You're making me miss my hometown. Everything there is just amazing, I love the city and the people in it. The people are so kind and the transportation is stellar, and you can listen to Fred & Angi on your way to work.
The state is bankrupt thanks to unfunded pensions.
Taxes went up on residents before the trump tax plan and again with it.
The money in the city is controlled by a few powerful families that stick to investing in proven businesses. Don’t expect anything bigger than SocialKaty to launch in Chicago.
The city is extremely corrupt. Powerful local aldermen aren’t going anywhere and benefit from the lack of diversity in the city (it was the most segregated city in the country for years and still tops the charts). The aldermen and the corruption around them is a big part of why the south side is so terrible.
Look around during construction season (aka as Summer in Chicago) and you will see around six construction companies responsible for all projects big and small. It’s really corrupt.
Chicago is a bro culture and once you are a bro you’re in for life. If you don’t get into the drinking lifestyle it won’t be easy to integrate.
1871 is a real estate company. Not a tech incubator. Mark Lawrence / Jeremy Smith getting SpotHero going is probably the only success story that isn’t nonsense out of there.
OCA / Pritzker / Lightbank
None of those understand how to treat founders. Those are some of the biggest funds.
That all said. The cost of living is low. The talent pools are deep. The culture is changing. There is money if you have established revenue or a proven model.
No single industry is the dominant economic force making it a great test for a variety of startups seeking traction.
MHub is amazeballs. If you are doing hardware go here. Bill deserves a medal for what he’s done.
Charles Adler’s lost arts is nifty. TBD if it makes startups better IMHO but it has real promise.
The state does need to remove the pension law from the state constitution. That was really dumb.
Investors in Chicago are old school. Show them a rock solid set of books and you get funded. They don't invest in hopes, resumes, or names.
1871 has other great success stories, just some of them aren't public radar material. I ran an ed-tech startup out of 1871 in its first three years and had excellent support.
Diverse economy has always been a huge strength.
I'm joining mHub next month!
- related - would love to find a product engineer partner with experience in plumbing, water-flow, modular pipe connectors.
It's brutal winter here for 8 months followed by a manic, hot four months of summer. No spring or fall. It takes two hours to get to anything that could reasonably be called nature. The people are great, but their main form of socializing is heavy drinking. It's cold? Let's drink about it. It's hot? Let's drink about it.
It's too far away from the oceans which provide a temperate effect on the weather. The only place more brutal in the winter time would be northern Minnesota and North Dakota.
We don't have poisonous snakes or spiders where I live, and the bugs are few despite rarely getting below freezing. But it rains all the time in Seattle. And the volcanoes; third one that's blown up this week. Stay away, we have other things that will kill you beside bugs and reptiles.
Reminds me of a line from West Wing: "I meet so many people who can't wait to tell me they're from Chicago and
when I meet them, they're living anywhere but Chicago." :)
Taxes went up on residents before the trump tax plan and again with it.
The money in the city is controlled by a few powerful families that stick to investing in proven businesses. Don’t expect anything bigger than SocialKaty to launch in Chicago.
The city is extremely corrupt. Powerful local aldermen aren’t going anywhere and benefit from the lack of diversity in the city (it was the most segregated city in the country for years and still tops the charts). The aldermen and the corruption around them is a big part of why the south side is so terrible.
Look around during construction season (aka as Summer in Chicago) and you will see around six construction companies responsible for all projects big and small. It’s really corrupt.
Chicago is a bro culture and once you are a bro you’re in for life. If you don’t get into the drinking lifestyle it won’t be easy to integrate.
1871 is a real estate company. Not a tech incubator. Mark Lawrence / Jeremy Smith getting SpotHero going is probably the only success story that isn’t nonsense out of there.
OCA / Pritzker / Lightbank
None of those understand how to treat founders. Those are some of the biggest funds.
That all said. The cost of living is low. The talent pools are deep. The culture is changing. There is money if you have established revenue or a proven model.
No single industry is the dominant economic force making it a great test for a variety of startups seeking traction.
MHub is amazeballs. If you are doing hardware go here. Bill deserves a medal for what he’s done.
Charles Adler’s lost arts is nifty. TBD if it makes startups better IMHO but it has real promise.
Urbs in Horto
Fly the W