Chicago Capital

Jason Starr is the founder of CompanyFirst, a venture capital firm focused on investing in and building emerging consumer brands and companies. Before CompanyFirst, Jason was the fund manager at CircleUp in San Francisco, through which he invested in dozens of consumer ventures. Prior to CircleUp, Jason spent over eight years at Winona Capital Management, a consumer-focused private equity firm in Chicago with over $300 million under management. Before Winona, Jason worked at venture capital firm Opus Capital in Silicon Valley and was a founder or early employee at several high-tech start-ups in Denver including BoldTech Systems, a “Deloitte Tech Fast 50” and “Inc. 500” company that was acquired by Perficient (NASDAQ PRFT). Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Jason spent over five years at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where he was a project manager and software engineer. Jason graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA and holds a BSBA and MAS from the University of Denver, where he was an alumni scholar and graduated summa cum laude.

Ben Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Spruce, which develops a platform that enables individuals to receive services in their homes through a mobile app. From full housekeeping to a quick tidy-up or a dog walk for your furry friend, Spruce is available to residents on-demand.  At the end of 2020, Spruce raised an $8M Series A, led by Mercury Fund.

Ben spent a little over 5.5 years at ING working on digital banking before starting Spruce. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and got his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Earlier this year, the company purchased The Minte, a Chicago-based startup known for their hotel-style apartment cleaning services, which also enabled the Spruce team to officially expand into the Chicago market. And now, after tallying up their various wins from the year so far, including a 400% YOY growth in revenue, the Spruce team has announced that they are officially the nation's largest tech-enabled apartment amenity provider, serving more than 450,000 apartment homes in 15 markets across the country

Chris Deutsch is the Founder of Lofty Ventures, which works with passionate creators, disruptive enterprises, and forward-thinking organizations to help them change the world. Focused on first-check to seed investments in early-stage entrepreneurs based in Chicago. 84 percent of Lofty's 61 startups are based in Chicago, and 74% are led by minority founders.

In this episode, we covered:

• Pathway to Entrepreneurship and VC
• Angel Investing
• Re-Founding TeaBot
• The Status of the Chicago VC ecosystem

And much more.... Please Enjoy!

You can find Chris on his Linkedin & Twitter.  You can also find Lofty Ventures on Linkedin, Twitter, their website. 

In 2021 alone, local founders have raised more than $5 billion in VC dollars – making Chicago a national destination for founders, investors, and innovators. As the City of Chicago’s economic development organization, World Business Chicago drives growth and opportunity for our local tech economy and innovation ecosystem through its flagship programs: the Chicago Venture Summit, Startup Chicago, ThinkChicago, and Venture Engine. Learn more via WorldBusinessChicago.com

George Khalife is the Vice President, Midwest U.S. at TMX Group, a Canadian Financial Services Company that administers global markets and creates digital communities and analytic tools to help businesses, traders, and investors fund, grow, and succeed. George is also the Host & Founder of Let’s Grab Coffee, a podcast that strives to interview successful people from many fields. 

In this episode, we covered:

• Starting a Podcast
• Toronto & Chicago
• The Mandate of TSX
• Prodcast Strategy & Distribution

And much more.... Please Enjoy!

You can find George on his Linkedin, Website, Blog, & Twitter.  You can also find TMX Group on Linkedin, Twitter, their website and Let’s Grab Coffee on Linkedin, Apple Podcasts, and their website.

In 2021 alone, local founders have raised more than $5 billion in VC dollars – making Chicago a national destination for founders, investors, and innovators. As the City of Chicago’s economic development organization, World Business Chicago drives growth and opportunity for our local tech economy and innovation ecosystem through its flagship programs: the Chicago Venture Summit, Startup Chicago, ThinkChicago, and Venture Engine. Learn more via WorldBusinessChicago.com

Lava is a mobile app that empowers you to create, share, & discover social audio

Your voice has a lasting impact on Lava. Record and share social audio seamlessly on our mobile app then go viral through the global feed that highlights audio clips from creators around the world. Build your audience through your profile and follow along as new communities form around topics such as technology, art, sports, and science.

