On March 13th, 1871 invited a group of entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers to address challenges associated with financial and tax regulations. Taking the lens of established or soon-to-be entrepreneurs, the forum was full of insights and best practices on how founders could navigate their way through a web of complex regulations. This policy forum was created in partnership with Groundwork, a workshop series focused on foundational topics for entrepreneurs.

Conversion. Search Engine Marketing. Taglines. PPC. Brand experience. When you’re just starting out, the world of marketing and branding can seem overwhelming. There are so many approaches to getting your company and product seen that it becomes difficult to know where to start. At the fourth session of 1871’s Groundwork series -- a set of public workshops focusing on foundational topics for fledgling entrepreneurs -- Reva Minkoff of Digital4Startups, David Kelbaugh of Tacklebox Brand Partners, Shirley Yang of Muses, and Solomon Thimothy of Clickx broke down the best approaches to creating a strong branding and marketing foundation for startups.

Funding is one of the most difficult challenges entrepreneurs face. In most cases, you’re either bootstrapping or asking people for money to invest in your venture. At the third session of 1871’s Groundwork series -- a set of public workshops focusing on foundational topics for newly-minted entrepreneurs -- Tony Wilkins, Sonia Nagar, Andrew Schwartz, and Charlie Connor discussed best practices to secure funding from investors.

Building a digital product isn’t easy. That’s why we recruited the help of some experts to share their insights, tips, and know-how on the subject. At the second session of 1871’s Groundwork series -- a set of public workshops focusing on foundational topics for fledgling entrepreneurs -- Kate Samuels, Ryan Francis, and Zak Kates discussed different approaches for building a product as well as tips to minimize complications and boost success.

You’ve spent the last 10 years killin’ it in your field, and now you’re ready to pay it forward and mentor the next generation of lean, mean entrepreneur machines. But even with all of your experience, it’s not quite a simple as doing a brain dump while holding a founder in a headlock. Here are 6 tips that will help you become Yoda for business leaders and founders.

Networking just got easier for the 1871 community. 1871 has partnered with Brella, a startup based out of San Francisco, to power a four-part series of networking events in 2018. Brella is a networking tool for events that matches participants based on their business interests and sets up mutually beneficial appointments.

Last month, Nirav Amin stood in front of a packed room at the new Apple Michigan Avenue.  “How many of you are entrepreneurs or working on your own business idea?” he asked the crowd. More than half of the room raised their hands. Some had attended each event in the four-part “Accelerate Your Startup Idea” series aimed at educating, guiding, and supporting the Chicago community in pursuit of their entrepreneurial passions, and had finally arrived at this culminating session where they would soon have the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges.

On October 30, 1871 hosted the Tech Jobs Tour, a forum which helps diverse, non-traditional talent find jobs in the technology space. The national tour features top tech experts who are women, people of color, LGBTQ, veterans and people with disabilities. Megan Smith, former CTO of the United States and CEO of shift7, gave the keynote speech and stopped by 1871 earlier in the day to meet with women entrepreneurs in the space.