As the old Kenny Rogers tune goes, ‘you got to know when to hold’em and you got to know when to fold’em.’ Nobody understands that sentiment better than Sergio Suarez Jr., the former Co-founder and CTO of the popular ticket reservation platform dibit and the Co-founder of Tackle Ai, which uses artificial intelligence to extract key data points from any unstructured document. Along with his entrepreneurial endeavors, Suarez Jr. is also an accomplished poker player. In this post, Suarez Jr. shares his story along with his tips on to how to successfully play the hand your dealt.

Happy Halloween, all! If you think you're impervious to all of the frights that await you today, think again -- EX3 Labs, an experience design and product innovation studio specializing in mixed/augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Thing (IoT) solutions, shares today's guest blog on the seven scares that keep innovation leaders up at night. 

The city of Chicago is quickly cementing its reputation as a tech powerhouse in both the United States and throughout the world -- but like many other cities, there is still work to be done when it comes to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. In this post, guest author Linda Darragh, the Larry Levy Executive Director of the Kellogg Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative, shares her insights on how we can collectively create, support, and foster a pipeline of diverse and inclusive talent. 

1871 and BMO Harris Bank are proud to hold their second joint innovation program. The program provides participants with BMO mentors with various expertise, mission-essential resources across the bank, a working space at 1871 and the potential opportunity to pilot their technology with BMO Harris. To offer insight on what entrepreneurs can expect from the program, we spoke with some of its current members. This week, we talk to we talk to Shima Rayej, Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at Safe Rate, about the importance of perspective and how the Chicago Bulls helped her connect with one of the nation’s most prestigious banks.

From soccer to tutoring to dance class to mentorship, many of today’s youth spend their after-school hours partaking in activities that will help them learn and develop new skills and build new relationships. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to after-school activities nor knows how to find specific programs of interest -- it’s an issue that Montana Butsch, Founder and CEO of Spotivity, frequently saw on the West and South sides of Chicago when running the Chicago Training Center ‘CTC’ – a non-profit he founded to bring rowing to inner city kids. Today, Montana is using his past experiences with CTC to help youth from all corners of the city find the activities that empower and inspire them. In this post, he talks about the need for greater education, the importance of community, and the significance of engagement.

Startups and small businesses outsource a number of things: server space, legal services, and accounting are common examples, generally recognized as outside of the business’s core expertise. But when it comes to human resources (HR) management and operations (outside of payroll, of course), founders and business leaders have a tough time wrapping their heads around how outsourcing can help their business succeed. In this guest post, Bob Cerone, CEO of Cognos HR, shares his insight on the hidden opportunities and benefits that HR outsourcing can have for your business as it grows.

11 powerhouse tech companies have been nominated for the 11th annual Momentum Awards. Six finalists were selected for the category of the Momentum Rising Star Award, and five finalists were selected for the category of the Momentum Award. The winners will be announced at the 11th Annual Momentum Awards Dinner on November 15th.

JOBS! Every week, we highlight a number of open jobs for our member companies. If you're looking for an exciting career in the tech industry or an opportunity to work alongside Chicago's best and brightest, then you've come to the right place. Here are the job openings for the week of October 23, 2018.

In January 2018, 1871 was selected, by the Kauffman Foundation, as one of six entrepreneurial support organizations nationwide to serve as a policy advocate for entrepreneurs. In partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, 1871 is using the grant to fund a three-year program that will convene entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers in one room to address the issues that are impacting entrepreneurs the most. The program features two policy forums a year in which entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers will gather to discuss the most relevant challenges facing entrepreneurs. Together, the objective is to find policy-driven solutions and to amplify entrepreneurs’ and investors’ voices in Chicago, Washington D.C. and beyond. Read more about our grant from the Kauffman Foundation here.  

Sales Assembly and 1871 are joining forces to enable VentureSCALE, the Midwest’s first and only sales and revenue focused accelerator, which operates exclusively out of 1871. We're excited to announce that VentureSCALE's Fall cohort launched yesterday with six amazing companies, which we've highlighted below.