Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#11

Post by Muchi » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:15 PM UTC

baberuth wrote: post #4

Why is there no General Assembly/Hacker Dojo in Chicago? Is there a demand for it at all? The culture in Chicago seems totally different, would there even be a demand for that sort of thing?

I've been wondering the same thing. It's hard to find/meet Hackers in Chicago unless you're already working at a startup.

Perhaps we need a meetup in Chicago that is similar to 106 Miles...

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#12

Post by BrianAnderson » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:17 PM UTC

Going to throw my company, CrowdSavvy into this, though we are early, early stage. Been working on it since mid-2010. Launched to public beta in 2011.

http://www.crowdsavvy.com

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#13

Post by tbgvi » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:17 PM UTC

http://www.cashierlive.com - We provide SaaS point-of-sale to retailers. We launched last February, and we're working in River North.

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#14

Post by paulsmith » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:22 PM UTC

Groupon (grew out of ThePoint.com, 2008-ish?, in the old Monty Ward building), GrubHub, EveryBlock (we started in 2007 in the Loop, now in Ravenswood), Threadless (now in the West Loop), to name a few ...

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#15

Post by Muchi » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:24 PM UTC

For those of you that have startups in Chicago, where do you normally hang out? Is there a HN meetup or something along those lines?

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#16

Post by gersh » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:24 PM UTC

http://www.raydash.com - We provide live-video on your website.

BTW, who is going to the hackathon, todady, http://www.nuhackathon.com/

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#17

Post by gersh » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:31 PM UTC

Muchi wrote: post #15

For those of you that have startups in Chicago, where do you normally hang out? Is there a HN meetup or something along those lines?

Lightbank and Sandbox have their own enclaves. The ITA (Illinois Technology Association) has offices, and some stuff. There is the lean startup circle. You can also out built in Chicago. Midventures also events. Entrepreneurs unpluggd seems to putting on more stuff, lately.

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#18

Post by heyjonboy » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:34 PM UTC

http://www.parkwhiz.com - We started in 2006, when it seemed like TechCocktail was the only startup community in town. Ended up bootstrapping the company, and we recently opened an office in Roscoe Village.

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#19

Post by anonymouslambda » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:37 PM UTC

baberuth wrote: post #4

Why is there no General Assembly/Hacker Dojo in Chicago? Is there a demand for it at all? The culture in Chicago seems totally different, would there even be a demand for that sort of thing?

http://pumpingstationone.org/

Re: Ask HN: Chicago-Area Startups

#20

Post by danielzarick » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 3:43 PM UTC

Muchi wrote: post #15

For those of you that have startups in Chicago, where do you normally hang out? Is there a HN meetup or something along those lines?

There used to be a HN meetup, but it stopped happening after a few months. A friend and I started Chicago.concat() which has been going strong for a few months and has a great group of people that show up every month. I have since moved to SF, but they're kicking ass back in Chicago. RSVP page: http://chicago-concat.gathers.us