Recruiting Manager Laura Fendrich leads 1871's recruiting program, which has partnered with over 75 companies, captured the attention of 30,000 candidates and placed well over 100 people into incredible career opportunities. With a myriad of hiring experiences under her belt, she breaks down what she feels are the most important traits to have as a tech startup candidate.

Some of them never see it coming. In a visit to 1871, oil industry veteran Anna Catalano told aspiring entrepreneurs how to prevent the kinds of CEO disasters that are making way too much news.

Dennis Crowley’s company was built on the concept of “check-ins,” and the Foursquare founder absolutely had chances to check out during his entrepreneurial journey. But after selling his first location-based company -- Dodgeball -- to Google and watching it fold, Crowley set a vision for his business and stuck to it. For anyone who is struggling to stick it out, Crowley’s keynote on August 1 and subsequent Q&A with Kevin Willer of Chicago Ventures packed some serious wisdom. 

This past weekend, I attended the Fear Paradox Summit, an event geared towards helping women expand their minds and channel their fear into fuel. Every woman who attended said “yes” to embracing tough challenges and living out their dreams. It was a truly amazing experience: not only because of the workshops and activities, but the incredible energy that you can only feel in a group of women determined to rise.

“Let’s make a deal.” If negotiating was that easy, the three professionals who took the stage on July 26 at 1871 wouldn’t have made careers brokering deals and transactions for global corporations. At the inaugural Women at The MART (WAM) event, our powerhouse panelists shared tips and tactics to help women (and men!) win at everyday workplace negotiations. 

Not everything worth doing is worth doing to the nth degree. Just like you can overthink and over-engineer your technology, you can foolishly try to achieve levels of immediacy, proximity and precision that frankly no one really needs or cares about — except maybe a few of your geeky engineers. Pursuing perfection is a perfectly good way to burn through lots of cash, waste a lot of time and energy, and frustrate your own people in the process.

It's not just about a newspaper or morning TV headlines, anymore. With media being made available instantly at our fingertips, startups need to make careful decisions about how they tell their story to ultimately capture the attention of the customer. 1871 mentor and independent media consultant Mark Daniel offers some solutions. 

For a founder referred to as the “Rockstar of Finance,” Tom Sosnoff looks the part. Donning a “Tastytrade” branded Kangol hat and button down and a faded pair of jeans, the legendary Chicago serial entrepreneur took the stage Tuesday, July 19 at 1871 to sit down for one of 1871’s longest running events, Chicago Founders’ Stories hosted by 1871 Board Member Pat Ryan, Jr.

These aren't the best of times for the tech industry. Every day another jerk emerges as the latest poster boy of ego and entitlement, someone who can't figure out how to keep his hands to himself and/or his ugly mouth shut. And the many feeble attempts and faux justifications made in the name of speed and scale doesn't really advance the discussion or explain the situation, either.

Shutting yourself in what seems like a safe and secure space is an act of willful blindness. You need to look across your industry to leverage all the data available, including within your own company. And yes, there are platforms for that.