Category Archives: mobile internet

September 25, 2019 · 3:38 pm

DON’T GO BELLY UP

by Loop Lonagan

Sleep never comes easy when you’re building the next great tech giant from scratch. Every idle moment gets overwhelmed with a flood of notions, fears, and phone calls. You know what I’m talking about. Those extra hours you squeeze out every day and all that risk you carry on your back are killers. Keep pushing and something’s gotta give—brain, body, business—one of them goes belly up for sure. What’s that I hear? That won’t happen, you say? Believe me, whenever you tough it out too long, your personality gets so severe that nobody can stand working with you. From time to time, a CEO has to refresh, rejuvenate, reboot. You know it and I know it, so listen up. Continue reading →

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Tagged as bueters salmon camp, camp, camping, decompress, fighting fish, fishing, fly fishing, flyfishing, king salmon, reboot, refresh, rejuvenate, salmon, salmon camp, stress, thrill, vacation, weekend getaway, weekend trip

April 18, 2017 · 10:00 am

CHICAGO—THE BEST INCUBATOR IN AMERICA?

by Denny O’Malley

Recently, Inc.com published an article about the best cities for early-stage companies. The premise: Chicago is the surprise winner.

Why would that be? San Francisco and New York are both beautiful, thriving cities that dramatically represent the diversity of American ideas. San Fran—younger, more venture-oriented, with beautiful natural vistas. New York—the classic, bustling private and public equity concrete jungle.

What do they have in common? It costs a kidney to pay rent for a closet. Continue reading →

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Tagged as 1871, accelerator, angel group, angel groups, Chicago, cost, east coast, funding, getting a start, heartland, Heartland Angels, incubator, midwest, money, new companies, new company, venture capital, west coast

January 20, 2017 · 7:00 am

YOU MIGHT AS WELL DANCE

IT 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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Tagged as appreciation, be proactive, cost of it, Howard Tullman, i don't get no respect, investment in it, it, it department, it guy, it investment, it power, it team, power in data, proactive, recognition, rodney dangerfield, Rules, taking the initiative, underappreciated

January 12, 2017 · 7:00 am

BILLION DOLLAR UNICORNS

Kenneth 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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Tagged as bubble, company valuation, heralded unicorns, new companies, overvaluation, overvalued startups, startup bubble, startup valuation, unicorns, valuation, venture bubble, venture valuation, venture value

September 7, 2016 · 7:00 am

HOW BAD IS IT

by 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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Filed under angel, angel investor, Business, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, High Tech, loop lonagan, mobile internet, Startup Companies, Startups, Story, vc, venture capital, wireless, wireless internet, Writing style

Tagged as bad poetry, blank verse, bobs bad poetry, bobs poetry, free verse, good poetry, haiku, hard times promote creativity., limerick, poetry, poetry for a living, the business of poetry

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!

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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

July 6, 2016 · 12:44 am

SOURCING STRATEGIC INVESTORS

Part 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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Tagged as corporate investor, deal structure, exit, how to value, sale of company, strategic, strategic corporate investor, strategic investor, terms, valuation

May 2, 2016 · 11:21 pm

DON’T GET DOWN—GET BUSY

by 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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Tagged as blame game, desperation, distractions, focus, hitting a wall, hitting the wall, new company, problems, putting out fires, serial entrepreneur, startup, venture, winning

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

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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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

May 13, 2015 · 5:17 pm

KIDNAPPED

By Mark T. Wayne

Weeks have passed since my last conscious memory. Weeks, I say! A man can lose his hat and perhaps even his pants, but to lose several weeks is inexcusable. Think what mischief might transpire over such a span of time! Continue reading →

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