An unusual happening is happening over at 1871 this Thursday morning, Aug. 13. About 20 risk-taking and passionate people are going to take the stage and tell you why you should hire them into your startup or scaleup. Each in 60 seconds. It's fast, it's funny, it's serious, and it's damn inspiring.
Maybe you should be there. It's Startup Institute's TalentExpo for their Summer 2015 cohort. It's free. Nope, it's priceless. Come on over. Just let them know via this link you can be there.
Unusual? Yup. When do you get to hear pitches from future rock-star startup employees? AND do that while networking with some of Chicago's most interesting startups/scaleups, recruiting so efficiently, and noshing a bagel? There are only three mornings like this each year - and this Thursday is one of those three special mornings.
Unusual talent? Definitely. From aerospace engineer to producer for Oprah, to cap markets consultant, to professional poker player...you are starting to get the idea, right? This is the best startup talent hiding in plain sight.
What did they do to get here? Well first of all, they had to compete to be accepted into the program (about 80% of applicants don't make it). The summer cohort just completed 8 weeks of intensive instruction in one of four tracks - Web Dev, Web Design, Technical Marketing, and Sales & Account Management. About 80 of Chicago's working startup professionals contributed their learning experiences, skills and insights. Wow. And remarkable companies such as UrbanBound, Narrative Science, ReviewTrackers, ThinkCERCA, Beermapper sponsored 6-week+ cross-functional project assignments to build apps, gather feedback, create personas, and hustle. The most valuable credentials each of these 20 individuals offers, perhaps are a deepened self awareness, a set of tools to support a cohesive, collaborative, startup work culture, and a set of fresh successes and failures. All of which makes their future hiring managers confident and happy.
Sprinkles on top? Howard Tullman will kick things off in 1871 style, Alissa Ampezzan of Civis Analytics is going to share a few secrets with her new SI alums, and after a lot of hand-wringing, awards will be given to just four of the instructors who made the biggest impact during the summer program. Whew!
See you there? You are awesome. See you around 9:45ish - the games begin at 10.
