Ted Listens: Stories Behind the Businesses of Chicago

Building Chicago’s Startup Ecosystem, Venture Capital & the Business of Professional Sports

In this episode of Ted Listens, host Ted Novak sits down with Kevin Willer, Partner at Chicago Ventures. From the early days of Chicago's tech community to the economics of professional soccer, Kevin shares firsthand perspectives on building businesses, recognizing opportunities, and investing in communities.

Kevin helped launch 1871, Chicago's influential startup incubator, and has spent more than a decade investing in ambitious founders through Chicago Ventures, whose portfolio includes companies like Cameo, SpotHero, G2, and Project44.

In this episode, we explore:

• How 1871 helped transform Chicago's startup ecosystem.

• What venture capitalists really look for in founders, and why great ideas alone aren't enough.

• The impact of AI, quantum computing, and emerging technologies on Chicago's next generation of businesses.

• Why Kevin invests in professional soccer clubs across the U.S., Canada, and England.

• The business opportunity behind soccer's growth and the increasing value of professional sports franchises.

• What Chicago needs to do to attract investment, develop talent, and compete with other major innovation hubs.

Learn more about Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwiller/
Learn more about Chicago Ventures: https://www.chicagoventures.com/

Explore more episodes: https://www.tedlistenspodcast.com/

Learn more about Ted: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tednovak/
Learn more about Clique Studios: https://www.cliquestudios.com/

#ChicagoBusiness #ChicagoPodcast #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #ChicagoStartups #1871 #ChicagoVentures #SportsBusiness #KevinWiller #TedListens

What happens when the technology you built your career around starts changing underneath you?

Ramon Tramontini has faced that question more than once.

In this episode of Ted Listens, Ted Novak sits down with Ramon, President of International Operations at OGI, to talk about his path from writing software as a teenager in Brazil to building technology companies, navigating failure, moving to Chicago, and leading international growth.

Ramon shares why he believes the biggest mistake companies make with AI is trying to automate before understanding the process itself. As he puts it, AI won’t automatically fix a messy organization... it can simply accelerate the mess.

Ted and Ramon also discuss:

• Starting and losing an early software business
• Taking a career step backward to learn a new technology stack
• Building a business in the U.S. after moving from Brazil
• The cultural differences between Brazilian and American business
• Why systems thinking is central to solving business problems
• Hidden bottlenecks inside organizations
• Why the problem a client asks you to solve may not be the real problem
• The shift from large IT projects to shorter, outcome-focused work
• Ramon’s return to school to study AI and machine learning
• What the next decade of technology may look like

It’s a conversation about reinvention, entrepreneurship, technology, and staying focused on the problem instead of the tool.

More on Ramon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramontramontini/

More on Ted:https://cliquestudios.com/authors/ted-novak

What does success actually look like when you stop living by someone else’s definition?

In this episode of Ted Listens, I sit down with coach Kyle Mercer for a conversation about entrepreneurship, executive coaching, personal growth, leadership, relationships, career fulfillment, and the beliefs that shape the way we live and work.

Kyle has spent more than 30 years coaching entrepreneurs, business leaders, and people navigating major transitions. His approach, which he calls the Inquiry Method, starts with curiosity rather than advice: understanding what is really happening beneath the problem before trying to solve it.

We talk about why successful entrepreneurs and executives can still feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from their work; how childhood and family dynamics can influence adult behavior; and why Kyle says “every family is a cult.” We also explore how to rethink career success, business ownership, leadership, and personal fulfillment without assuming you need to blow up your life and start over.

Kyle walks through how the Inquiry Method works, including the role of emotional patterns, identity, co-regulation, self-awareness, and human connection. He explains why asking “What does success mean to you?” can completely change the way someone thinks about their career, business, relationships, and future.

We also discuss how these ideas apply directly to leadership and sales: listening before prescribing, understanding what someone actually wants, asking for consent before offering advice, and shifting from “What can I get from this?” to “What would success look like for both of us?”

Along the way, Kyle turns the questions back on me, and I end up thinking differently about why I became an entrepreneur, what I actually enjoy about my work, and what success means to me today. We also discover an unexpected shared connection to legendary bassist Victor Wooten and his approach to music, collaboration, and helping other people shine.

This episode is for entrepreneurs, founders, executives, consultants, business owners, and anyone questioning what comes next in their career or life.

Topics include executive coaching, entrepreneur coaching, business leadership, burnout, career change, personal development, mindset, self-awareness, business coaching, relationships, emotional patterns, the Inquiry Method, defining success, and building a life you actually enjoy.

More about Kyle: www.kylemercer.com

Fred Hoch has spent more than two decades helping shape Chicago’s technology and innovation ecosystem, and much of his work comes down to one thing: connecting the right people and ideas.

In this episode of Ted Listens, Fred, co-founder of TechNexus Venture Collaborative, joins Ted Novak to talk about why Chicago shouldn’t try to become Silicon Valley, how corporations can work with startups to create new products and businesses, and where he sees opportunity emerging around AI and quantum computing.

They discuss TechNexus’s approach to venture-enabled innovation, why a failed $150,000 investment can still be a major strategic win, what established companies get wrong about innovation, and why startups need to understand the very different pace of selling into large corporations.

