“I got a story to tell” summer 2022

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Our very own COO Lisa Laws sat down with nine incredible people from her personal life to chat about their stories, in her very own speaker series: I Got A Story To Tell. 

This speaker series is our second annual summer program designed to inspire & motivate our interns at 1871 with introducing them to individuals succeeding in their professional industries. 

While these individuals have experienced & lived different lives from one another, what each brings to the discussion are hidden “gems”—as Laws likes to call them— they’ve learned from their own journey. 

From each speaker we’ve narrowed down 9 gems that anyone can add to their own personal story: Betsy Ziegler, Ryan Mundy, Jonathan Williams, Curtis Johnson, Yemi Akisanya, Chasity Williams, Mike Tresvant, Matt Forté, and Pete Opalacz.

Own your life, and bounce back from your mistakes

We kicked off our series with our very own 1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler. 

From her past employment roles to  CEO of 1871,  Ziegler has learned over the years the importance of “owning” your life and the mistakes you will make along the way. 

“Your life story is the summary of the choices you’ve made over time, and if you don’t like  a choice you’ve made, make a different choice,” Ziegler said. “You’re always defining who you are and who you want to be, so actually owning that, and not letting others own that for you is key.” 

Ziegler learned this as she made her “40 by 40” goal list for her life before she turned 40 years old. The list helped Ziegler think about her time in life and how it should be, and not worrying what others thought about a choice, but ultimately what she thought instead. 

Her other biggest motto in life? “Bouncing” back from the mistake. 

“The first time you make a mistake you think it’s going to be job ending or career ending, and five years later you’re going to look back on it and think, ‘why was I even worried about that’,” Ziegler said. “People are going to remember your response to the “bounce” more than they’re going to remember the mistake.” 

With any mistake you make, be sure your “bounce” back is stronger and own the choices you make in life, because ultimately that is YOUR story.

Endurance is key—rest and recover

Former NFL player Ryan Mundy is the founder and CEO of Alkeme Health— a mental health platform that offers culturally centered therapist-led courses and expert guided mindfulness and meditation practices.

Mundy played in the NFL for 8 seasons from 2008-2016, and a lot of what he learned—from a physical standpoint— wouldn’t transfer into the real world. But, what he did carry over from his time in football was discipline, working hard, being a better communicator, and especially, endurance. 

“Having the ability to endure the good, the bad, the indifferent—endurance is so key. You need to rest and recover, and you need to take care of yourself,” Mundy said. 

This drove Mundy to create Alkeme Health, so his platform can help support others be the best they can be, but also learn how to rest and recover. 

“Everybody talks about working really hard, but no one talks about the side of taking care of yourself mentally and physically so that you can show up to be the best version of yourself for everything,” Mundy said.

Learn from your failures

Jonathan Williams is the Partner Chicago Market Head with Dialexa. Before his current role, Williams  guided leaders at the world’s most influential companies, such as Apple, Bloomberg and BMW, through digital transformations. 

As a co-founder of  businesses in the marketing, digital & health care industry, Williams said his biggest takeaway was being able to see the successes of his businesses, but also acknowledging where the company could approve and using those as teachable moments in his career. 

“Looking at the work I’ve done and looking at what I’ve contributed honestly and deciding, ‘Did I hit the outcomes and the goals that we’ve had for success, and if I didn’t why didn’t I’,” Williams said. 

Instead of letting these failures get in the way, Williams used these teachable moments to continue to build his career—and businesses— and he encourages others to be critical and persevere through their own challenges. 

“Space is the key to allowing yourself to be critical of the situation and learning from it, but not internalizing it. Take the lessons and move forward,” Williams said. 

Williams has found that his career has been a decent amount of learning from his failures, and seeing these “lumps” in life as teachable moments to learn from later on. 

“Your journey is not linear as you build out your career, everything won’t always be smooth,” Williams said. “ It’s really about trying to keep yourself in the game, and trying to keep yourself available to take advantage of opportunities.”

Tie yourself to what you’re good at

Curtis Johnson, Executive Director of Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE), is passionate about public service & the opportunities a high-quality education can provide. 

As the first and only Black American leading a Fulbright Commission globally in 75 years, he’s currently focused on growing “Educational Diplomacy” between Malaysia & the United States. 

Johnson said growing up in his household he was told ‘you can be anything you want to be’.  Which is exactly what he believed for himself and his professional career along with his strive to work hard. 

“My focus is I’m going to be the best I am at whatever it is I do,” Johnson said. “And I’m going to throw myself into whatever it is I do.” 

With Johnson’s extensive background and experience in global & political affairs and his strive to be the best he could be, his advice to anyone: Figure out your “5 skills” you’re good at. 

“It’s not about the field you’re interested in, but there’s a specific skill set that each and every one of you have— and those skills are transferable to any job you want to go into,” Johnson said. “Tie yourself to what you’re good at, versus tying yourself to an industry.”

Use your influence to help others

Yemi Akisanya is the Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Groupon.  

Prior to Groupon, Yemi served as a Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Options Clearing Corp (OCC), where he was responsible for building the first-ever Diversity & Inclusion office.

He’s also the current Chairman, Board of Directors for Digitalundivided, a leading non-profit leveraging data, programs, and advocacy to catalyze economic growth for Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs and innovators.

Akisanya said his time at boarding schools in Nigeria and his experience in the U.S. has shaped him to be inclusive and  to use his influence to create opportunities & access for those in need. 

“My purpose is being able to influence or be part of a team that influences access for opportunities for those who typically don’t get it,” Akisanya said. 

Akisanya, with his passion for Nigerian fashion and business degree, created ‘BOLD’, a fashion line that brings Nigerian fashion &  its culture to the United States. 

To help young girls and women in Nigeria struggling to get their certificate from high school due to financial constraints, Akisanya partners up with nonprofits in Nigeria who help pay the costs. Twenty percent of all profits from BOLD clothing goes directly to these nonprofits to help those in need. 

“I’m hoping to change the narrative about Nigeria and Africans, since there is a stigma that comes along with it,” Akisanya said. “I’m hoping BOLD will begin to shift that narrative.”

Communicate with empathy

Chasity Williams is the Digital Venture Advisor for Media & Entertainment at Microsoft. She currently serves on Microsoft’s Media & Entertainment digital advisory where she co-creates, co-innovates and co-invests in new digital businesses with corporate clients. 

 In January of 2020, she created Collective Intelligentsia to empower humans to meaningfully enhance their lives through digital experiences. 

 “Inclusive design is a huge topic of radar for me being from an underserved and underestimated community, so how do we create communities for women and women of color and people from all different walks of life in this space?” 

Williams says her key to building relationships and communicating with others to know exactly what they need, she uses empathy. 

“Empathy is one of the greatest soft skills that’s never talked about,” Williams said. “How do you get to a level where you have empathy towards another person, and through that empathy, you’re then able to have a different type of conversation with them.” 

Through this, Williams and her team at Microsoft are able to help businesses build relationships with their customers and understand exactly what technology solutions can do to help different needs from customers and people. 

Williams also invests and advises Black & LatinX women-founded startups and nonprofit organizations  to help grow their businesses and close the wealth gap between differing communities. 

“Being grateful for it all, creates an opportunity that you learn from every experience, you grow from every experience,” Williams said. “But it also gives you humility and a sense of empathy for other people who are going through a journey as well.”

Chase your dream and keep working

Mike Tresvant is the Senior Vice President at Complex Networks and the creative consultancy Climate.

With over 20+ years of agency, client & publisher expertise, Tresvant has fueled strategic marketing solutions for brands such as McDonalds, Gatorade, MillerCoors, FritoLay, State Farm, General Motors, Toyota, American Express and Citibank. 

Tresvant said his career was motivated by constantly chasing his dream— even if the finances weren’t there in the beginning. Along with his interest in pop culture, music and his strong desire to not  be a “suit and tie” worker. 

“A career is supposed to be really about discovery, and sometimes a discovery may be challenging and you might fumble along the way,” Tresvant said. 

