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.

An ambitious initiative begun by ANA (All Nippon Airways), Japan’s largest airline, is looking far beyond flight to shatter the barriers of physical transportation and achieve societal benefits. The ANA Avatar XPRIZE, a $10 million competition to create a real-life avatar system, hopes to develop a single platform that would allow individuals to experience and learn from different cultures and travel virtually. In this guest post, ANA discusses how the system would revolutionize the way we connect with each other. 

Earlier this month, EX3 Labs -- an experience design and product innovation studio specializing in mixed/augmented reality, artificial intelligence ,and Internet of Thing (IoT) solutions -- launched their podcast series, #UnlockingInnovation, produced in partnership with 1871 Chicago. The goal of the series is to explore the qualities and practices that make the most innovative companies in Chicago successful.

When students graduate from a higher educational establishment, they face another challenge -- securing a job. However, the only thing they have is a degree in their respective field, but it is not enough for some employers. They need a skilled and proficient specialist with a few years of experience in this or that field. In this guest blog post, academic writer Michelle Lambert talks about how you can gain key experience by participating in education startups.

With nearly 2.5 million STEM job openings, it's no wonder that U.S. employers are looking harder than ever to find qualified applicants. One demographic that often gets overlooked is the neurodiverse community -- neurodiverse applicants are individuals who may be on the autism spectrum but are often highly qualified. In this guest post, Rocky Subramanian Midwest Managing Director, SAP North America, shares his thoughts on why it's important to companies should consider hiring neurodiverse applicants and look outside of traditional talent profiles.

In the ever-evolving world of big data, there is a constant stream of new data from various sources making leaps forward in the way humanity can identify trends. Whether it be analytics from financial data locating changes to the market, medical systems, through coordinated data identifying the outbreak of deadly diseases, or as simple as a social network detecting trends in conversation there is no denying that big data has changed the world forever. In this guest post, Taylor Welsh of AX Control provides insight on the evolution of big data analytics.

There's a myth in the startup community that says you need to scale fast. In today's guest post, Jock Purtle, Founder and CEO of Digital Exits, takes a look at why most startups yield greater benefits from steady growth rather than rapid expansion.

Today, technology is changing the way we do just about everything; the way we we work, the way we connect with each other, and of course, the way we get around. In this post, we'll look at how modern advancements are shaping the future of transportation and creating new opportunities for industries and innovators across the globe.

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.

1871 recently held its Summer Corporate Innovation Summit. The summit, which brings together innovation leaders from both corporations and startups, offered a number of takeaways on how both parties can support each other in their mission to grow business and pioneer new ideas. In case you missed it, 1871's Xenia Mastropetrou and Lari Rutschmann have put together a two-part series highlighting some of the summit's key takeaways. Here's part two of the series. If you haven’t read part one just yet, you can find it right here.