1871 Is Open For Business

Posted by Jeff Carter
on May 3rd, 2012

The anticipation in Chicago within the entrepreneurial community has been building. 1871 is open for business. Congratulations are in order for all who made it happen. I went by there twice yesterday to check it out.

In the morning, I got a cup of coffee from Intelligensia and saw some friends. The first thing I saw was the office for the Hyde Park Angels there. Pretty neat. If you heard about HPA five years ago, you wouldn’t have batted an eye. Now we have an office at 1871.

In the evening, I was there briefly. We had an HPA Consumer Products roundtable that evening. There was a great turnout for the first night party. It looked like a lot of fun and I wish I could have stayed. I saw some friendly faces. HPA will hold a few meetings there in the future. I hope other organizations will too. It’s big enough, we could host all the angel groups in Chicago there on one night!

There was a lot of energy in the space, but since it was the grand opening, there should be buzz. Chicagoans should be excited about this. In the 1800′s, Chicagoans got excited about the canal being finished that connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. They held a massive party. In the late 1800′s, when the Auditorium Theatre was finished, people came from all over the US for the ribbon cutting. That canal, and the invention of the warehouse receipt to create fungible grain, built Chicago. Hopefully, 1871 will be a part of the re-building of Chicago.

If you are at all interested in helping startups, and the entrepreneurial community, it takes work. Take a meeting with a start up if you can. Make an introduction. Purchase from them. I introduced Power2Switch to a potential customer today. The CEO that took the meeting immediately put them in touch with the right people within their company to speak with. I have no doubt that they will buy if they find the offering suitable for them.

How much time did it take? I sent an email intro. The CEO sent an email to the right person in their company. Now there is a meeting. Power2Switch has a chance for a sale. An established company has a chance to listen to a unique way to expand their business. That’s how you build.

If you are sitting behind a corporate desk right now and say, “I can’t do that.”-then don’t whine when there isn’t new business in your own backyard. That start up that you make an introduction for could wind up helping your business and making you look like a hero. If nothing happens, you aren’t any worse off. You are only out a couple of minutes of your time. (No charge to either party on my part!)

I saw some pretty cool companies working there(bitbend.com, simplerelevance.com, proongo.com, zyndeo.com are just a few.). I spoke briefly with Food Genius founder Justin Massa and he said it was great to be there. Companies are going to eventually figure out how to use the space to their advantage.

For me, I am not too concerned about what 1871 looks like in six months. The real question is, what’s it going to look like in five years? How will you help shape what it looks like in five years?

The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.