Now, Tresvant is continuously thriving in his industry and loves his work. His team is his inspiration, since they are a part of his “tribe” of others who are interested in the same field and career as he is.  Tresvant said he wouldn’t change a thing. 

“You never know what the path will take,” Tresvant said. “So take the internship,  learn from what you can, and continue to find places where you can see an opportunity, and it will always open up opportunities when it’s right for you.”

Be resilient and keep evolving

Matt Forté is a former running back for the Chicago Bears and Co-Founder of What’s Your Forté Foundation. 

During his time in college, Hurricane Katrina impacted where he was raised and threw obstacles in his and his team players’ way. Forté was resilient and kept his dream to become an NFL player, and after retiring, used his status to help others  persevere like he did. 

“ It [Hurricane Katrina] taught me to be resilient, it taught me to be grateful for what you have and not grateful for what you don’t have in the moment,” Forté said. 

After playing football for over 25 years, Forté wanted to evolve his opportunities and experience into something that can help others. 

“When that’s  over, you have to throw yourself into something that has a purpose in your life, and that is what’s going to give you the fulfillment you’re looking for,” said Forté. “So to me, that ended up being the foundation.” 

In 2013, Matt founded the What’s Your Forté Foundation with his co-founder and wife Danielle Forté. 

The foundation provides a network of people & resources to build capacity and shape youth on the South & West Sides of Chicago that will help them & their families to grow and prosper by giving opportunities to harness talents and learn skills to help evolve their lives. 

“In life, when things happen, the world doesn’t stop,” Forté said. “Be grateful for every single moment, and take advantage of the opportunities that have been given to you. No one is going to feel sorry for you, so go out there and get it done while you can.”

Set goals and be a leader in your life

Pete Opalacz is the  Divisional VP at Martin Brower. Prior to his time at Martin Bower, Opalacz served in the United States Marine Corps & retired after almost 8 years of service. 

His extensive experience and background resulted in his three deployments with the Marine Corps and was selected for several positions and academic opportunities that resulted in many awards and honors of service. 

“What I learned in my time in the military is to be a leader and figure the problem out and be there for the team, then go from there,” Opalacz said. 

He took this mindset from his service in the Marine Corps to his work as a head leader for international business companies.  

“It’s all about how do you become a better person and leader,” Opalacz said. “You learn a lot about yourself through those types of situations.” 

Now, after several promotions at Martin Bower; from Global Operations role, to  Director of Operations for the Central Division and finally to Divisional VP, Opalacz uses his skills learned from being in the Marine Corps and his climb up the corporate ladder to motivate others to continue to grow and don’t hold on to past mistakes. 

“Set goals for yourself,” Opalacz said. “If you’re not potentially  achieving goals or outcomes for you to live your best life and be happy, then you might need to have a change in profession or life. Because life is too short to be unhappy professionally and personally.”

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thoughtbot has worked with hundreds of product teams from all over the world—from individual, self-funded founders, to large multinational organizations—to design, develop, and grow their products. 

The foundation of all our work is our user-first, design-led approach to generate qualitative and quantitative research. Our Research & Strategic Insights service synthesizes a clearer picture of your customers, business, and value proposition, and equips you to make the best decisions for reaching your goals.

Gaining customer insights

Customers are the lifeblood of your business and having a deeper awareness of who they are allows you to better speak to them, find them, and serve them through your services.

Whether you are a startup looking to identify your product market fit, or an established company looking to grow or pivot, we have experience helping clients to:

  • Identify & connect with your audience
  • Uncover customer insights & taking smart action
  • Find and acquire more customers
  • Minimize customer drop off

Exploring innovation

Hoping to make innovation more than a buzzword? Innovation is about challenging norms, asking questions, and deciding whether to start something new. The best way to do that is with quality information that guides your actions. We help clients understand how innovation can help resolve important challenges like:  

  • Identifying what’s holding your business back
  • Finding opportunities to successfully grow your business
  • Conducting a competitive analysis that generates actionable insights
  • Focusing on concrete steps to scale

A key advantage of working with thoughtbot is that we use the insights to help you choose a path and actually get started.

Research is thoughtbot’s go-to tool for navigating change. Working closely with our clients, we help them uncover strategic insights to set a clear direction, and our rapid approach allows them to quickly pivot. In as little as 2 weeks, we can give you the confidence you need to make an informed decision. 

Reach out if we can help you optimize workflows, deepen relationships with customers, expand into new markets, or successfully execute a new initiative.

In the meantime, also check out the following resources that continue to share thoughtbot learnings, successes, and insights:

  • Purpose Built Our curated resource center for entrepreneurs.
  • Our blog covering topics on product management, design & development.
  • Giant Robots, our podcast covering entrepreneurial success stories.
  • Digital Transformation Consultation, free 30 minute session to connect with our team to discuss a potential project, pain point, or idea.
  • Office Hours, free sessions to connect with one of our designers or developers on a particular challenge.

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Authored by: Kelly Gebo

Thoughtbot had the pleasure of working with the SumIt team on bringing their Beta product to life. SumIt is a money management platform for freelancers, solopreneurs, and the self-employed but has the long-term goal of growing into a robust platform that expands into more functionality. I sat down with the Co-Founder of SumIt to discuss the journey SumIt has taken from concept to Beta launch.

Idea Stage

The pandemic was a catalyst for change, and as folks shifted their work into their homes, there was a growing desire for more flexibility and freedom. This resulted in an increase in independent workers and a growing audience of freelancers and solopreneurs who were looking to deliver value and make a living while doing what they love on their own time. In seeing this audience growth, the shift in how individuals were categorizing “work”, and the gap in right-sized support for this growing audience, the idea for SumIt presented itself.

Validation and User Research

Validation and research was the first step in deepening the understanding of the target audience and the opportunity in the market. The team had lots and lots of conversations with freelancers to dig into their day to day workflow, needs, and motivations. In total this research phase extended across 9 months and used a variety of tools to collect insights.

Graphic showcasing early persona work

There were quite a few rounds of testing with target users and the team tapped a variety of formats such as 1-1 interviews, storyboard co-creation, and usability testing with clickable prototypes. The team also tested for real market needs in the form of landing pages and Paid Ads to see what resonated.

The goal was to learn a lot more about a user holistically and not just their thoughts on a potential feature set and product experience. We discovered freelancers love what they do, but running their business successfully requires them to step into a lot of other roles like accountant, sales person, and legal team. They want to make more room to do more of what they love, and are using a variety of tools to manage their work.

“By starting with such a robust research phase, we were able to keep in mind our users through all future stages of the product, like the UI/UX design, writing acceptance criteria, and defining the overarching strategy. This was a big part of being able to define a user-first solution.” – SumIt, Co-Founder

a image showcasing our critical path

Opportunity In The Market

In conducting a competitive analysis of comparable products, and reviewing the market as a whole, we uncovered that freelancers were struggling to find a tool that balanced their needs without being too large and cumbersome. If they used a third party tool, it tended to do a lot more than they needed and was confusing at times. For folks tracking things manually in spreadsheets and Notes app, time was spent tracking status, there were issues with data consistency, and trying to uncover actionable insights.

It was clear that there was an opportunity somewhere in the middle, between large, complex solutions that freelancers were trying to make work, and manual workflows that quickly became outdated. We also chatted with finance experts to understand what data points would best allow trends to be detected in both the short and long term.

graphic showing competitive analysis

Parallel to the product itself, ideas began to take shape in the form of a business plan which was tested as well. As we started to see trends, we worked to bring all these pieces together, and the plan for the Beta launch and first external milestone began to take shape.

Beta Roadmap & Prioritized Iterations

Our research and in-market tests uncovered lots of ideas for providing value to our target audience. For Beta, we set out to do 2 – 3 things really well, and in identifying those 2 – 3 things, we worked to understand the impact they would have for users and the effort it would take to bring them to life.

Figma designs

Working together, prioritization and collaboration was the name of the game. The entire team was remote and regular checkpoints and asynchronous tools were used so we could stay in close communication. Understanding the Beta Milestone timing was firm, we synced regularly on the priorities and made changes as needed to maximize our velocity and the impact of our first version. Marching towards a large launch milestone is exciting but can also be a bit stressful, and we appreciated the positivity, trust, and close partnership our teams were able to foster.

