Rather than trying to take on increasingly large and powerful companies, a better strategy is to make your firm essential by fusing with their infrastructure.

Jane Shersher, an 1871 mentor and founder of Ava Today -- which helps businesses and entrepreneurs stem burnout in the workplace, shares some simple tricks to handling stress.

Hundreds gathered at 1871 on August 30th for the second 1871/Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Joint Incubator Showcase, where 13 Latinx-led startups pitched their businesses and celebrated completing an intense 12 week program of mentorship, workshops and support from the greater entrepreneurial community. 

This week in Instagram: 1871 started off the week right by bringing the team together to view the Solar Eclipse. The last time a total eclipse was visible from coast to coast in the US was on June 8th, 1918. Our team was lucky enough to snag viewing glasses to catch the event in full effect.

Even though they’re learning the ins and outs of tech and business building while classes are out, Chicago students have had anything but a summer school experience at 1871 this summer. We welcomed students from both Rêve Academy and CoderSpace for a pair of innovative programs aimed at increasing opportunities in tech for young students and positively impacting communities.

 We've talked and worried for years about the potential harm to businesses that unforeseen results and unintended consequences can cause, especially when the companies involved are new and relatively immature. When you read the typical after-action analyses, which try to make sense of these seemingly "abrupt" changes or the "surprise" upsets, they are almost always directed toward studying how well or poorly the particular actor, entity, or business fared as a result of the inability to anticipate or mitigate the nasty changes brought about by its own deliberate actions. Of course, these kinds of problems don't simply effect newbies.

After planning her fair share of weddings and bachelorette parties for free, Christina Hecker decided it was time to make a little money on matrimony. Hecker, a member of WiSTEM’s fifth cohort, is the founder of Wedmony -- an online platform that aims to connect couples planning their weddings and offers them simple tools to help them keep on schedule during the process.

It’s an understatement to say tech has changed in the past 30 years, and Lisa Portnoy has been at the forefront of watching its evolution.

Christina Holloway is an 1871 mentor, and a leadership and development business coach. In this mentor insights blog, she talks about the value business coaches can bring to entrepreneurs and how to go about finding the right fit.

For Isabelle Woodrow, creating the “Apartments.com for senior living communities” has been a family affair. She’s the CTO of LivingPath -- a transparent listing platform for retirement homes and senior communities -- a company she co-founded with her brother, Jonathan, who maintains the CEO title.