With Lava, anyone has the potential to be a social audio creator without equipment, commitment, or investment. Simply download Lava: Social Audio on iOS or Android to connect with friends, share your thoughts, and find your voice.

Hunt Club is a new category of search firm.

Cold calling, spamming on Linkedin, impersonal mass reach out, treating candidates like a transaction v. a person... These methods no longer work in today's fight to attract the best talent.

Hunt Club helps companies find amazing passive talent + give well-connected individuals (influencers) a direct channel to help their network find amazing jobs. Hunt Club delivers white-glove service throughout the entire process.

Referrers get rewarded, candidates get great opportunities and companies land passive talent. Everyone wins.

Lindsay Knight manages CV’s Platform, or the firm’s “post-investment” team. She works directly with the firm’s 50+ active portfolio companies on matchmaking talent; connecting into customers; marketing, communication and PR; and building community, content, and events to help scale up and skill up more efficiently. She’s also a Kauffman Fellow, Class 23.

Prior to joining Chicago Ventures, Lindsay spent time at Ocean Tomo, an intellectual property merchant bank, where she was part of the team that launched the industry’s first live patent auctions. She later joined CHOUmedia as Vice President, where she worked with clients in the IP industry on marketing strategy and execution.

We discussed:

-Her early career in Marketing and Comms

-The Platform Model in VC

-Her daily workstreams at Chicago Ventures

-Founding Chicago:Blend

In 2018, Lindsay launched the non-profit Chicago:Blend, a collaborative effort of venture capitalists in Chicago who know that diverse teams and inclusive environments are critical foundations for both the startups we invest in and our own venture firms. She’s a former Chair of the VC Platform Global Community and serves on the Governing Board at Lookingglass Theatre, a Tony-award winning theatre that focuses on the spectacular and the physical. She graduated from the Miami University Honors Program with degrees in English/Journalism and Strategic Communication.

Patrick Larsen is the CEO and co-founder of ZenLedger.io, a blockchain saas company that delivers tax and accounting services to individual and cryptocurrency investors as well as to CPAs and crypto hedge funds.

The company works with Big 4 accounting firms (high net worth practice), crypto whales, CPAs, and everyday traders. Zenledger has integrations with hundreds of exchanges and wallets and thousands of cryptocurrency tokens/coins.

Zenledger is hiring in software development (front and back end), product management, customer service, brand and analytical marketing, and business development.

Investors include: Vestigo Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Sally Nordstrom, and Ben Davenport.

www.ZenLedger.io

Peter Johnson is a Partner at Jump Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in data-driven software startups in the FinTech, IT & Data Infrastructure, B2B SaaS, and Media industries. They also invest in crypto startups and projects that are redefining what is possible in an open financial and decentralized network future. Jump makes high-conviction investments and has assisted in the scaling of some of the industry's leading businesses.

In this episode, we covered:

• Crypto
• Jump Capital’s New Fund
• Stablecoins
• Cross-Border Transactions
• Advantages in the Chicago Market

And much more.... Please Enjoy!

You can find Peter on his Linkedin & Twitter and Jump Capital on Linkedin, Twitter and their website.

Jump Capital’s Insights page and his blog on Stablecoins.

In 2021 alone, local founders have raised more than $5 billion in VC dollars – making Chicago a national destination for founders, investors, and innovators. As the City of Chicago’s economic development organization, World Business Chicago drives growth and opportunity for our local tech economy and innovation ecosystem through its flagship programs: the Chicago Venture Summit, Startup Chicago, ThinkChicago, and Venture Engine. Learn more via WorldBusinessChicago.com

Dominic Go is the founder & CEO of Tambr, a streaming music service built for enhanced social connection while empowering the artistic community.