The goal of our Beta launch was to ship a real life product that could be formally promoted into the market. We were looking to onboard new users, and have them really see the value in SumIt, in a way that makes us “sticky”. If we do our job well, they should successfully onboard, and come back to engage again and again as the value should only deepen over time.

What’s Ahead For SumIt

Now that Beta is live, the work doesn’t stop. The focus currently is optimizing our strategy for attracting, acquiring, and creating value for new users. For a new product, especially in fintech, earning the user’s trust is important. The messaging set out to be authentic and clear. During our Beta, we continued to test, experiment and pivot at minimum on a week by week basis.

Beta Launch highlighted on the Landing Page

“Growing a new brand and user audience is tough, but the ability to stay agile and be resilient is what helps us best navigate and do our best in proving ourselves. We set out to serve the needs of freelancers, with a mission to help them achieve financial security. How we move forward will continue to be shaped by the users and where the market needs SumIt to go ” – SumIt, Co-Founder

We see a natural progression of growing a user audience, providing value, and adding the next most impactful feature to support more of the freelancers day to day workflow. We choose finance as the place to start, but feel confident that SumIt has lots of expansion opportunities ahead.

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Beta is now live and if you are a US-based freelancer or a solopreneurs, we encourage you to check it out.

If you have your own product idea, and want to chat with thoughtbot about bringing it to life, we would love to work with you.

Originally published here.

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Many businesses have been adversely affected by a change in the tax treatment of research and experimentation (R&E) expenses that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Instead of having the option to currently deduct R&E expenses, businesses will need to begin amortizing Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 174 R&E expenditures — over five years for U.S.-based expenses and over 15 years for foreign research expenses. The law applies to a broad range of costs typically associated with research and development, as well as “any amount paid or incurred for the development of any software.” This change can result in a significant reduction in deductible expenses for 2022 and, in turn, higher taxable income. Some businesses are already feeling the pinch of this change in their estimated tax calculations for the first and second quarters of 2022.

For many taxpayers, the first step in complying with these new rules is creating an accounting process that accurately tracks the costs that must be amortized.

Read more from Plante Moran’s tax credit experts here.

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We’re proud to announce the 30 finalists of this year’s 15th Annual Momentum Awards, and share that our voting period is now open until 8.19! 

Our finalists were chosen from one of our most impressive pools of nominees to date. After a difficult deliberation, our judges have selected an incredible group of founders, innovators, & businesses that are leading the way in their industries and communities. 

The six award categories include: Rising Star Award, Momentum Award, CityLIGHTS Award, Outstanding Tech CEO Award, Industry Disrupter Award, and our new Social Impact Award. 

“The 2022  Momentum Awards finalists exemplify the spirit of innovation and creativity that makes Chicago the best place to build and grow a business,” said Betsy Ziegler, CEO of 1871. “We’re proud to honor the achievements of these innovators & leaders that are advancing the world forward and shaping a brighter future for the communities they serve.”

Reminder, the voting period closes on 8.19.2022, so dig into the details of our finalists and let us know who you think should win!

The Momentum Awards will be held on  September 22, 2022, both in-person and virtually, where  we publicly celebrate these incredible innovators & leaders by unveiling the winners on stage! Stay tuned for details on tickets, and see below for this year’s finalists.

Cast your vote!

Rising Star Award

Vote!

Presented to an early stage company that is positioned to grow into a leader in its market.

CASH DROP | 💸 Start an online store from your phone in minutes. Zero commissions. Zero monthly fees.

Homethrive | Homethrive is a technology-enabled healthcare service company that reduces work, worry and stress for unpaid family caregivers, their loved ones and their employers. Our family caregiving platform, Dari, uniquely integrates our digital assistant for coaching, navigation and resources with expert personal interaction and service coordination to help ease the difficult and stressful responsibility of supporting loved ones who are aging or have special needs. Family, or unpaid caregivers, and their loved ones get the support they need to confidently maneuver the aging, eldercare, and special needs journeys.

Valqari | Valqari has developed a patented, intelligent mailbox that is compatible with traditional and future delivery modes.

Honest Game | As the industry leading on-demand academic compliance solution, we empower student-athletes with a plan that provides guidance on the classes, grades and test scores they need to meet NCAA academic eligibility status. We leverage a passion for sports as a motivation for learning.

Bonfire | Bonfire is a unique talent development accelerator helping employers attract, develop and retain diverse talent. We help companies build a strong leadership pipeline by empowering women to realize their own potential and change the rules of the modern workforce.

Momentum Award

Vote!

Presented to a growing company with the strongest potential to emerge as a leader in its market.


Packed with Purpose | Packed with Purpose blends the best of two worlds: gifting and doing good. We are a certified woman-owned business on a mission to create meaningful impact through gifts that give back. From empowering underserved women with job skills to supporting sustainability efforts, our gifts transform lives, enrich communities and preserve our environment. We curate thoughtful and sustainable gifts by sourcing products from purpose-driven organizations. The result is a unique gifting experience that is as inspiring as it is memorable.

Cooler Screens |  Cooler Screens is transforming retail cooler surfaces into IoT-enabled screens. Our media platform reimagines the brick-and-mortar shopping experience for consumers in the cooler and freezer aisle while delivering new marketing opportunities and smart merchandising for brands and retailers.

Leaf Trade |  Leaf Trade is the leading wholesale marketplace between cultivators/processors and dispensaries in the highly regulated cannabis states. Leaf Trade streamlines order management and fulfillment by providing a CRM, essential integrations and other tools that save time and help grow your business.

Ocient | Ocient completely reimagined our modern data warehouse from the ground up for rapid, continuous analysis of complex, hyperscale datasets. Unlike any other data analytics solution provider, Ocient brings storage adjacent to compute to maximize performance on industry standard hardware, enables users to transform, stream or load data directly and returns massive queries in seconds.

Rippleshot | Rippleshot is transforming the way that banks and credit unions detect fraud through a cloud-based technology solution that leverages machine learning and data analytics to distinguish fraudulent activity more quickly and efficiently. Rippleshot’s award-winning technology processes millions of payment card transactions to proactively pinpoint when and where a data breach occurred. Following detection, Rippleshot provides financial institutions with the tools they need to update fraud detection rules in order to lower their fraud losses while avoiding unnecessary card re-issuance.

CityLIGHTS

Vote!

Presented to a growth stage company that has become a serious competitor in the marketplace.

G2 | G2 is the largest and most trusted software marketplace, helping 60 million people every year make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews.

Wavicle Data Solutions | Wavicle Data Solutions is a trusted cloud, data and analytics consulting and development partner for businesses that want to get more value from growing volumes of data. Well-known brands across industries work with our team of data management experts, cloud migration consultants and analytics professionals to modernize their data environments; build robust analytics solutions; and leverage machine learning to improve predictive insights.

Snapsheet | Snapsheet makes claims simple for everyone. Through our pioneering expertise in virtual estimating and leading cloud-native claims management software, we are transforming the end-to-end claims process – delivering faster, modern claims experiences.

ActiveCampaign | ActiveCampaign’s category-defining Customer Experience Automation Platform (CXA) helps over 180,000+ businesses in 170 countries meaningfully engage with their customers. The platform gives businesses of all sizes access to 500+ pre-built automations that combine transactional email, email marketing, marketing automation and CRM for powerful segmentation and personalization across social, email, messaging, chat and text. Over 100,000 of ActiveCampaign’s customers use its 850+ integrations including Microsoft, Shopify, Square, Facebook, and Salesforce. ActiveCampaign scores higher in customer satisfaction than any other solution in Marketing Automation, CRM, and E-Commerce Personalization on G2.com and is the Top Rated Email Marketing Software on TrustRadius. Pricing starts at just $9/month.

