Category Archives: Startups

December 21, 2015 · 6:14 pm

PAVLOVIAN PT

Loop Lonagan

Ever’body’s gettin’ new knees, new hips, and what not. It’s an epidemic of elective surgery. And I’m talkin’ big money. An investor definitely wants in on a trend like this, but what’s da best play?

Take Jonelis, my good friend and boss. Da guy up ‘n’ gets two brand new knees—AT DA SAME TIME! Seems crazy, don’t it? What’s he s’posed to use fer legs?

So right away I gotta play bigshot. I invite John to my penthouse fer da whole rest ‘n’ recovery thing. Yeah, you guessed it—I wanna play Da Good Samaritan over Christmas. I figure they’s gonna carry him in on a stretcher ‘n’ I’ll be da hero that arranges fer all sorts o’ people t’ help out while he’s bedridden. Shows how much I know. Continue reading →

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Filed under angel, angel investor, Business, Characters, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, loop lonagan, Startup Companies, Startups, vc, venture capital

Tagged as epidemic, free drugs, full knee replacement, home physical therapy, in-home physical therapy, joint replacement, knee replacement, motivation, partial knee replacement, physical therapy, pt

November 24, 2015 · 12:59 pm

THE VENTURE CANOE

John Jonelis

Citizens often refer to their country as the ship of state. In like manner, investors picture big corporations as sleek cruise liners or enormous freighters. The thinking goes like this: The bigger the hull, the more seaworthy the ship and the more stable the ride. And that’s true—most of the time. Continue reading →

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Tagged as a startup is like a canoe, a startup is like a small boat, business is like a boat, escape, investment risk, Risk, small is better, smaller is better, startup boat, startup canoe, startup ship, tradgedy

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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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

September 21, 2015 · 3:13 am

THE PRICE OF THEIR TOYS

by John Jonelis

The radio crackles, “Cherokee Six, rock yer wings and rock ‘em good.” Jim Kren ignores the command. We’re no Cherokee Six. Is the controller looking at another airplane?

The sky is lousy with traffic converging on one tiny airport Too many planes for back-and-forth radio chatter. Special rules apply. The controller spots incoming with binoculars and radios his instructions—the pilots respond in a kind of airborne sign language. Keying your mike is tantamount to declaring an emergency.

Jim can comply. He can bide his time. Either is dangerous if he’s wrong. Aviation is full of moments like that. The entire air transport system won’t function unless responsible people break the law in just the right way.

Continue reading →

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Filed under Business, Characters, Death, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, High Tech, Jim Kren, loop lonagan, Startup Companies, Startups, Story

Tagged as air traffic control, eaa, eaa airventure, eaa fly-in, experimental aircraft, experimental aircraft association, fly in, homebuilt, homebuilt aircraft, oshkosh, oshkosh fly-in, signals

August 5, 2015 · 10:12 pm

RAW TALENT

by John Jonelis

Ever want to be a Shark on the popular reality TV show? Wish you controlled a billion dollar investment account? Wonder what it’s like? I’m here at Chicago’s 1871 incubator doing it. Emotions run high. Hey, mine are running away with me. That guy on the end keeps grabbing all the deals! Continue reading →

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Tagged as competition, computer simulation, computer simulations, Gifted, immersion experience, immersion training, immersion week, new tech, new technology, pitch competition, prodigies, prodigy, Shark Tank, simulation, simulations, smart kids, startup companies, whiz kids

July 1, 2015 · 1:20 am

HOW TO TREAT THE OLD MAN

By John Jonelis

Here’s the right way to treat your old man: For Father’s Day, take him where you’ll boat 402 hard-fighting northern pike, the trophy of a lifetime, and as many fat walleye as you want—all in four days. That’s 4 minutes per fish—not counting walleye! Maybe the Old Man’s memory isn’t showing signs of improvement lately, but he’ll remember this trip the rest of his days. It’s a glimpse of paradise. Continue reading →

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Tagged as all the comforts of home, close to heaven, fishing paradise, heaven on earth, north woods, paradise, paradise on earth, wilderness outpost

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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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

February 17, 2015 · 2:30 pm

OIL FROM WATER

by John Jonelis

What if you can make oil out of water? What if, you also end up with more water? A discovery like that will benefit our country and the world.

The technology now exists. Commercialization is beginning. Continue reading →

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Tagged as dirty water, drilling, drilling for oil, drinking water, environment, epa, federal regulation, fracking, fracking for oil, hydraulic fracking, hydraulic fracturing, industrial water, nano, nano bubbles, nano gas, nano gas bubbles, oil, oil drilling, oil well, pollution, slurry, state regulation, wasted water, water in industry, water purification, water shortage

February 10, 2015 · 6:36 pm

THE HIDDEN DANGER IN YOUR DATA

by Howard Tullman

From the Journal of the Heartland Angels

Today, entrepreneurs have tools and technologies to collect, monitor, and document more data than ever before. You’re likely swimming in data, since customers leave a trail of it everywhere to be captured and analyzed in real time. Continue reading →

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Tagged as 1871, analytics, big data, chicago startups, data, Howard Tullman, identity theft, measure it, numbers, numbers don't lie, privacy, sales, sales targets, startup, startup company, statistics, statistics don't lie, tullman