I’m new in town. Then I realize it’s a new town too. Chicago has a long and storied history, but the rapidly expanding startup ecosystem is new construction.
I grew up in the Midwest and then spent 19 years of my working life on the coasts as an entrepreneur, investor and mentor in the startup world. My latest company exited late last year and my wife and I decided it was time to move on. We debated Southern California, Berlin and Chicago. All three are emerging leaders in the new economy. All three have incredible non-work attributes.
We chose Chicago.
It wasn’t the weather or family that brought us here (don’t tell our relatives). Contrary to Forbes, we came here because we think Chicago is the next powerhouse on the entrepreneurial scene and want to be the part of it. I’m the Managing Director of Startup Institute a mentor with Techstars, an angel investor and recent addition to the outside contributor team at Built in Chicago. Here’s the first of what I hope you’ll find helpful insights on company building.
5 Reasons to Grow a Business in Chicago
Mindset
The midwestern work ethic is legendary. We are willing to grind things out and work until we succeed. We adapt. We go back the grindstone. Building a company is not for the faint of heart and Chicagoans have heart.
Talent
Great schools with a broad range of technical talents are pumping out the rising stars a startup economy needs to succeed. More importantly, they want to stay here and are company loyal. Other markets have highly transient talent that gets sucked out to other markets or other companies. The financial and transitional costs can be deadly in the critical stages of a company’s formation. This becomes an even bigger issue as you grow and it is tempting to add B players because that’s all you can find.
Great seed investors
I’ve been here 3 months and been blown away by the angel investors in Chicago. The likes of Howard Tullman, Alan Mathew, Ira Weiss, Lon Chow, Hyde Park Angels… I could go on and on. The thing I’ve found most impressive about the Chicago angel scene is the laser focus on building business value, not seeking vanity metrics. They want you to build a real business. Sooner is better. I haven’t heard “Facebook will find them attractive” or “they are the Airbnb of pet food” BS that distracts from value creation.
Customers
Chicago is the perfect customer test bed. B2B? Chicago is home to a massive concentration of big businesses representing a variety of verticals. B2C? The diversity in Chicago and midwestern mindset makes it representative of the norm, not early hipster adopter segment. If you succeed in Chicago, it should be representative and informative of success in other markets.
Support structure
Chicago buys into the pay it forward, we’re in it together culture that makes an ecosystem work. If you worry someone is going to steal your idea or their success diminishes yours, get out of the startup business. Chicago gets that execution matters. Your success will pull up my success. 1871 is possibly the most successful launch of a co-working space as the ecosystem catalyst ever. 1871 took the successes of earlier models and made it better.
Next week: the 3 Challenges to Starting a Business in Chicago