SpotHero | SpotHero is the digital parking leader and only independent off-street parking marketplace in North America. Millions of drivers use SpotHero’s mobile apps and website to find, book and access off-street parking in over 7,500 locations across 300 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Leading operator partners leverage SpotHero’s AI-powered dynamic pricing platform SpotHero IQ to power data-driven decisions.

Outstanding Tech CEO

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Presented to a CEO who has successfully scaled & nurtured their company through outstanding leadership.

Marc Shiffman, President & CEO, SMS Assist |  Marc Shiffman serves as the president and chief executive officer at SMS Assist, in addition to serving on the board of directors. With over a decade of experience leading SMS Assist, most recently as president and chief financial officer, Marc has been a driving force behind the company’s rapid revenue and profitability growth, and he has overseen the development of technologically driven, market-leading solutions in the facilities management industry.

Kelly Manthey, Global CEO, Kin and Carta |  We exist to build a world that works better for everyone. A global digital transformation consulting firm built for the 2020s and the first publicly-traded certified B Corporation on the London Stock Exchange, Kin + Carta helps make the journey to becoming a digital business tangible, sustainable and profitable. We bring together technology, data and experience to drive connected outcomes for clients. By building digital twins to replace existing analog processes, designing and launching new digital products and services, and unlocking future innovation through modernization initiatives, Kin + Carta seamlessly integrates the strategic consulting, software engineering and marketing technology needed to help businesses make it happen.

Brian Barnes, CEO & Founder, M1 Finance | I was a personal finance nerd from a young age. I apply that passion towards building and supporting organizations that help people manage their money and improve their financial well-being.

Ben Weiss, CEO, Coinflip | Ben Weiss co-founded CoinFlip in 2015 and served as the Chief Operating Officer before being appointed as Chief Executive Officer in April 2021. Since its inception, Ben has led the company’s strategy and helped CoinFlip surpass $1B in transaction volume. In addition to running a burgeoning startup, Ben spends his time working with governing bodies advising on cryptocurrency regulation. Regarded as a thought-leader in the space, he is regularly interviewed by major news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN Business and Moneywise, and has given several keynote speeches about the future of cryptocurrency.

John Williamson, Co-Founder & CEO, Songfinch | Serial entrepreneur, operator, problem solver, builder, creator…loving every minute of the grind 20+ yrs in. Our lives are full of stories. Those experiences are meant to be shared. At Songfinch, we believe in helping people tell their stories by utilizing the power of music.

Through the SongFinch platform, we utilize our hand-picked artist roster to transform requests into song. This allows artists to make money doing what they love on their own schedule while creating lasting memories for the recipients.

Industry Disrupter

Vote!

Presented to a company that has developed an innovative product that has significantly disrupted the industry.

Rhaeos |  Rhaeos is a VC backed, clinical stage medical device company developing FlowSense, a platform technology and a noninvasive wireless, wearable skin patch that can assess and monitor fluid flow subdermally throughout the body. The company is initially targeting hydrocephalus, a life threatening condition caused by an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Implantable shunts, the gold standard treatment, often fail— leading to multiple trips to the emergency room and repeat surgeries. There is no technology available today that can easily assess CSF flow in shunts wirelessly, bedside and without capital equipment until now.

Rheaply | Rheaply is a B2B SaaS resource management technology to scale reuse and the circular economy within organizations, helping lower procurement and storage costs and reduce waste.

ReloShare |

ReloShare and their Safe Stays program is a custom hotel booking site — the only one of its kind — that provides social service agencies like domestic violence shelters and human trafficking response agencies the ability to book rooms at national hotel partners with complete anonymity via alias check-ins and no credit card or ID requirements.

NuCurrent | NuCurrent’s innovative wireless power technologies and proven processes create premium user experiences for product developers.

Anthill | Anthill helps you understand your employees by giving you an award winning, simple platform to communicate, engage, assess, reskill and map opportunities with your employees that don’t sit at a desk.

Social Impact

Vote!

Presented to a company that has fostered a commitment to DEI, community contributions, & social impact. 

Clinify Health |  Clinify Health is a digital health company that works with healthcare organizations caring for populations in underserved communities to achieve financial stability through value-based decision-optimization that enables providers to succeed in alternative payment arrangements.

Zing Health | Zing Health Choice IL (HMO) is a Medicare Advantage plan serving Medicare eligible beneficiaries. Zing Health Choice IL takes the time to get to know you and partners with you to develop a plan to help meet your health needs and goals.

Fixer | We are dedicated to creating long-term, sustainable careers for skilled Fixers in the home repair trades. The demand for skilled workers has far outpaced supply in urban areas across the US. There simply are not enough opportunities for young people to get into the building trades and create sustainable careers vs. contract work. We have taken this challenge head on by creating our own training program and career track. In fact, our mission is written into our business charter. It’s a true commitment to our community.

Aqua Cultured Foods |  Aqua Cultured Foods has developed a novel new tech that creates an alternative seafood option through the use of fermentation. This tech should launch us forward as a first mover in the refrigerated set as an alt seafood analog to Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Creating the first whole muscle seafood alternative created through fermentation.

SpringFour | SpringFour is the only Certified B, social impact fintech company that helps financial services institutions limit risk by empowering improved payment performance and increased customer engagement. Trusted by BMO Harris Financial Group, Beneficial State Bank, Oportun and more, SpringFour’s suite of financial health cloud-based solutions for financial institutions provide vetted financial resources to millions of customers and enable them to meet financial objectives, reduce household expenses and avoid payment delinquencies. More than 95% of our financial institutions report that their customers experienced increased affinity for their brands after receiving a referral from SpringFour.

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A client recently asked for advice about adding CRM and marketing automation software to their tech stack.

They were interested in the features that would help them streamline operations and nurture leads, but they were having trouble justifying the expense to leadership from an ROI standpoint.

They explained the consensus thinking: as a young business that doesn’t have a huge amount of traffic or leads, it’s unlikely any performance bump would generate more revenue than the subscription costs. Therefore, better to wait until traffic and leads increase and there’s more to optimize for.

Variations of this conversation come up a lot in our world, and clients often look at predicting MarTech ROI through a similar lens.

Our advice: to make this decision, it’s best to take a more comprehensive view of the factors influencing MarTech ROI.

The Typical Approach to Calculating MartTech ROI

For many small businesses that don’t have a clearly defined process for allocating marketing budget, investing in marketing and sales technology can be more of a gut decision than a calculation of likely return on investment. (I.e., How much money do we have right now, and how bad do we want it?)

While it’s easy to make quick and agile decisions this way, there’s a risk of being driven by emotions and short-term thinking rather than data and long-term strategy.

Some companies opt to use ROI calculators that technology companies provide for prospective buyers. For example, HubSpot’s calculator uses metrics like traffic, conversion rate, deal close rate and deal size amount to let you see expected ROI with their marketing and sales products.

These can be helpful, but the calculations are based on thousands of businesses around the world and may or may not be applicable to your company.

Others opt to perform their own cost-benefit analysis using expected new revenue, measurable improvements to productivity or reduced expenses over a certain period to calculate projected ROI using the standard formula:

((Gain – Cost)/Cost) x 100 = ROI%

This approach makes intuitive sense. For example, let’s imagine I forecast that a marketing and sales enablement platform will increase annual sales by 15% over the next three years. But when I factor in gross margin and account for the software, onboarding and training expenses incurred over this time period, it nets out to a -5% ROI.

That’s a bad investment, and I can pat myself on the back for dodging a hit to the bottom line, right?

The Problem with the Standard MarTech ROI Calculation

There are a few serious problems with calculating ROI this way:

  • The projected outcomes are almost definitely based on questionable assumptions. Take the example above, in which I’ve assumed an increase in sales of 15%. How confident should I be in that number? According to the research, business forecasts are reliably wrong – and that includes larger companies with access to vast amounts of data. So, whatever ROI I’m forecasting should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.
  • It doesn’t account for an improving trajectory over time. The other flaw in my scenario above is that I’m predicting a flat 15% increase in annual sales. In reality, effective technology tends to see increasing traction as adoption grows among the team, features are added and the platform has more data to optimize for.
  • It also doesn’t account for a whole host of other considerations. Let’s assume I was thorough in my ROI calculation above, and along with my (questionable) projected sales increase, I also factored in cost savings from another software subscription that I could cancel by using the new platform. This is still a very narrow assessment that bypasses several important factors – which I’ll get to next.

