Category Archives: High Tech

THE NAME IS IN2

by John Jonelis

What happens when you give kids—highly gifted in math and science—a state-of-the-art facility entirely dedicated to entrepreneurship? This could be the best-designed business incubator on the planet and the students are going to create real businesses here. Hey—this is too much fun! It sure doesn’t look like high school to me! Where did they put the usual long halls walled by the usual rows of lockers?  Where are the standardized rigid rectangular classrooms?

This is IN2, the new entrepreneurship center at IMSA—the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy—the Statewide high school for the best and the brightest.  It’s located near Chicago and students live on campus, as if attending a university four years too soon.

IMSA will host a big party and ribbon cutting for the new IN2 innovation space on the 30th of the month—that’s the 30th anniversary of the school’s founding.  I had the unique opportunity to preview this amazing facility.  Here’s a sneak peek: Continue reading

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YOU MIGHT AS WELL DANCE

help-t-ms-officeIT Guys—Stop Playing Defense

by Howard Tullman

Not feeling enough love? Yes, techies are under appreciated until spit hits fan. But if you’re one of them, you’ve got a bigger role to play than you think. Here are three ways to raise your profile. Continue reading

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BILLION DOLLAR UNICORNS

unicorn-from-ms-office-tKenneth M. Freeman

The world seems captivated by the growing number of unicorns – private companies theoretically worth more than $1 billion based on their latest round of funding. There are now more than 100 unicorns, led by Uber with a valuation of $66 billion. Continue reading

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DRIVING VALUE WHEN FUNDING RUNS LOW

funding-tDavid Johnson

Overview

The funding environment for early stage startups has been shifting for some time, but as shifts accelerate, founders, executives, and investors should look to reassess their strategies to ensure that they remain optimal in a capital constrained environment. Q2 2016 saw the lowest rolling 12-month average deal flow for early stage investments since Q2 2013, this in spite of actual early stage dollars invested having increased by 127% over that period. Increasingly, early stage investors are looking to place fewer but more sizable bets on startups that are perceived as having the most promise. This can, and likely will, lead to a widening gulf between early stage startups that have a clear path to additional funding and those that may struggle to generate investor interest. Continue reading

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INVESTING: IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CASH

cash-tby Scott M. Anderson

Angel investing is influenced by many factors affecting the startup including: technology, unmet demand, scalability and, most important, the founding team. These and many other factors will have a critical impact on the success or failure of the investment. However, there is one common factor to them all: Cash.

An investor and founder are in the elevator together. The investor says “Nice idea, how much capital do you need?” The founder says “$750K”. Investor says “Why $750K?” Founder says “We believe it’s the right amount based on other startups I’ve heard about.” Or she might say “It seems like the right amount based on the size of other angel investments.” Or she might say “It just seems like the right amount.”

Those responses are all wrong!! Continue reading

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IN YOUR FACE RISK

fear-color-tby John Jonelis

“Oh, you’re an angel investor! Isn’t that risky?”  I hear such drivel all the time.  Are people afraid of outsized returns?  Or perhaps they don’t understand risk, don’t know how to measure it, or how to take control of it.  Yet all that is quite easily done and it’s a real charge to play the game using a Monte Carlo simulation (MC).  I’ll show what’s likely to happen if you follow three simple rules.  Then I’ll break one rule—just a little bit—and we’ll use the simulator to see what happens. Continue reading

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HOW BAD IS IT

bobs-bad-poetry-swtby Loop Lonagan

Lotsa people keep tellin’ me good things about Bob’s Bad Poetry so I’m checkin’ it out. Yeah, yeah, I know what yer thinkin’.  But there’s no law against an angel investor goin’ in fer high culture.  That’s right, I like literature ‘n’ modern art too—’specially the abstract stuff.  You got some problem with that, bud?  Hey, me fodder and me mudder’s both Irish ‘n’ both poets, so’s I got it in da genes.  Maybe you already figured that out from da way I talk. Continue reading

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IMAGINED HORRIBLES

Investor from MS OfficeSourcing Strategic Investors, Part II

by Laurence Hayward

Make a wish—that the corporate venture investment world continues to grow. Strategic investors are an increasingly vital source of capital for many entrepreneurs. Who else will put up the cash? Ask yourself, “How many financial venture capitalists are investing in material science these days? Or cleantech? Or hardware?” Not many, right? So let’s discuss finding corporate investors that understand an entrepreneur’s needs for flexibility and ubiquity. Continue reading

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5 STARTUPS WE LOVED FROM TECHWEEK

Chicago’s Launch Competition

techweek-logo T

 

by Jeff Segal

Why does a B2B digital marketing agency that works with some of the biggest and best-known companies in America send a team to a startup competition?

Because marketing and startups actually have a lot in common.

  • Marketing is about problem solving, and startups are founded to solve problems.
  • Marketing is about storytelling, and every startup has a story.
  • Finally, a great marketing campaign and a successful startup both make people say, Wow, I wish I’d thought of that!

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SOURCING STRATEGIC INVESTORS

Monopoly Investor MS Office clipart TPart I – Funding your Business with Strategic Corporate Investors

by Laurence Hayward

It’s common to think of strategic investors, or strategics, as large established corporations that make equity investments in entrepreneurial ventures (and that is precisely how the Kauffman Foundation defines it). However, the reasons they make these investments vary and are more subtle than the definition implies. Continue reading

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CANCER STOPPER

Cancer Treatment from MS Office TEssential Biotechnology –

New Treatment for Hard to Treat Cancer

Jayson Kurfis

A protein, CRR9, serves as a nexus for tumor cell survival. It’s located on the cell surface, making it an accessible drug target. By developing antibodies to the CRR9 protein, Essential Biotechnology has devised a method to kill therapy-resistant tumors. Continue reading

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DON’T GET DOWN—GET BUSY

Howard Tullman Double Gulp Tby Howard Tullman

If you run a startup you’ll hit a wall or screw up big-time at some point. It goes with the territory. What doesn’t is letting yourself get stopped. Adversity doesn’t need any help. There are things you can do to right the ship—and the first is to right yourself. Continue reading

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