What passes for genuine information today is too often something that simply gets repeated too often. Repetition is not authentication, especially when it comes to technology and media. From time to time, I think it's useful to try to get rid of some of the persistent, tech-flavored factoids that are becoming more prevalent in our media-saturated, overly exposed, woefully under informed hurry-up atmosphere.

Sharing is great, especially for the kids, but we're not getting enough in return. We need a better, smarter solution for all of the problems we're having with the myriad ways in which our personal information is being used, abused, shared, stolen, distributed, dumped and otherwise hijacked for novel and nefarious purposes; all of it far beyond our intentions and almost universally without our permission or consent.

We had the rare opportunity last week to sit down at 1871 with Joe Mansueto, the founder, and CEO of Morningstar, for a fireside chat. Having known Joe for more than 30 years now, and given the astonishing growth and success of his various business ventures, I’m always amazed at how modest and accessible he remains and what a great booster of Chicago and its entrepreneurs he has always been. 

I've written recently about how unfortunate it is when businesses don't know what they don't know. Whatever their particular organizational biases (age or gender) or structural barriers (hierarchy or bureaucracy) may be that interfere with open and effective company-wide communication, the bottom line is that they're flying at least partly blind and it's actually an easy fix. (See This Common Communication Mistake is Destroying Your Productivity.)

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his firm, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, I hosted a fireside chat with J.B. Pritzker at 1871. It was J.B. who led the group that founded 1871 in 2012. The event drew an enthusiastic crowd of entrepreneurs, investors, and several hundred others interested in hearing the gospel straight from one of venture capital's leading apostles. 

As regular INC.com readers know, I'm a diehard blogger. INC. is one of the great business communication platforms and an important channel for us to regularly get the word out about our member companies, track the expanding tech scene in Chicago, and channel information about startups and disruptive innovators nationally.

This post is part of the Hyde Park Angels Entrepreneurial Education Series, which brings together successful, influential entrepreneurs and investors to teach entrepreneurs everything they need to know about early-stage investment through events, articles, videos, and more. If you are interested in learning more about raising a round, save the date for “Early Stage Investment 101” on June 17.

It's rare that a week goes by without my having an intense and well-intentioned conversation about someone's fear of baby-faced disruptors crashing into their business.  Most of these talks are initiated by mid-level and middle-aged managers at large firms whose businesses are usually comfortable incumbents, for the moment, in various large and complicated marketplaces. But they're running a little scared because they know that new levels of competition and new kinds of competitors are clearly on the horizon.

I've been struggling for a while now in trying to make some sense of how we should manage social sharing as a viable marketing tool and also as another critical communication channel for our businesses. Content marketing is here to stay, but--notwithstanding the myths of virality-- it doesn't happen by itself, no one can make it happen for you, and it almost never happens overnight. (See The Trouble With Social Media .) Nonetheless, while no one knows what makes a mega-viral hit, some players have emerged who can help you press your winning bets, amplify the impact of the "stories" that sell, and use your always finite resources in ways that will get you the most bang for your buck.