Other Areas of Value to Consider

Along with the easier-to-quantify company financials, marketing and sales technology has the potential to impact a business in many other ways.

The exact list that you should consider will come down to your business, use cases and the technology you’re evaluating, but let’s look at some that may be relevant.

Does the tech have the potential to:

  • Shorten your sales cycle?
  • Improve customer satisfaction?
  • Increase customer lifetime value?
  • Improve data accuracy?
  • Reduce security risks?
  • Help you meet privacy or security compliance?
  • Let your employees focus on higher-value work?
  • Improve employee satisfaction?
  • Help you allocate budget more effectively?
  • Allow you to do more with fewer resources?
  • Give you a competitive advantage?
  • Create opportunities to test new channels or tactics?
  • Improve the effectiveness of other software in your tech stack?

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but if even one of these are pertinent for your business, it should absolutely be part of the decision-making process. Any one of them could significantly impact ROI.

So, Is Calculating MarTech ROI Impossible?

How does a company accurately assign a dollar amount to something like employee satisfaction or security risk in an ROI formula?

I have no idea.

I’m sure there are some models out there that are designed to quantify at least some of these things (if someone out there smarter than me has a magic formula that solves this, I’d love to see it), but even if we had those models, what small business has time to get bogged down in that rabbit hole?

The best I can do is offer some guidelines that should lead to a more thoughtful assessment of likely MarTech ROI.

  • First, go ahead and do the imperfect ROI calculation with the information you have, but take it with a grain of salt and use it as just one data point – not an actual assumed ROI.
  • Next, create your own list of less quantifiable factors that should be considered.
  • Assign a score to each factor: on a scale of 1-10, to what degree does each factor move you closer to your broader business goals?
  • Accept the fuzziness of this assessment and make a decision.

Your Turn

If you’re struggling with the technology ROI question, I hope the ideas here are helpful. Even if they’re creating more questions than answers, that might not be a bad thing if it leads to a new way of evaluating these types of investments.

If you’d like some advice from a team that works with marketing and sales tech every day, get in touch.

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On June 21, 2022, we joined our friends at Crown Castle for “Digitize Your Small Business,” our informative breakfast workshop for entrepreneurs in our community held at La Orquidea in Little Village! 

As more customers turn toward ordering from and connecting with companies online, it’s never been more important for businesses to go digital. At this morning event, we brought together 20 small business owners and entrepreneurs from underestimated communities throughout Chicago to discuss the basics of e-commerce and create their online presence. Our attendees had the chance to participate in five different breakout stations where our 1871 team helped them set up their accounts on Google, create profiles on social media, activate systems to enable cashless payments, & more!

Our attendees left with tangible resources to help them thrive in a digital world, including:

  • An active Instagram Business account
  • Generated QR codes for their services 
  • A setup business Gmail account
  • Social media account profiles 
  • A Stripe account to process online payments
  • A profile to make their business viewable on Google Maps

Thank you to Crown Castle, La Orquidea, & everyone who joined us for this incredible breakfast. We’re thrilled to be able to provide small business owners in our communities with necessary resources and support! 

To learn more about the work we do across the 77 community areas of Chicago and beyond or inquire about our available community resources, contact diana@1871.com.

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by Mike O’Malley, SVP of Strategy, SenecaGlobal

I’ve spent a good portion of my career in wireless, cloud and cybersecurity. So, I was excited to attend the recent RSA Conference ’22 to learn more about what SenecaGlobal’s clients need to know as they work with us to build innovative solutions.

Between meetings, I attended keynotes and roamed the show floor. As expected, the need for cybersecurity continues to grow, but as an industry, we’re finding new ways to deal with a variety of complex issues.

Here are my key takeaways from the show (and if you have kids who are thinking about what career to pursue, reread #7 a few times):

  1. Cybersecurity needs are growing: Existing issues aren’t going away, and new problems are emerging. Bad actors are a creative bunch and will use whatever tools are at their disposal to find ways to access networks. As technology capabilities advance, hackers will find ways to exploit the growing number of access points in the public cloud, applications, mobile and IoT devices.

    New attack types seen in the wild:
    • Living off the cloud
    • MFA bypass
    • Attacks through backups
    • Stalkerware (think Pegasus from NSO Group)
  1. Expanding privacy legislation: As innovators continue to develop new apps and improve existing tech, they seek a balancing act between data privacy and the ability to analyze data to identify bad actors quicker and improve security outcomes. More than 150 countries have data privacy laws on the books, with more on the near horizon. Many speakers voiced concerns about how legislated privacy regulations might limit their ability to act quickly during attacks. Another worry is the liability for mistakes made while acting as a good Samaritan to quickly protect customers during an attack.
  1. Nation-state actors: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran continue to deploy government-sponsored hacks and hacking-for-hire. One speaker noted that North Korea is the most innovative in targeting crypto. In some cases, North Koreans posed as US-based engineers when applying for remote jobs but failed the interviews when they couldn’t name the Bay area cities where they supposedly reside. Ransomware attacks from nation-state actors have become so prevalent that companies are putting investor relations teams and ransomware negotiators on retainer. One vendor was very clear about what it sees as the source of nation-state attacks. Its booth featured a 20-foot Transformer-type robot dressed as a Chinese soldier.
A few surprises

While I’m up-to-speed on the technology developments that are driving cybersecurity solutions, I was surprised to see how quickly the industry is moving forward from concept to prototype to product in data management and the incorporation of security analysis in the development stage. It was also the first time I’d heard the implications of the intersection of cybersecurity legal and technical requirements explained so clearly in terms of staffing issues.

  1. Innovations in data management: In response to expanding regulations, expect to see the industry try to innovate its way through with solutions that:
    • Utilize more encryption
    • Enable analysis of big data sets with AI
    • Simultaneously make privacy breaches more difficultWe’ll also see solutions that anonymize and further segment data to make it difficult to reassemble the bits in a way that connects them to a specific people and their online activities.
  1. Push data storage to the edge: Additionally, as compute power increases in IoT and mobile devices, the industry is looking at ways to do more data analysis in edge devices or a cluster of devices, so no central “big brain” server has all the data. This approach should make server breaches less fruitful. The new risk is an increase in smaller edge breaches but with lesser effect.
  1. Incorporating security during development: I saw many examples of companies looking at ways to enhance security further back in the development stream, even while applications are being architected and coded. New solutions offer secure development platforms that evaluate the security of subroutines (written or open source) and provide results in a dashboard.
  1. Tech talent shortage continues: Cybersecurity will have a negative unemployment rate (more jobs than applicants) in the long term. The combination of more complex attacks, the growing number of access points to secure and evolving privacy regulations are causing CSOs to lean on staff to be ever more vigilant. There’s also an emerging trend to build teams of hard-to-find experts who understand cybersecurity’s technical and legal aspects. How many lawyers do you know with a tech background? That’s the true unicorn of the tech world. Only very large companies will be able to assemble – and retain – teams of privacy engineers, security engineers and developers that are also up to speed on current and proposed data privacy laws.

Advancements in cybersecurity tools are great, but they are only as good as the smart people who are using them. Ultimately, it always comes back to what people do with the tools that make them effective. There is no substitute for good engineers making good choices to maximize the value of security applications while enforcing privacy best practices. It will always come down to people.

Originally posted here

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 We’re excited to announce the founders that are moving on to our BLKtech Pitch Competition final event on 6.23!

Congratulations to these incredible founders & best of luck to them as they pitch their businesses for a chance at cash & equity funding. Join us in-person or virtually for the final event as we cheer them on!

Top 5 Companies of the 2022 BLKtech Pitch Competition

Athlytic by Ashton Keys

Eventnoire by Jeffrey Osuji

Nailstry by Aurelia Edwards

NixCode by Sydney Davis

Xeo Air by Bronwyn Morgan

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We’re thrilled to announce the semi-finalists of our 2022 BLKtech Pitch Competition!

