cooks perfectly made meals by baking, boiling and steaming them in under 30 minutes. The meals can either be delivered prepackaged from Tovala or be made using a crowdsourced recipe. Last winter, Tovala graduated from Y-Combinator and a few months ago Tovala launched a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $255,603 with over 1,000 backers. Before starting Tovala, David was an MBA at Chicago Booth, and he worked for the co-founder and CEO of Veggie Grill and ran Groovy Spoon – a bi-coastal chain of frozen yogurt stores. He also spent time working at Google and Foundation Capital.  listen on iTunes listen on google play In This Episode You Will Learn: Why he decided to pair food delivery with a smart oven How they came up with the name Tovala How David found his first engineer How they decided on the price of the oven and the food How they prepared for their successful Kickstarter campaign What they got out of Y-Combinator?

Landon Shoop, along with his wife Jennifer Shoop, started Fizz, a team management tool that makes developing employees easy. At his old job, Landon became frustrated while preparing for another yearly performance review and he decided there must be something better. Together they developed a HR tech platform that allows for real-time employee/employer feedback. Landon and Jennifer haven't raised any outside money yet, but they already have some impressive traction. It was great to talk product with promising entrepreneurs just getting started.  listen on itunes listen on stitcher In This Episode You Will Learn: How to decide whether your idea is worth pursuing How to sell your product Why they decided to build upon Slack How they came up with the name? Hint: Focus is your scarcest resource How they approach work/life balance as a husband/wife founding team Selected Links From The Episode: David Kelley, Founder of IDEO and Stanford's d.school Email Hunter - Find email addresses in seconds Rapportive - Info

Michael Slaby is the Founder and Head of Mission of Timshel, a startup that has developed a platform called The Groundwork to give organizations and brands more powerful digital tools to analyze all the data they are producing, help them organize supporters, get their message out, and raise money. According to Federal Election Commission records, Hillary Clinton has spent almost $500,000 on Timshel’s services since announcing her candidacy last year. Before starting Timshel, Michael was the CTO of Obama for America in 2008 and Obama’s Chief Integration Officer in 2012,  overseeing the campaign's integration of technology, digital strategy, and analytics.  listen on iTunes listen on stitcher In This Episode You Will Learn: How an "argument of violent agreement" got Michael into politics The differences between the 2008 election and 2012 election What the team took from the 2012 campaign to Timshel How Timshel balances being a for profit company and having a social mission How Timshel is helping Hillary Clint

Jason Kunesh is a co-founder and CEO of Public Good Software, a startup aiming to make donating to non-profits as easy as ordering something on Amazon. Before starting PGS, Jason was the Director of UX for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign and part of the founding team at The Point, which later became Groupon. Jason is also a member of the adjunct faculty at the Starter School, owner of the best Fu Manchu in Chicago, a mentor at Impact Engine, and an advisor to the American Design and Master-Craft Initiative and UX for Good. listen on iTunes Listen on google play In This Episode You Will Learn: How he got involved in the Obama campaign? What it is like demoing your product for the president? What the team learned on the Obama campaign and then applied at Public Good? Why charities for animals outperform charities for the homeless? Why non-profits are scared of innovation? How he got into tech?  Why you should be public about your failures? Why Chicago is the best place to start a non-profit focused company

Gale Bowman is the founding director of Irish Angels, an angel network dedicated to early stage investments in which a founder, board member, or active investor is a student, graduate, parent, or faculty member of the University of Notre Dame. After graduating from business school in 2012, Gale launched Irish Angels and has since grown the angel network to 150 investors and invested $10 million in seed and Series A investments.  Listen on iTunes listen on Google play In This Episode You Will Learn: Where Irish Angels sources their best deals? What is the biggest mistake that first time founders make?  What is the future of university-affiliated angel networks/vc funds? What are the benefits of an angel network over a venture capital fund? What an ideal founding team looks like?  What abilities an ideal CEO has? Hint: Sales and Metrics What a typical week looks like for VC/angel network director?  How to land your first job at a startup?  How build relationships in the startup community? Favorite Book: How

Craig Vodnik is a co-founder of Cleverbridge, a global subscription billing provider. Founded in 2005, Cleverbridge has grown to 300+ employees with offices in Cologne (Germany), Chicago, San Francisco and Tokyo. They have done this all without raising any outside money. At the beginning of his career in 1995, Craig served as the Webmaster of the Chicago Tribune, where he launched its first website. Outside of Cleverbridge, Craig helps develop other entrepreneurs as a mentor at 1871, Catapult Chicago, Junto Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Enterpriseworks Entrepreneur-In-Residence and as a board member of Hyde Park Angels. listen on iTunes listen on google play In This Episode You Will Learn: How they maintain their company culture with offices in different countries?  Why you should bootstrap for as long as you can? When is the right time to take venture capital? Why we need more risk taking in Chicago? What fantasy football can teach you about business? How to go about finding and cu

Jacob Babcock is the founder and CEO of NuCurrent, a wireless power company that has designed the world's fastest, smallest, and most efficient wireless power antennas. If you have ever wondered why we still have to deal with all these charging cables, this is the podcast for you. listen on iTunes listen on stitcher In This Episode You Will Learn: How Jacob made the transition from law school to founder of a very technical startup? What a future with wireless power will look like?  How NuCurrent is stealing business away from multi-billion dollar competitors?  Chicago's storied history as the birthplace of wireless power How to test if someone will make for a good startup employee?  The one big thing he wishes he knew when he started NuCurrent Favorite Books: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing  Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read

Jeff Carter is a co-founder of Hyde Park Angels, one of the most active angel groups in the United States, and he is currently raising a VC fund, named West Loop Ventures. Before becoming an angel he was a trader for over 25 years and he continues to trade independently.  listen on itunes listen on stitcher In This Episode You Will Learn: How Hyde Park Angels started? Why traders make for good angel investors? Why having pornographers and money launderers latching on to your product early is a great sign?  Why it has been easier to find LPs for West Loop Ventures outside of Chicago?  Why you have to be a great analyzer of people and not just ideas for seed investing? Why it's important to have a vision for the future as a seed investor? Why VCs can bet on ideas, but angels have to be on people? Why being coachable is so important for entrepreneurs? How an entrepreneur/investor relationship is like dating?  Why he makes a point of blogging everyday? What we have to do to keep growing the Chicago tech scene?

