Big companies and start-ups can benefit from working together, but sometimes they don’t know how or why. We’ll be exploring this with our panelists. We want everyone to walk away with key pointers to ensure that when big companies and start-ups come together, both are able to achieve their business objectives.
At Apparel Media, we team up with big companies all the time. We want to share our experiences by moderating this Techweek panel with executives who have been instrumental in bringing start-ups into their own companies. To help us explore this subject we have four perspectives from accomplished executives:
With success comes the need to hire new staff, and it’s critical for growing companies to know how to approach the hiring process. At this critical early stage in your company's existence, choosing the wrong person for that must-fill position can be potentially devastating.
In this session, an outstanding panel of 5 seasoned Chicago tech entrepreneurs will share their experiences with hiring and managing new employees as they grew their business in the early days. Attendees will hear about mistakes that were made, discover the approaches that worked, and absorb the lessons these successful Chicago tech CEOs learned along the way.
Entrepreneurs Unpluggd is a new event in Chicago that brings together successful entrepreneurs to share their lessons from actual experiences in an intimate, “unpluggd” format.
This bootstrapper panel will bring together some of the most successful bootstrapping entrepreneurs in the US to discuss their techniques and tips to building a high revenue business without taking any outside venture or angel funding.
From trendsetting to jetsetting, women influencers have been dominating the social web. Find out their secrets and what makes them subject matter experts who have tens of thousands of followers clinging to their every tweet.
What is TechWeek: Projects?
TechWeek: Projects is where you and 100s of other coders, designers, and entrepreneurs connect, innovate and develop tech projects during TechWeek around Chicago. TechWeek: Projects includes coding, media, and design projects with the help of our partner organizations and your independent endeavors as well. Fill out the form link above and tell us what idea, app, or project you plan on working on during TechWeek!
TechWeek: Projects Lounge
The Projects Lounge is a dedicated area in the TechWeek headquarters from July 22nd through July 25th where you can work and mingle with other TechWeek: Projects groups. Meet our partners and find the advice and ideas that will help you whether you’re still getting off the cocktail napkin or figuring your best launch strategy.
TechWeek: Projects Kick-off
TechWeek: Projects Kick-off is a 1-hour session where organizers and partners can introduce their track of TechWeek: Projects. The kick-off is Saturday at 3:30 in Conference Room D of the Merchandise Mart floor 7.
Join us for a Fireside Chat with Jeff Lawson!
Come catch a Keynote by Sam Altman, CEO & Co-Founder of Loopt!
A surprise nationally known speaker will be coming in for this popular lean startup-focused entrepreneur group.
Bringing together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and the media from all parts of the tech community, midVenturesLAUNCH is a unique opportunity to watch the great new ideas come to life. Hundreds of startups will showcase the newest innovations as thousands of people explore the future of web 2.0 technology.
Accepting credit card payments is a critical requirement for any company that sells goods or services on its website—which, these days, is most companies. But doing so can be daunting and carries risk. Not only is the payments ecosystem complicated, it’s also flooded with providers that have deceptive pricing and questionable business practices—including hoarding your data. This session will shine light on the mysterious and unscrupulous payments world and help you make sense of it all. At the end of this talk, you’ll understand who the players are, what each does, and the important do’s and don’ts of choosing a reliable service provider.
One of the exciting things about the Lean Startup approach is that it’s applicable not just to startups, but to innovation within large companies.
As part of TechWeek, Pathfinder has organized a panel of “intrapreneurs” – entrepreneurs within larger companies who are charged with innovation and creating new products and services. In this case, the companies are all quite large, ranging from $1 billion to $31 billion in revenues.
We all know the story of a hot internet startup raising hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital in under 5 years, diluting the founders round after round in pursuit of an exit opportunity. When should a tech company raise venture capital, and when should it grow off of its own cash flow? How can a startup get the best investment terms from a venture capital firm? Is it dangerous for a tech company to accept debt financing?
A fundamental shift is underway in how people work and how companies manage talent. Access to talent is one of the primary and ongoing challenges for startups and small business, and the changes in how we work will have unique implications for growth business. Matt Cooper, VP of Operations for oDesk, will discuss the future of work and how it will change the way startups find and employ the talent they need.
A half day conference & workshop designed to encourage women to get started and make the leap into entrepreneurship while understanding their unique advantages and challenges.
Befuddled by incubators and crowdfunding? Curious if a male-dominated venture capital firm could understand your vision behind a revolutionary new bra design or other woman-specific idea? Learn more about the changing world of funding and how your company could benefit from additional capital. This panel will be a candid discussion on funding options, how to decide which option (if any) is right for your stage of business, and best practices for attaining and maintaining relationships with investors.
If you want to move past loans from friends and family and maxing out credit cards, register to learn more about the fundamentals of funding and the changing landscape of financially taking your company to the next level.