We had an incredible group of innovative Black-owned startups from across the country, and after a tough deliberation our judges have selected the top 20 companies that are moving on to our semi-finals. 

Best of luck to these incredible founders, & don’t forget to join us on 6.23 for our final event where our top five finalists will pitch their businesses to a panel of our VC partners!

Top 20 Companies of the 2022 BLKtech Pitch Competition

Athlytic by Ashton Keys

Blackboard Solar, Inc. by David Wilson

Climastry by Austin Matthews

CodeAlgo Academy by Triumfia Houmbie Fulks

Empirical Radiance, LLC by Veronica Butler

Eventnoire by Jeffrey Osuji

GeoCloud by Abiodun Johnson

Kado Inc by Gladymir Philippe

Little Diner’s Crew by D.C. Crenshaw

LiveEquipd by Andre Johnson

MartialMe by Nicholas Day

Nailstry by Aurelia Edwards

NixCode by Sydney Davis

Organic Harvest Digital Inc by Oluwaseyi Olaleye

Pass The Peaz LLC by Carl Vann

period by Michelle Mbekeani

ROOMII by Dapo Kolawole

Sotaog by Robert Estill

Thola Inc by Nneile Nkholise

Xeo Air by Bronwyn Morgan

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Want to help us recognize the best in tech but don’t know where to start?

Each year at the Momentum Awards, we honor the innovators & leaders across the business maturity curve with 8 awards representing key areas of achievement—with 6 that are open to public nomination & vote! 

Nominations for the 15th Annual Momentum Awards are open until 6.17! 

We know that it can be hard to know where to start with so many incredible community members, so we put together a helpful list of resources you can reference before you cast your nominations:

Fast 50: Chicago’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2022

By Sophie Rodgers, Crain’s Business Chicago

Meet 30 Companies in Chicago Pushing the City to New Heights

By Matthew Urwin, Built In Chicago

Top Chicago Startups to Watch in 2022

By Lauren Zyber, Purpose Jobs

The 25 Best Tech Companies in Chicago to Work for in 2021

By Tiffany Webb, Flatiron School

Best of SaaS: The Top Tech Companies in Chicago

By Brittany K. King, Learn Hub

These 5 Chicago Companies Ranked on Forbes’ Best Startup Employers List

By Abel Rodriguez, Built In Chicago

Top Startups in Illinois

Startup Ranking

2022 Best Tech Startups in Chicago

The Tech Tribune

230 Illinois Companies Make Fastest-Growing List: Inc. 

By J. Ryne Danielson, Patch

Nominations will be accepted from Wednesday, June 1, 9AM CST through Friday, June 17, 11:59PM CST via Reviewr.

Want to learn more? We are hosting two introductory webinars on the categories and process. Register for them here: June 8 @ 10am CST | June 9 @ 1pm CST.

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On May 11, 2022, we joined our presenting sponsor Gallagher and our full community of leaders & innovators for ScaleUp 2022! 

This year’s hybrid event featured an incredible lineup of speakers that included some of the brightest minds in tech, including Cameo CEO Steven Galanis, tastytrade Co-Founder, Co-CEO & President Kristi Ross, and many more! Together, they shared some unforgettable insights and best business practices for scaling companies. 

Here are 6 key lessons that leaders can take away from ScaleUp 2022:

1) An innovative company needs to find ways to get people together frequently

“From May of 2021 through the first week of November, our sales team on average was sending out about 800 touches a week. The first day we had everybody back in the office at 1871, they did 3,200 touches, which meant that one day counted for one month of work.”
— Steven Galanis, CEO of Cameo

2) Link your idea to something people already know to clarify what you do

“In the early days, people were asking ‘what’s a virtual assistant’ and people didn’t really get it. But people know what search is. So we said, ‘what we’re doing isn’t a search engine…it’s a do engine. It gets stuff done for you.’ You link your idea to something people already know.”
— Dag Kittlaus, Co-Founder & CEO of Riva Health and Co-Founder of Siri

3) The hybrid workplace can be successful with over-communication & emotional contagion

“Emotional contagion is ultimately what we miss out on in a hybrid setting. It’s the ability to read body language, brainstorm in-person, & know where someone’s coming from. And mimicking that or recreating that in a hybrid world has been one of our biggest challenges.”
— Priti Patel, Chief People Officer at G2

“The key is to bring the right leaders in the room to bring the challenge to the table. Everyone has a role. All the things we talked about managing and motivating teams, tripled down during COVID. It’s about energy, belief, & making sure the leaders of the teams are reaching out multiple times.”
— Cass Baker, President & COO at GainShare

4) Invest in company-wide experimentation that is grounded in your mission

“I think that a company running the most hypothesis-driven experiments wins in their market. If you can have your entire workforce—at whatever level they are—running a set of experiments that’s based on a solid why that everyone knows, I think that you innovate much much more quickly and all over the company.”
— Garry Cooper, Jr., CEO & Co-Founder of Rheaply

5) Put yourself in the right position at the right time & actively foster your relationships

“When it comes to professional relationships outside of the internal workplace, I treat myself like a company and my mentors like investors. So just like you send regular updates to your investors, I find it’s helpful to do that for myself as well.”
— Claude Cimeus, Director of Platform at P33

6) What got you here won’t get you there

“Building a startup is different from scaling your business. When you’re scaling a business, there is this tipping point where you go from having a ton of people who are generalists that own a lot of different things to needing specialists that go deep, understand it at the core, and can optimize it to the nth degree.”
— Kristi Ross, Co-Founder, Co-CEO & President of tastytrade

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10 years ago, I started teaching classes at 1871. 

Several times each year, I’d take the train to the Mart, ride the elevator up and speak to a group of startups about content marketing and web design. These days, it’s all online, but still going strong. 

I’ve given dozens of presentations to hundreds of Chicago startups, discussing content strategies and reviewing websites. And I’ve noticed some patterns, some common issues and some big opportunities. 

These are my most common recommendations for startup websites.

Acting on these shouldn’t be expensive or time consuming. My hope is that they can all be handled through your content management system at no cost and in an afternoon:

1. Homepage Header: Make it immediately obvious what you do

Assume your visitors don’t know you yet. They came in cold and their first question is “Where am I?” and “What does this business do?”

Your homepage header needs to answer that question. It is the 6-10 word version of your elevator pitch. It’s the text within the <h1> tag right there at the top. 

Often, it’s just the name of the business category, but for startups, this can be tricky. You might be an innovator. Maybe you don’t fit nicely into a category. Or you may be creating a new category. That’s great, but you still need to let your visitor know what you do at a glance.

Be specific. Use terms that 100% of your visitors understand.

Writing the homepage header is often a big challenge. It raises questions about positioning, differentiation and target keyphrases. Keeping it simple is harder than it looks. 

As a rule, it’s better to be clear than clever. 

2. Pictures of Faces: Make it personal

Startups have a big advantage over large companies, they can easily make a personal connection by showing the people, purpose and story. 

But many startup websites fail to take advantage, even though it’s easy.

  • Show faces up front
  • State your purpose. Put quotes around it.
  • Tell a personal story on the about page

The impact of these basic elements is huge. Now they may feel something. Now they may care. Now they can align with your purpose. Now they may remember your story. 

Feel the difference? The face and the quotes make it personal. You’re a person on a personal mission. You are speaking to your visitor through the website. It transforms brochure copy into a first-person pitch. 

Faceless websites don’t create that kind of connection. 

3. Calls to Action: Make the next steps clear and compelling

Now they know where they are, who you are, and why you exist. Your purpose and offer is clear. Your visitor has enough information to make a decision about next steps.

Sometimes the decision is obvious. “This isn’t for me” …and they hit the back button. Or “I definitely need this” …and they take the next step and click over to the contact or sign up page.

But often the visitor isn’t sure. They’re on the fence. They’re thinking about taking action, but they still have a few doubts. They’re wondering if this is a waste of time.