Fred also shares why Chicago’s diverse industrial economy may be one of its biggest advantages, and why he believes the most important question in business is often simply: “What can I do to help you?”

More on Fred Here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredhoch/

More on Ted Here: https://cliquestudios.com/authors/ted-novak

In this episode of Ted Listens, Ted Novak sits down with Munzoor Shaikh, Founder & CEO of Long Game Health, for a conversation about what it takes to create meaningful, durable change in healthcare.

Munzoor shares his perspective on the intersection of strategy, operations, data, and leadership, and why real transformation requires more than a new initiative or short-term answer. Together, they explore the long game: creating clarity, alignment, and follow-through while keeping people at the center of complex systems.

Learn more about Munzoor and Long Game Health: https://LongGame.com

More on Ted: https://CliqueStudios.com

In this episode of Ted Listens, I sit down with Justin Kaufmann of Axios for a conversation about Chicago, journalism, storytelling, and the future of media.

Justin shares his journey from interning at WBEZ in the 1990s to hosting at WGN Radio and eventually helping launch Axios Chicago.

The conversation explores:

• How Smart Brevity changed modern journalism
• Why Chicago still feels like a “small town in a big city”
• The realities of media in the AI era
• The importance of authentic voice in storytelling
• Why local journalism still matters
• How personality and perspective shape great reporting

This episode is for the Chicago fanatics and the Chicago curious alike.

More on Axios Chicago: https://www.axios.com/newsletters

More on Justin Kaufmann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-kaufmann-57642b6/

More on Ted Novak: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tednovak/

In this episode of Ted Listens, I sit down with Mitul Patel, founder of MP Consulting, for one of the most fascinating business conversations I’ve had.

What started after four former Motorola Mobility colleagues left stable jobs and landed on their faces in a failed startup became a thriving engineering company with 130 employees, global talent, manufacturing operations, and multiple business ventures.

We talk about:

• How desperation can create entrepreneurial momentum
• Why businesses must pivot when markets change
• Building products, manufacturing, and solving impossible engineering problems
• Why hardware isn’t “hard” if you understand process
• The hidden challenge of scaling from doer to leader
• Turning personal tragedy into purpose through a women’s health foundation
• Why “What do you want to do?” is a better question than “What do you want to be?”

This is a masterclass in resilience, leadership, and building opportunity from chaos.

Learn more about Mitul here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrpatel624/

Nicole spent years building a successful career in finance and leadership at a fast-growing consulting firm, then walked away from the comfort (and the title) to bet on herself.

In this episode, we talk about what inspired her to make that leap, how she chose coaching as her next chapter, and what she learned while making that decision. Nicole shares what it’s like to start from scratch, build a business through relationships, and help other high performers navigate transition, burnout, boundaries, and the hard conversations that come with growth.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in a role you’re great at, or you’re quietly wondering what your own “next thing” could be, this one will hit.

Topics we cover:

• Leaving a stable career without a “perfect” plan

• Turning your real strengths into a business

• Coaching vs therapy vs mentoring (and why it matters)

• Why burnout and change are showing up everywhere right now

• The hidden cost of comfort—and how to move anyway

#CareerChange #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Coaching #Burnout #WorkTransitions #Chicago #TedListens

Chicago isn’t a single industry city, and that’s exactly its advantage.

In this episode of Ted Listens, I sit down with Abin Kuriakose, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at World Business Chicago, to unpack how Chicago really works as a place to build and scale a business.

From why global companies are placing innovation hubs in Chicago, to how talent, climate resilience, and cross-industry collaboration are shaping the city’s future, this conversation offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at economic development through the lens of entrepreneurs and operators.

If you’re a founder, investor, or business leader curious about where opportunity is quietly compounding, this episode helps reveal why Chicago strategic market.

🎧 Topics include:

• Why Chicago’s industry diversity is a competitive advantage

• How startups gain access to enterprise decision-makers

• The role of talent, universities, and workforce development

• Climate resilience as a business strategy

• What founders often underestimate about building in the Midwest

  
  

  #ChicagoBusiness #Entrepreneurship #StartupEcosystem #EconomicDevelopment #BuildInChicago #MidwestTech #InnovationEconomy #Founders #VentureCapital #BusinessLeadership #CivicInnovation

In this episode of Ted Listens, I sit down with Brynn Michelich, Chief Operating Officer at Jellyvision, the Chicago tech company behind the wildly successful benefits-education platform ALEX. Brynn shares the fascinating evolution of Jellyvision, starting with educational films in the late ’80s, moving through the CD-ROM gaming era (yes, including You Don’t Know Jack), and ultimately becoming a leading HR-tech company helping millions of employees understand and use their benefits.

From transitioning a services business into a scalable product, to navigating healthcare complexity, AI adoption, employee communication, and hybrid-work culture shifts, Brynn offers candid insights on leadership, operations, and what it really takes to build a company that blends behavioral science, empathy, humor, and technology.

If you're an operator, founder, HR leader, or simply love great Chicago startup stories, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

More on Jellyvision: https://jellyvision.com/

More on my company: https://cliquestudios.com/