Shots & Bytes

Michelle Carazas comes on to talk about starting Host, a mobile app that connects local vetted bartenders with event hosts. Hear her journey from growing up traveling the world, to starting Host and getting into the incubator that accelerated the business.

You can find their app in the app store by searching "Host" or by clicking here.

Find out more about Host by going to the following links:

Special Guest: Michelle Carazas.

A Chicago coding bootcamp teaching veterans to code. Rod Levy comes on to talk about his journey starting up this non-profit, how they get funding and placing these veterans in jobs after they graduate.

Learn how Rod went from engineering, to working in finance as a trader to going to a coding bootcamp himself to learn about software engineering. This ultimately led him to start Code Platoon, the non-profit coding bootcamp exclusivley for veterans and their spouses.

If you are a verteran or a veteran's spouse, you can start your application by visiting the website. The next round of applications end September 30.

Special Guest: Rod Levy.

Central Illinois IT Solutions Firm Infotech has been in an explosive growth mode over the last several years and We've been lucky enough to talk to Jimmy Huber, the founder and CEO many times on the show. Today we learn whats been happening over the last year and a half - what they are looking into and providing clients - and as always a bunch of wisdom about starting and running a business.

You can find more about Infotech by visiting the links below

Special Guest: Jimmy Huber.

We open show by talking to Luke and Blake why they are passionate about the edtech industry and what has them excited to come to work everyday. We also get into what their sales team is like, which they call partnerships, and what they do to get feedback from their students and teachers. eSpark provides two separate products to address a wide range of students k-8, and they are always interested in talking to talented people who are looking for a job in education technology.

Special Guests: Blake Thomas and Luke Shepard.

Derek runs Clique Studios with partner, Ted Novak. Together with their team has strived to become the best team of designers, developers and marketers in Chicago. They have, and were awarded one of the Best and Brightest Companies to work for in Chicago. Derek is also a talented musician and writer producing some music with his band, Martin Van Ruin as well as putting out a weekly newsletter called re:act, focusing on action items you can do to help your community and country during this presidency.

In this episode we dive into how he and Ted started Clique, the challenges they faced and how they have never had a single month in the red. We also spend some time on how they hire, and what they look for in candidates. Which, they are looking to add several more people to their team, so check out their openings.

Special Guest: Derek Nelson.

Ava is an ultra talented founder working on a somewhat unconventional digital agency called The Moonrose Agency, complete with a psychic on staff. Situated in Chicago's south side, she is also super involved with getting kids involved with community projects and teaching valuable lessons.

In this episode we talk about the challenges she has faced being a minority tech leader and how she overcomes by making it a part of the company culture. We also talk about the programs she is working on, like a logo project to collect every logo of businesses in Chicago, and what she is offering for that project.

Special Guest: Ava St. Claire.

Vincent's career before endeavor was workingon wall street, in investment banking and pretty far removed from running a health insurance company. But after talking to the CEO, he got a fire and passion for what Endeavor Plus was working on, and with good reason. Endeavor Plus believes healthcare should be simple. This is why we set out to change the way healthcare coverage should be delivered altogether – user-friendly consumer-driven health plans that are affordable and easy to manage.

In this episode learn about what Endeavor is doing to take some market from some of the big players in the industry, like Blue Cross, Aetna, Cigna, etc. We also discus what they think a typical consumer looks like and how in the United States, we use our health insurance completely opposite of how we use our auto insurance.

Special Guest: Vincent Esposito.

Corey was on a year-long sabbatical after helping his last company during an acquisition. A friend of his reached out about a founder looking to build a new product that would help make the media transparent, and Corey got hooked. After meeting with Jennifer Brandel in January, they flew out to San Fransisco for a media incubator called Matter. They made an agreement: 6 weeks, no questions, if it doesnt work then they will part ways.

Find out how Corey leads his engineering team, the fundraising and why he got involved in this industry when he was previously working in such a different sector before cofounding with Jennifer.

Special Guest: Corey Haines.

Brent joins me this week to talk about what people are seeing when switching careers and what seems to be missing. He is currently working on a set of programs that will empower people looking to get a new job and give them the tools they need to be confident that they are getting into a job they will love. A big part of that is vocabulary. Thinking back to when I started as an engineer, I didnt understand the terms used in the industry, which made it more difficult when leaving college to get a job that I really wanted.

We also talk about good ways to get a meeting with an influencer, or someone who is working at a company that you are interested in joining. This can be a good way to understand the culture, the work-life balance and the type of work that is produced by different departments. Big tip here, don't waste someone's time. Always be prepared and always be mindful of their time. Influencers don't have to meet with you, but if they do, thank them.

You can find more about what Brent is doing by visiting his website or his twitter. As always, if you like the show give us a good rating on iTunes and Stitcher.

Special Guest: Brent Williams.

Mike was a student when he watched a timelapse video of a printer making a bust of Beethoven and he was floored. Since that moment he knew he wanted to be in that industry and today we talk about the waves he has been making with his company Manulith and their product MakerOS.

Early on, mike realized when building out a software system to help run manulith that it would benefit other 3d printing companies as well as companies that focus on design, fabrication or companies doing other kinds of custom work for their clients. Before MakerOS, makers would have to manage a host of different tools, some very expensive and still not get the same result as what they are achieving today.

Special Guest: Mike Moceri.