In these cases, the call to action (known as the “CTA” to marketers) can make the difference. 

No one clicks on a call to action (or anything else on the internet) until they have done a split second cost-benefit calculation. If the benefits exceed the cost, they click. 

So you can increase the clickthrough rate of a call to action by making the perceived benefit bigger or the perceived cost lower. Either way, it comes down to those few words in the button or link.

This is the money click, so work hard on it. Look closely at the verbs. Are they specific? Compelling? Do they work with the psychology of the visitor?

The job of this button is to guide them forward. It should maximize the “conversion rate” which is the percentage of visitors who act. Even a small improvement can mean a dramatic difference in demand over time. 

About Andy

Andy’s the co-founder of Orbit Media, an award-winning 40-person web design and optimization company here in Chicago. Over the past 20 years, Andy has provided digital marketing advice to 1000+ businesses and written 500+ articles on content strategy, SEO, visitor psychology and Analytics.

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Watch CEO Betsy Ziegler share her vision for the future for the 1871 community of innovators & leaders! 

Below she shares a note on the path forward: 

A note from Betsy

It’s a pleasure to cap off our 10 Year Anniversary week with a note to all of you about what’s next for us as we enter our second decade. The constraints and challenges of the last 24 months serve as a gift. A gift that has motivated us to think differently, adapt quickly, and focus keenly on what value we really provide. The heroes of our story are all of you—the people and teams that are making change happen.

Our ability to support the entire maturity curve from “idea” to growth to Fortune 50,  and do this in a remote-first, geographically boundary-less way creates a source of competitive advantage and puts us in situations where we find ourselves thinking and saying, “Only 1871 can do this”. 

My job and my team’s job is to increase the probability of success for each person we work with and shorten the time frame for them to reach that success. We focus on creating the conditions for people to thrive no matter how they engage, where they are on their journey, or where they live in the world. 

1871 sits at the center of the startup economic development engine. Our goal is to catalyze new business growth in every corner of the city, state, country, and beyond.

We are on the precipice of unleashing inclusive growth. Leveraging our extraordinary foundation, record of impact, and our capabilities built over the last 24 months, we will be launching a coordinated network of collected people (B2C) and locations (B2B2C) as part of a mutually beneficial network, powered by 1871.

There is an enormous opportunity to create great network effects by connecting all the nodes together into one bigger network, all working to advance tech and entrepreneurship, and job growth forward

We want to be the AND  to partners—universities, chambers of commerce, innovation centers—far and wide. The hyperlocal experience we deliver in Chicago and they deliver in their home geographies AND the digitally connected network of all of us working together. This ​​digital platform has the potential to be the largest single-entry point for any entrepreneur, growth leader, or corporate innovator in the world.  

***

“People like us, do things like this” — Seth Godin

 We are lucky to be surrounded by this community of problem solvers, abundant thinkers, and believers that when we pair people and technology any problem can be solved.

It’s a joy to share this journey with you. The 1871 team continues to crush it. Their ability to shape shift and adapt to the changing circumstances is inspiring. We are ready to conquer the next chapter of 1871! 

Together we can advance the world forward.

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Applications to enter the first cohort of this 12-month program are now open until June 3rd 2022

CHICAGO; May 5, 2022 — 1871 announces the launch of the Supply Chain Innovation Lab with strategic partner Accenture, the first dedicated program of 1871’s over-arching Industry Lab experience. This program — bringing together early and growth stage companies with industry leaders — is designed to accelerate emerging tech businesses involved in supply chain.

Applications to join Supply Chain Innovation Lab, starting June 27, are now open until June 3.

The 12-month program includes:

  • Monthly events on emerging trends and networking with thought leaders
  • A 4-part immersive experience, spanning 12 weeks, to connect with peers, problem solve and engage in panels and small group discussions
  • 1871’s full community of early stage founders, growth stage companies, corporate innovators, mentors, VC’s and partners
  • Thought leadership opportunities including options to co-host industry-focused events

“I’m thrilled about the launch of the Supply Chain Innovation Lab with 1871 as we enter an era of enormous innovation, opportunity and investment in reimagining supply chains—accelerated by the disruption and lessons learned over the past two years,” said Renato Scaff, senior managing director and North America supply chain and operations lead at Accenture.

Chicago, uniquely positioned to become the top destination for supply chain innovation, serves as a leader in the areas of talent, transportation, logistics, manufacturing, and warehousing. According to World Business Chicago, Chicago is a Top 15 global startup ecosystem and #1 metro for women-founded startups, according to Fortune. The Supply Chain Innovation Lab will leverage and build upon these advantages by bringing the city together to solve the biggest supply chain challenges, create growth and empower the next generation of leaders.

“Chicago boasts the nation’s number one port by value, the largest intermodal facility, and the most transportation and logistics firms in the country,” said Michael Fassnacht, President and CEO, World Business Chicago, Chief Marketing Officer, City of Chicago. “Chicago’s central location and dominance in the transportation sector is the perfect foundation for today’s launch of the Supply Chain Innovation Lab, an immersive experience that will curate innovative and new technologies to meet the demands of the future.”

“Our community of innovators is uniquely equipped to come together to tackle today’s most pressing challenges because 1871 serves the entire business maturity curve, from idea all the way to Fortune 50,” said 1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler. “There is no problem we can’t solve when we activate the power of our collective brain. We look forward to bringing leaders and entrepreneurs together and empower them to create the supply chain solutions that will build a brighter future in our city and beyond.”

The Supply Chain Innovation Lab is made possible with the support of 1871’s anchor sponsors World Business Chicago, AbbVie & United Airlines, with over 10 growth scaling startups including Uber Freight, Flexport and Coyote Logistics.

About 1871

1871 is Chicago’s technology hub and the #1 ranked private business incubator in the world. It exists to inspire, equip, and support early stage, growth scalers and innovators in building extraordinary businesses. 1871 is home to ~450 technology startups, ~300 growth stage companies, and ~1,500 members, and is supported by an entire ecosystem focused on accelerating their growth and creating jobs in the Chicagoland area. The member experience includes virtual and in person access to workshops, events, mentorship, and more. The nonprofit organization has 350 mentors available to its members, alongside access to more than 100 partner corporations, universities, education programs, accelerators, venture funds and others. Since its inception in 2012, more than 650 alumni companies are currently still active, have created over 11,000 jobs, and have raised more than $1.65 billion in follow-on capital.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services — all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 699,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at accenture.com.

About World Business Chicago

World Business Chicago is a public-private, non-profit partnership that drives inclusive economic growth and job creation, supports business, and promotes Chicago as a leading global city. Learn more at worldbusinesschicago.com.

Contact:

J Blaszczykiewicz

Director of Marketing, 1871

j@1871.com

Roni Moore

North America Media Relations | US Midwest Lead

+1 (312) 342-1570 │ ronilyn.moore@accenture.com

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Since we first opened our doors a decade ago, our community of innovators has made incredible strides, from launching products & solutions that have changed their industries to growing their businesses into the next unicorn. 

Since the moment JB Pritzker first sketched the idea for 1871 on a napkin, we’ve existed to inspire, equip, & support innovators that are building extraordinary businesses. Today, we proudly serve the entire maturity curve, from idea to Fortune 50. 

Here’s a look into our story of innovation 10 years in the making:

2012-2015:

From early days to record growth

Even a decade later, it’s still an emotional sight to see the 1871 sign being raised at theMART, our longtime partner & home. But this was just the start of an unforgettable journey.

Howard Tullman joined the team in 2013 as the new CEO following Kevin Willer’s extraordinary tenure where he turned the idea on a napkin into a reality! Howard, a successful serial entrepreneur, played a pivotal role in growing 1871’s influence in the tech world by scaling the organization’s programming, resources, & network of support for founders. During this time, 1871 became a space for innovators to connect, collaborate, & learn how to build their businesses in a way that will create jobs right here in Chicago.

