Category Archives: Low Tech

October 6, 2016 · 7:00 am

ALIEN ABDUCTS FISH, THROWS FISHERMAN BACK

by Jim Kren

Avid fisherman John Jonelis was enjoying some late night fly-fishing on the Pere Marquette River in Michigan when he had a close encounter with something not swimming upstream.

“I’m casting a fly called a Crystal Bullet with a number 4 hook on a sink tip,” said Jonelis. “This beautiful Chinook Salmon practically bends my number 10 Recon in half but after about an hour, I land it. Al snaps a picture, then all this happens. Me and my salmon get lifted by a glowing ray into some giant saucer-like ship that smells of fish inside.” Continue reading →

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Filed under Biography, Characters, Education, Games, Low Tech, Mystery, Story

Tagged as alien abduction, big fish, bueter, bueters salmon camp, catch and release, chinook, crystal bullet, Fish, fly fishing, king salmon, michigan fishing, pere marquette, salmon, silver bullet, steelhead, trout

July 19, 2016 · 2:58 pm

5 STARTUPS WE LOVED FROM TECHWEEK

Chicago’s Launch Competition

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!

Continue reading →

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Filed under angel, angel investor, app, Business, Education, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, High Tech, Low Tech, mobile, mobile internet, Relationships, Startup Companies, Startups, vc, venture capital

Tagged as amazing startups, cast 21, cast21, chicago techweek, common cents, common sense, ditto, find your ditto, flipword, flipwords, here 2, here2, new tech, startups, techweek, techweek 2016, young startups

April 15, 2016 · 4:22 pm

THIS AIN’T NO LEMONADE STAND

Loop Lonagan—Verbatim

What if y’could combat starvation by producin’ yer own meat ‘n potatoes—and do it right at da local food bank? Hey, I’m lookin’ at a real working prototype here. What about a solution to student debt? Or, maybe fer yer next birthday party, ever’body plays laser tag with drones? Or learns music real fast? Or gets a little help rememberin’ stuff. I can use summa that. Continue reading →

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Filed under angel, angel investor, Business, Characters, Education, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, High Tech, loop lonagan, Low Tech, mobile, mobile internet, Poverty, Startup Companies, Startups, vc, venture capital

Tagged as gifted kids, hard working kids, invention, IQ, new technology, pitch competition, raw talent, smart, the gifted, whiz kids, young entrepreneurs

April 1, 2016 · 4:58 pm

ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY

Innovation in Offering the Ordinary in an Extraordinary Way

By Kenneth C. Bator, MBA

Let’s talk about a product that nobody wants to need. Can you transform the customer experience and make shopping for it enjoyable? Now that would be an innovation! Continue reading →

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Filed under angel, angel investor, Business, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Low Tech, Startup Companies, Startups, vc, venture capital

Tagged as Consulting, DME, durable medical equipment, high-end store, hip replacement, joint repacement, mobility, shopping experience, store presentation, wheel chair

March 10, 2016 · 6:44 pm

MAY THE FOREST BE WITH YOU

Using Whole Trees in Building Construction

Neil Kane

If there was ever a way to combine high tech and high touch as John Naisbitt stated in High Tech, High Touch, his 1999 follow-up to his 1982 bestseller Megatrends, “embracing technology that preserves our humanness”, WholeTrees Architecture & Structures of Madison, Wisconsin epitomizes it. WholeTrees is an innovative company that has hit it out of the park in terms of innovating on technology while providing a substantial impact return, all while having one of the most gorgeous and aesthetically pleasing product lines you’ll ever see. Continue reading →

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Filed under Business, Education, Low Tech, Politics, vc, venture capital

Tagged as cleantech, cleantech company, cleantech investing, cleantech startup, commercial wood structures, impact, impact company, impact investing, impact startup, social, social company, social investing, social startup, trees, whole trees, wood, wood products, wood structure

February 26, 2016 · 6:14 pm

CLEANTECH TRUTHS DEBUNKED

Generally Accepted Truths of Cleantech Investing – Debunked

Laurance K. Hayward – The Venture Lab

It is generally accepted in Cleantech investing that:

(1) the companies are capital intensive,

(2) there is a sustainability premium associated with buying the companies’ products and

(3) the adoption of the companies’ technologies requires a change of behavior.

All three can slow adoption and negatively impact scalability and internal rate of return. Certainly this can be true for many Cleantech companies, but it isn’t true for many others. Continue reading →

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Tagged as cleantech, disruptive technology, doing well by doing good, efficiency, impact investing, Social venture, sustainability premium

February 19, 2016 · 6:02 pm

TOO MANY FOUNDERS

Seth Temko

A new company is always short on cash and long on tasks. Right from the start an excited pot of people gather together and someone puts a stake in the ground “We’re doing this”. From that point forward a business entity is formed and shares are issued. From this, founders are born.

