In December, we revealed our annual Chicago Inno Startups to Watch list, a collection of up-and-coming tech firms poised to make a big impact in the years to come.
On Tuesday, we heard from a handful of those companies who laid out their business models and plans for growth. We also chatted with Chicago Ventures' Partner Lindsay Knight and David Usher, the acting consul general for the Consulate General of Canada, about how startups can attract talent, prioritize diversity and expand their business over the boarder into Canada.
It was all part of our Startups to Watch event, sponsored by the Consulate General of Canada.
You can check out a full recording of the event here:
Knight said of the 50 companies in Chicago Ventures' portfolio, every single one is talking about talent and recruiting.
"This is a hot talent market," Knight said. "Everyone is hiring. Unemployment is very low. It is more competitive than ever, given that the talent market is truly national, global even. Most companies, at least in our portfolio, are, I think, never looking back to the nine to five, five days a week in an office."
She noted how startups are getting creative in terms of the types of benefits they offer their employees. Logistics tech startup project44, for example, offers employees the chance to travel the country and work from a luxury camper van.
Quickly and clearly communicating with prospective employees is another way startups can win over top talent, Knight said.
"If you can, as a startup, maintain clear communication, moving people along the funnel, making sure they know what's going on and moving quickly: I think that will really help," she said.
The event continued with a 1-on-1 interview with Nick Kokonas, the CEO and co-founder of Tock, who walked us through Tock's major pandemic pivot once the company knew reservations were plummeting at restaurants on its platform.
"We had a handful of clients in Hong Kong and Italy, maybe 30 total," he said. "When you see reservations go from 90% capacity to literally zero, you realize that there's an existential risk. And when you have an existential risk, you have to hedge for it very, very quickly."
Tock's hedge was Tock to Go, a service that allowed high-end restaurants, like the ones in Kokonas' Alinea restaurant group, to quickly offer pickup and delivery. Tock's team spun up the to-go service in just two weeks, Kokonas said, something that not only helped sustain Kokonas' businesses, but it also helped save many other restaurants at the onset of the pandemic.
"It was the closest thing to being in like a bad tech movie," he said. "It included meetings of me looking like a crazy person going 'We're totally F'ed. We need to do something.' And the people who didn't believe in it or thought I was crazy, OK you're not on this team. I need 10 to 15 people that really believe we can build this in a week or two and believe it's not [only] worth doing, it's critical to do."
Kokonas said that during those early months of the pandemic that he's never felt more productive as Tock was working to launch its to-go offering.
"When you're reacting to something that is critical, and you have a genuine emergency and time constraint, when you actually deliver that and iterate on it, man, I wish I could operate like that every day," he said.
Many of the companies on our Startups to Watch list also believe they're working on problems that can leave an impact on the world. Concluding the event were pitches from Super.tech, a startup developing software that makes quantum computing faster and more efficient; Klover, a fintech startup helping people access interest-free loans; Aqua Cultured Foods, a startup using microbial fermentation to create alternative seafood from fungi; and EarlyBird, an app for families to invest in the financial future of their children.
You can dive into our full Startups to Watch list here.