Among our new programs was WISTEM—now known as WMNtech Founders—our long-running leadership development  and coaching initiative devoted to equipping women tech founders with the resources and support they need to thrive. In 2015, we welcomed in our very first cohort, which included an incredible group of founders who’ve gone on to great success such as Julie Novack of PartySlate and more. WMNtech, which Forbes praised for its work to “help more women enter the technology sector and boost their entrepreneurial success,” just graduated  its 14th cohort!

2016-2019:

Expanding our footprint

From welcoming leaders across the tech & civic communities to our first steps toward an international future, this period of time saw a number of firsts for us. 

By 2016, 1871 had become the place where fortunate collisions became game-changing opportunities and where aspiring entrepreneurs & top tech & civic leaders came together. Our team has had the honor of welcoming some of the most famous world leaders to our space, including former US President Bill Clinton, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Youtube co-founder Steve Chen, Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, & many more. 

We introduced the next development in our affinity programming a year later with the introduction of LatinX. Run in partnership with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC), this program provides tailored coaching & support to help Latin entrepreneurs thrive, and is now getting ready to welcome its 9th cohort!

During this time, 1871 also expanded our footprint with the addition of 2.0 space in 2014 & 3.0 space in 2016. The expansions provided new opportunities for members to collaborate & find their home in 1871, with 3.0 connecting two floors & providing  an additional 41,000 square feet. The move, which Howard Tullman said in his 2018 announcement, allowed us to “serve more members, offer more educational programs, facilitate new opportunities for incubators and accelerators, and ultimately welcome more individuals and organizations to the innovation economy.”

In 2018, Betsy Ziegler stepped in as the new CEO, bringing her extensive experience from Northwestern University and McKinsey and Company to 1871. In her comments to the Chicago Tribune, Betsy noted that “the entrepreneurs are the heartbeat of the organization; they are why 1871, exists, so my first priority is to them.” Betsy has inspired an incredible new chapter of growth for our community by expanding our reach around the globe & creating a space where everyone can find the resources & support they need—all while keeping our members & their successes as the heart of everything we do.

Under Betsy’s leadership, the team launched PYROS—1871’s structured yet flexible roadmap of support. PYROS empowers members by providing a 12-week series of workshops, share outs, deep dives, and one-to-one mentoring built to help founders navigate startup fundamentals and propel them forward through every business milestone, from idea stage through product-market fit.

These innovations paid off, because in 2019 we were named the #1 Private Business Incubator in the World by UBI Global! 

2020-2022:

Where paths intersect from anywhere in the world

The past few years have seen some of our biggest steps forward yet, beginning in early 2020 with the acquisition of the Illinois Technology Association (ITA). As a result of the move, we welcomed their community of growth stage companies & officially expanded our network of support to include the full maturity, from idea to Fortune 50. The move made us one of the only organizations in the country that brings together educators, VCs, angel investors, & innovators from every stage of business development into a single, unified community. 

Through the acquisition of ITA, we continued on & expanded the Women Leadership Accelerator—now known as WMNtech Leaders. This four-month program is devoted to cultivating the next generation of women leaders and propelling them into roles of influence through dedicated education, coaching, and mentoring. We’re now in cohort 9, offering two specific tracks in both technical and market-facing roles.

The world significantly changed only a month later when the COVID-19 pandemic upended the way people connect & work. We went virtual immediately, shifting our whole delivery model to online, empowering innovators from anywhere in the world to build their business and find their network of support. These were just the beginning steps of a new path forward, and today our community is rooted in Chicago with a reach that spans the globe!

In early 2021, we announced two more major acquisitions of Catapult Chicago & hub88, which brought together our communities, expanded our physical footprint in Chicago’s Western suburbs, & deepened our expertise in emerging tech. As Betsy noted, these important moves would help “accelerate our members’ journeys across the maturity curve and embrace a deep technical focus in our programming, our physical spaces, and across the broader community.” 

We also expanded our affinity offerings with our first cohort of BLKtech, which helps members unlock a new world of opportunities among an intimate cohort of peers & mentors designed for Black-led startups. This program was made possible by our partners Verizon, William Blair, and others & we look forward to welcoming many more cohorts in the future. 

The past few years have certainly highlighted the need for a community where people can find support & others who will champion their success. But with the new hybrid model of work, it’s never been more important to embrace new ways of connecting. In September 2022, we launched 1871 VX, our immersive, virtual reality campus that empowers members to come together, socialize, & learn in one active, virtual space. From expanding our roadmap of support to connecting top level talent & leading tech companies at our first-ever virtual job fair, our 1871 VX platform is the latest innovation that allows our members to come together anytime & anywhere.

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A lot has changed in the past 10 years, but our mission stays the same. We promise to continue to inspire, equip, & support innovators who are building extraordinary businesses in their backyard, regardless of where that backyard is. 

Together, we can build a brighter, more equitable future for our communities. 

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When reimagining what’s possible, there is no one right path.

1871 inspires, equips, and supports digital technology innovators and leaders  building extraordinary businesses, from idea to Fortune 50. We know that great solutions and products can come from anyone and anywhere, but far too often opportunity is not equally distributed. Creating an inclusive community with a goal of belonging and thriving requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. It’s one of our core values—what we call embracing the power of “and.” 

The power of “and” simply means that we seek a path forward that invites everyone to participate by rejecting industry binaries & breaking the mold of the ordinary. It also means activating our network of supporters & partners to work together toward a brighter future for our members & the world. The density & diversity of our 1871 community is our strength, & together we can make a real, measured difference. 

Here are a few ways we bring the power of “and” into the 1871 experience: 

We are a community where everyone can find the belonging & support they need to thrive. 

We believe that our  member environment should embody the varying experiences, backgrounds, and ideas in our communities. As part of this ongoing commitment, our affinity offerings—including WMNtech, BLKtech, & LTNtech—provide tailored resources and support that help founders & leaders embrace their unique strengths and break down the barriers they face in tech. Ranging from tailored & regular programming, mentorship, pitch competitions, & more, our affinity programs serve professionals from across the entire maturity curve and empowers them to succeed in every step of their business journey.

To date, we’ve welcomed:

  • 10 cohorts of LTNtech Founders (fka LatinX)
  • 14 cohorts of WMNtech Founders (fka WISTEM)
  • 9 cohorts of WMNtech Leaders (fka Women Leadership Accelerator)
  • 3 cohorts of BLKtech Founders

These efforts are working, and we’re excited to continue to foster a culture of belonging in 1871 as we continue to expand our affinity offerings & initiatives. Our goal is to represent the whole of our communities, raising up & highlighting the ingenuity present in Chicagoland & beyond. 

We adopt a growth mindset from the outside in.

Innovation has no final destination, and at 1871 we’re always open to new ways to better serve our community. Throughout our first ten years, we had the opportunity to join forces with a number of organizations that expanded our expertise & resources to better empower our members. 

In 2020, we acquired the Illinois Technology Association (ITA), which welcomed our incredible community growth stage companies and extended our offerings to become one of the only organizations that supports the entire maturity curve. One year later, we announced the acquisitions of Catapult Chicago & hub88, which respectively brought together our communities, expanded our physical footprint in Chicago’s Western suburbs, & deepened our expertise in emerging tech. 

We’re honored to continue on these organizations’ core missions and come together to accelerate our members’ journeys. 

Our community is stronger when we work together

In her opening address at the 2021 Momentum Awards, our CEO Betsy Ziegler said “Chicagoland is the best place to build and grow a business” because of the unmatched network of supporters dedicated to creating a brighter future. 

1871 is one of the only organizations in the country that brings together educators, VCs, angel investors, innovators, tech hubs, & neighborhood partners into a single, unified community. We’re proud to work closely with organizations including but not limited to P33, MHUB, MATTER, & Chicago Connectory, as well as city partners & chambers including World Business Chicago, the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, add many others across Chicago neighborhoods partners.

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Our members are driving the real, necessary change, and our job is to help them build where they live. As we continue to build our core offerings, we’ll seek new ways to cultivate a community where every innovator can find the support, resources, & allies they need to thrive—with “and” as our compass for the road ahead. 

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 Thank you to our top ten donors among the many for their years of support to our community over our last decade of service. 

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