I’ve come across a number of startups with 3, 4, 5 and even 7 founders involved in various startups over the past year. It’s always debatable about the right number of founders but there definitely can be too many. Too many founders significantly affects the success of the company, the happiness of the founders and the financial results the founders may achieve personally.

How so? Read on! Continue reading →

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Tagged as company founders, convertible debentures, convertible notes, dilution, founder, founders, notes, options, owner, owners, ownership, shares, Small business, startup, startup companies, startups, stock, warrants

October 31, 2015 · 4:11 pm

DON’T ASK WHY—ASK WHY NOT

by Howard Tullman

How the First Apprentice Winner Became an Entrepreneur

(No, The Donald Didn’t Help):

Bill Rancic readily admits he wasn’t the smartest guy on the show. But in his subsequent career, he has become very smart about getting the most out of the people around him. Continue reading →

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Tagged as 1871, Bill Rancic, Conductor, delegator, do what you fear, don't ask why, don't ask why ask why not, don't tell me, donald trump, habit of learning, Howard Tullman, learn, Learning, life of learning, manage risk, managing risk, mentor, orchestrator, practical execution, Risk, show don't tell, show me, show me don't tell me, start, The Apprentice, why, you can't win a race with your mouth

October 19, 2015 · 9:53 pm

APPLESAUCE AND APPLE

THE FINANCIAL MINDSET OF A NEW GENERATION

Tom McBride and Ron Nief

The students who began college this past fall have a forty percent chance of graduating in four years, and a seventy percent chance of graduating in six. Having grown up in the Great Recession they can rarely take money for granted. They are more interested in money than in love, unlike their parents, who may have grown up as hippie advocates of free love during the far more prosperous 1960s. Continue reading →

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Filed under Business, Characters, Conflict, Education, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Games, High Tech, Low Tech, mobile, mobile internet, Politics, Relationships, Startup Companies, Startups, The Economy

Tagged as Bill Gates, college debt, college kids, college students, great recession, k-mart, kids, Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerburg, Mark Zukerberg, market crash, medicare, money and love, money or love, money vs love, Mort Zuckerburg, outsourcing, outsourcing jobs, pensions, social security, stock market, stock market crash, Target, Wal-Mart, wall-mart, Walmart

June 2, 2015 · 10:47 pm

HAWKS

by Mark T. Wayne

“Quit talking business! This is important!” A shocking pronouncement coming from one’s employer! I go mum. We sit behind thick glass, watching the Chicago Blackhawks clobber the Anaheim Ducks in the final game of the series. The Hawks will win this game and go on to the coveted Stanley Cup. That is correct, sir—an opportunity for a third championship in just a few years! Continue reading →

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Filed under Characters, Conflict, Games, High Tech, loop lonagan, Low Tech, mark t wayne, mobile, Relationships, Startup Companies, Startups, vc, venture capital, wireless, wireless internet

Tagged as arena, athlete, blackhawks, blades, blood, bloodthirsty, blue line, check, coliseum, crowd, Drunk, felon, goal, goon, hawks, hockey, ice, ice skates, iceskates, menace, post, puck, rude, skates, spectator, sports, stadium, stick, taves, thug, toews, violence, writer

March 10, 2015 · 1:47 am

TWENTY QUESTIONS YOU WILL BE ASKED BY VENTURE CAPITALISTS

(If You Get That Far)

by Laurence K Hayward

Most likely you’ve played the game 20 questions. As the contestant, you use your best combination of questions, which can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no,” in order to discover a piece of information held secret by the other player. The objective is to discover the unknown information with the fewest questions (from the 20 you’re allotted), as quickly as possible. Continue reading →

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Tagged as 20 questions, alliances, break even, compelled to purchase, competitive advantage, competitors, copyright, customer satisfaction, customers, end user, exit, growth potential, intellectual property, IP, labor, lifecycle, market potential, partnerships, patent, proceeds, proprietary, R&D, risks, trademark, twenty questions, unique business idea, unique manaement team

February 27, 2015 · 10:25 pm

YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR CHILDREN

By Nick Arvis

“Why am I doing this?” That’s the question dominating a President’s Advisory Committee board meeting (PAC). None of the members—all business owners—intend to give or sell their business to their children. Instead, in a reversal of traditional social norms, all of them plan to use their wealth to empower their children on whatever paths the kids happen to choose.The members range in age from early forties to mid-fifties. Each of them has done very well. Their children range in age from the early grades to out-of-the-nest adults.

. Continue reading →

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Filed under Conflict, Education, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Giving, High Tech, Low Tech, Relationships, Startup Companies, Startups, The Economy

Tagged as business owner, ceo, Entrepreneur, founder, hiring your children, hiring your kids, nepotism, PAC, president, President's advisory committee, social change, sociology