Katlin Smith is the founder of Simple Mills, a food startup that only uses simple, whole food ingredients. While working as a consultant, Katlin discovered she had a gluten-sensitivity and started experimenting with her almond-flour baking mixes on the weekends.  Shortly after launching her almond flour muffin mix, it became the best selling muffin mix on Amazon. Simple Mills is now in over 2,000 stores nationwide, including in Whole Foods and Mariono's in Chicago.  listen on itunes listen on stitcher In This Episode You Will Learn: How she came up with the idea for Simple Mills? Why it's important to be the "chief sales officer" as the founder of a startup? Why she started with baking mixes? Why nuts are so expensive? What she loves about being an entrepreneur? What the process is like to bring a new food product to market?  How she has found and cultivated her advisors?  How the challenges of being a founder change as your startup grows? How she approaches getting into new stores? Why she thinks Chicago i

Ezra Galston is a VC at Chicago Ventures. At CV, Ezra focuses on consumer facing investment and is actively involved with BloomNation, Kapow Events, Luxury Garage Sale, Shiftgig, SpotHero, Zipments, and Havenly. He writes one of my favorite VC blogs at BreakingVC.com and his thoughts on startups have also been published in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and Re/code. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Ezra was a professional poker player and the Director of Marketing for CardRunners Gaming.  Listen on itunes listen on stitcher In This Episode You Will Learn: How Ezra got into angel investing?  What motivates Chicago Ventures? What's the one question every founder should ask of their VCs? Why Ezra prefers growing a business over starting one? Where Ezra sources his investments from? Why producing content as a VC is important?  How they look for outliers in the entrepreneurs they back? How Ezra finds and cultivates his mentors? Hint: cold emailing  Why Ezra thinks e-commerce companies are

Neal Rothschild is the founder of Rooster, a 6-minute daily podcast that updates you on all the news you need to know. Neal just launched Rooster at the beginning of this year and it was great to interview a founder just getting started on a really promising startup. Neal initially came up with the idea while walking back and forth to the school he was teaching at in Romania. Before Rooster, Neal was also a journalist with pieces published in the New York Times and USA Today.  listen on itunes listen on stitcher In this episode we cover: Why he decided audio is the most effective and efficient way to get information? How he landed on the name Rooster? Why critical feedback is the best feedback?  What the process is like producing a daily podcast? How he stays on top of all the news in the world? Hint: Twitter lists Neal’s Idols in New Media:  Ira Glass, This American Life Alex Blumberg, Gimlet Media Bill Simmons, The Ringer Deadspin.com Gawker.com Neal’s Favorite Books:  Boomerang: Travels in the New T

Rod Rakic is the founder of OpenAirplane, a plane sharing marketplace. OpenAirplane makes it easy for pilots to find, book, and pay for aircraft rentals online or on their phones. Renting an airplane is now as easy as renting a car. Listen on itunes listen on stitcher In this episode we cover:     The benefits of private aviation over commercial travel     The secret to avoiding parking fees at airports     Why you ask for advice instead of money     Making things work as a distributed team Rod’s Favorite Book: The Customer Support Handbook: How to Create the Ultimate Customer Experience for Your Brand by Sarah Hatter

Ryan Coon is the founder of Rentalutions and a former investment banker. Rentalutions provides all-in-one landlord management software. Whether you manage one unit or multiple buildings, Rentalutions gives you the ability to receive electronic rent payments, manage leases, find the right tenants, and deal with maintenance issues. Listen on itunes listen on stitcher In this episode we cover:     Making the transition from investment banking to entrepreneurship     Starting a company for the right reasons     How the Chicago tech scene has changed     Finding your first customers Ryan’s Favorite Book: The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living by Randy Komisar

Aaron Dallek is a serial entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Opternative - the world’s first online eye exam. The exam can be taken from anywhere, at anytime, and a doctor issued prescription can be used to shop everywhere. The exam only takes 25 minutes and a digital prescription is delivered in 24 hours or less. listen on itunes listen on stitcher In this episode we cover:     -How to raise money in the current down market - In February 2016, Opternative closed their Series A ($6 million) from Jump Capital, Chicago Ventures, Pritzker Group, Tribeca Venture Partners, Corazon Capital, and NextGen Partners.      -How they built an online eye exam that rivals the traditional phoropter      -How to recruit the best talent against larger companies with deeper pockets      -Why you have to take things one step at a time as an entrepreneur Aaron’s Favorite Book: The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki

David Gardner is the founder and CEO of ColorJar, a Chicago-based creative tech agency. Before founding ColorJar, David was a professional basketball player and a founder of a social network in India. ColorJar specializes in branding and creating custom websites and mobile apps and has worked with everyone from Fortune500 corporations, to venture-funded startups. Listen on iTunes listen on stitcher In this episode we cover:     Why he decided to start an agency     What makes a great name and brand     How to approach building a new brand to cut through all the noise     Why user personas are better than talking about demographics     How the Chicago tech scene has changed in his 8 years since founding ColorJar     The surprising benefits of having a distributed team     Why employees and employers should date (contracting) before marrying (full time)     Why he prefers to hire freelancers     Why you should follow your instincts David’s Favorite Book: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malco