Chris Gladwin had one of the top startup exits in the history of Chicago tech. He then launched one of Chicago's hottest new startups. Now he's spearheading another major tech initiative---making Chicago a top-tier city for technology.
Gladwin, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Ocient, is leading a new initiative alongside Penny Pritzker that aims to boost Chicago as one of the top global cities for tech and startups. Dubbed P33, the initiative is made of up close to 200 business and community leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, technology experts and policymakers who want to elevate Chicago's status as a tech hub.
"The city and metropolitan area have made huge progress to get to where we are, which is a solid second-tier kind of city (for tech)," Gladwin said in an interview. "Now, the opportunity is how do we move into an undeniable first-tier position."
Despite the momentum Chicago's tech community has seen in recent years, the city is often criticized for punching below its weight. A city the size of Chicago---third largest in the United States---should rank among the top three or so cities when it comes to things like venture funding, startup activity, tech exits and other metrics, so the thinking goes. But Chicago is often outranked in those categories by smaller metros like Boston, Seattle, Austin and others.
Gladwin believes the time is now for Chicago to vault up the rankings and establish itself among the premier startup cities in the world.
"We don’t have to make excuses on quality—the quality of the people, the quality of the outcomes, the quality of companies are as good as anywhere," he said. "We just need more of them. We have to help enable faster growth of that tech sector."
P33's ultimate goal is to build a comprehensive plan to put Chicago at the center of the technological map. It's working with the Commercial Club of Chicago to build a blueprint for Chicago tech growth over the next 10 to 15 years (P33's name is both a nod to the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago and the year 2033, the rough timeframe that Gladwin envisions the Chicago tech plan will come to fruition).
There are specific issues P33 plans to address, like keeping tech talent---especially top tier tech talent---in state, increasing capital available to startups, increasing connectivity between tech companies and other major Chicago businesses, and government support, among other things. The group is holding an official unveiling of the P33 initiative on October 24 at a private event between Chicago's business and technology leaders.
Not part of the plan, according to Gladwin, is Amazon, which has yet to decide where it plans to drop its second headquarters. Whether or not Amazon chooses Chicago, Gladwin said P33's goal is to think bigger than HQ2.
"The opportunity we have is one that's much larger and long-term than even Amazon," he said.
Chicago has certainly racked up the tech "wins" in recent years, with companies like Cleversafe (Gladwin's cloud storage company that sold to IBM for $1.3 billion), Grubhub (went public and is now valued at over $10 billion), and Fieldglass (sold to SAP for around $1 billion). It's had a couple of high-profile struggles as well, with Groupon's stock far below its IPO price and Outcome Health's lawsuit with investors.
To Gladwin, Chicago needs more checks in the W column if it's going to get to the same level as cities like Boston and Seattle.
"If we had five-times as many Cleversafes and Fieldglasses and Grubhubs, and five-times as much venture capital. Five-times as many exits. Five-times as many graduates staying here---we’d be done with this discussion. We’d consistently rank in the top tier of tech hubs."
Certainly a lofty goal. But Gladwin knows a thing or two about elevating Chicago's image as a tech hub. And this initiative could be just the thing to take Chicago to the next level.
