TEACH, CONSULT, INNOVATE, SLEEP, AND REPEAT.
The Life of Tom Kuczmarski and the Creation of the Chicago Innovation Awards
Technori Pitch, October 2011 Recap by Justin Cerone
Writen by guest author, Justin Cerone. It was the last Tuesday of October. More than 500 start-up enthusiasts had filled the Chase Auditorium to celebrate Chicago entrepreneurship in the latest edition of Technori Pitch. In moments, seven of Chicagoland’s most promising start-up ventures would take the stage to demo, and in some cases launch, their…
POETIC JUSTICE
DANIEL GOES ROGUE ALL THE TIME. He’s always taken the path less traveled by default because his personal history has taught him that you can do whatever you want and still have traditional success. His guiding principle: “Mess things…
The Magic Man
THE FIRST THING ANYONE WILL NOTICE walking into Howard’s office is how completely understated and cluttered it is. A simple desk with things strewn everywhere, walls plastered with endless pictures, and the man himself sitting in a Hawaiian…
How to Find a Developer in Chicago
**Special thanks to Griffin Caprio, Pek Pongpaet, Ray Hightower, Dave Hoover, and Raymond Reinhart for their contributions.**So you’re looking for talented developers, huh? Â Well you better grab a number and get in line because…
Kevin Taylor Has a Black Belt in Programming
A JUVENILE BUSINESS IDEA WITH POMPEII-LIKE REPERCUSSIONS gave Kevin his first lesson in business ethics.“I was about 11 in 1980 when I made my earliest foray into business when Mount Saint Helen erupted. For some reason, my friend and I got…
Ji-V Hack Creates A Fun and Inclusive Space for Hackers To Play
The Technori team had a blast hanging out at the recent Ji-V Hack hackathon. Never heard of such a thing? Think of it as a hackers’ telethon, except rather than having set amount of time to earn a bunch of money, hackers have a set amount of…
Streamlining the Giving Game
DESIREE VARGAS-WRIGLEY DOESN’T JUST WANT YOU TO GIVE; she wants what you give to get to the right place. Her focus and find-a-way spirit were evident at an early age. “When I was growing up, I was the type of person that if there was…
Zach Kaplan Wants a World Full of Inventors
ZACH KAPLAN IS A VERY DOWN TO EARTH, soft-spoken kind of guy. The kind of person it’s hard not to immediately feel a sense of trust around. Maybe that is the secret to how he has found success in multiple businesses, starting with his very…
NO EXIT
JEFF LEITNER DOESN’T HAVE AN EXIT STRATEGY. He doesn’t believe in them. “In business schools and in business plans, they ask for exit strategies,” Leitner says. “I find that absurd. What I’ve learned at every…