Startup Interview: Chicago Startup PrepHero

PrepHero is a new Chicago startup that bills itself as the premiere “social” development network for athletic training. While RocBob, another startup that exhibited at Chicago TechWeek, is about recreational sports, the team and “the game”, Prep Hero is about the athlete. PrepHero allows the coach and the athlete to keep up with their training

Chicago Startup: Safe Snips Wins TechWeek Launch Competition

Monday at Chicago TechWeek was Startup City day. 34 Startups from Chicago and everywhere else participated in an expo day and Launch competition. The competition included $100,000 I’m cash and business services for the winning companies. The prize package included six months free space from Catapult, services from Microsoft, Motorola Xyboard tablets from Verizon Wirless,

Chicago Tech Week 2012: Check Out Social Defender

If you need to keep control of your social media presence than you need a social media dashboard. While there are a lot of them out there, Social Defender has one of the best designs that we’ve seen. Your first account through Social Defender is free and after that you can add more accounts and

Chicago TechWeek: RecBob Recreational Sports, Socially INTERVIEW

While here at TechWeek 2012 in Chicago we got to meet the CEO and co-founder of RecBob. His name isn’t Bob, we asked. We also asked if RecBob was related to Bob the builder, and although they look like they could be related, alas they are not. What RecBob is though, is a way to

Chicago Startup: BT Social Is The Social Network For Business Travelers INTERVIEW

At Chicago Techweek 2012 we met Tim Hines the founder of BT Social. BT Social is “The Business Traveler’s Social Meeting Place”.  It’s geared towards business travelers that travel a lot. Whether they travel by plane,train or automobile, as long as they stay in hotels and “travel” this is a place for them. Think about

DC Startup: Veteran Central Shows Off Their Stuff At TechWeek Chicago

Chicago Techweek attracted a fair amount of startups form outside the windy city. VeteranCentral was one of those startups. Veteran Central is a massive resource for veterans who are looking to get back into the work force the site includes job boards, resources for veterans getting jobs in civilian life, and places for jobs that

Chicago Tech Week: We Talk Raved Social Discovery & Recommendation INTERVIEW

If you weren’t sure about how hot the Chicago tech and startup scene is, then this may validate it even more. Raved, a Sunny Vale California startup, so yes from the Valley, made the trek all the way to TechWeek in Chicago to show off their social mobile discovery recommendation startup. We talked with Director

Chicago TechWeek: ACT Co-Founder Mike Muhney Is Back, And This Time It’s Mobile: VIPorbit

Many people in today’s business world especially the cusp of Gen X and Gen Y take for granted the contribution that Mike Muhney made to the way we get things done. Muhney is the co-founder and co-creator of ACT. ACT was one of the first complete CRM (Contact Relationship Management) software companies in the world.

Minneapolis Startup: Wahooly Giving Away Equity At Chicago Tech Week 2012 VIDEO INTERVIEW

Wahooly has had a lot of buzz lately. Their model which has been described by many as Kickstarter meets Klout, encourages social rockstars to mobilize and support startups for an equity stake.  As serial entrepreneurs, Wahooly co-founders Dana Severson, and Connor Hood know that the hardest thing for startups to do is gain traction, especially

Chicago Startup: Shortlist Easy To Use Event Organizer App TechWeek 2012 Interview VIDEO

We’ve seen recently how important mobile apps are to the event industry. In fact, event software giant Cvent went from never acquiring a company to acquiring two event app development companies within a week.  That shows how important mobile apps are to the $263 billion dollar U.S. meeting industry. A new startup, and recent graduate

Chicago Techweek: Michigan Startup TechSlinger Harnesses Technology VIDEO INTERVIEW

One of  the first great startups we ran into at TechWeek 2012 in Chicago was actually not from Chicago at all but rather, just outside of Grand Rapids Michigan. TechSlinger General Manager Tresha Davis told us they were excited about launching and excited to support the thriving tech community in Chicago. TechSlinger is actually a

Techweek Chicago 2012 – Images from Day Two

We’re here at Techweek Chicago 2012 and wanted to bring you some photos from day 2. The focus today is Technology Skills & Development.  We are nearing the end of the scheduled events at Merchant Mart for today.   I embedded my tentative schedule for the rest of Techweek below.  If you are here at

Chicago Techweek: Mayor Emanuel Chicago To Be Known As Startup City

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel kicked off Chicago Techweek this morning at the Merchandise Mart to a standing room only crowd.  His message was positive, and inviting for the thriving tech and startup community in the windy city. Emanuel’s keynote kicked off the four day TechWeek conference in it’s second year. The conference expects to see