Chicago’s venture capitalists guard their interests.
Where tech investments flow, no place else in the country boasts investors who insist so completely on “show-me” financials and proven business plans.
It is a point of view informed by investments with companies on bigger scales, made humble by the dot-com disaster and made cautious in the deep retrenchment of the 2008 financial meltdown. It’s tended by hopeful investors left to nurse their funds, ambitions and plans for their city’s emergence in the innovation economy.
They see a Midwest with strong fundamentals, abundant opportunities and a challenging to-do list.
Blue Sky Innovation spoke with six Chicago venture capitalists for their perspective on the state of the region’s entrepreneurial prospects, what it needs to move forward and where opportunities hide in the noise. A three-part series emerged:
