Startup Grind is an event series and website designed to help educate, inspire, and connect local entrepreneurs. Each month we welcome an amazing speaker who shares their story with our community and tells us what worked, what didn't, and what they'll do differently next time. It's an amazing opportunity to learn from the best, network with other members of the startup community, and improve your chances of entrepreneurial success.

Startup Bootcamp is a Chicago-based community dedicated to facilitating the initial phases associated with technology-related startups. In particular, it is a community of startups that can support each other throughout the so-called "Valley of Death" period. Startup Bootcamp is entirely free, barring the cost of any meeting facilities or other logistical costs (which are split up amongst the attendees). The goal of the community is to provide each other with support in order to facilitate the …

Chicago Startup Pitch Night focuses on providing monthly opportunities for you to practice, refine, and perfect your startup pitches.  We also provide targeted networking and learning opportunities in the Chicago, Illinois region to meet, form partnerships, and launch or formulate new start-ups. Chicago Startup Pitch Night's events are run by a leadership team that works to find the meeting venues and plan out and execute all the Meetup events.  Our mission is to be known as the place to practi …

The Chicago Lean Startup Circle is a group of smart and driven high-tech entrepreneurs that have learned how to discover customers and build products they want. Lean Startups (which can include for profit and not for profit organizations, new product/innovation organizations within larger companies and even government agencies) achieve success faster than most because they get out of the building to talk to customers, validate business model assumptions as quickly and cheaply as possible, use ag …

This is a group for anyone interested in learning and/or exchanging ideas directed to intellectual property (IP) issues common to Startups and strategies to implement best practices for IP rights protection and leverage the valve of the IP for the benefit of the Startup. All skills levels are welcome. The group was started in order to meet people interested in exploring IP issues common to Startups. Looking forward to exploring strategies and best practices with anyone interested.

Startup Collaboratory is a group of Entrepreneurs, Business Professionals, and Business Owners who meet to...• Collaborate on starting and growing businesses• Share viewpoints and generate new ideas• Network for help overcoming business challengesAt Startup Collaboratory Meetups, selected members deliver short presentations describing their business, customers, and challenges. After each presentation, a moderated discussion explores new ways of viewing and addressing the member's business challe …

The goal of "Illini Startups" is to connect Illini alums (and students) with a common interest in the startup movement to share ideas and serve as a mutual resource to the growing community of Illini entrepreneurs. We will achieve our goal by hosting monthly meetups for casual networking over coffee or lunch. Among these meetings we will devote one per quarter to hosting an expert guest speaker, and another to discussion of a relevant book or article chosen by the group.

Urban tech-based businesses are the next startup frontier. Neighborhoods are where the people and the needs are, and people in urban neighborhoods spend billions on goods and services. So whether you're a caterer, service professional, programmer, app developer, or open-data specialist, if you use tech tools to start and drive your business (web development, e-blasts, online web portals, social media, etc.), or if you are looking for an urban incubator or other business startup resource, this is …

Startup Evanston is a venue for building connections between individuals interested in building, developing, and funding high-growth companies in the Evanston area.   We seek to foster and further the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit in this city which Business Week named "one of the top-50 best small cities in the U.S. for start-up businesses." Meetings of the group will provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs, technologists, developers, and investors to develop relationships and explore …

VentureSHOT Entrepreneur Collaboration Community brings together extraordinary entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses and enhance their levels of success. This community was launched and is run BY Entrepreneurs...FOR Entrepreneurs. We REALLY know the issues entrepreneurs face in growing their businesses and our vision is to help hundreds of entrepreneurs achieve greater success through collaboration with their peers, mentors and unique, powerful collaboration sessions. Click Here For P …

The TTG Learn - Pitch - Network groups is intended for those individuals that are interested in keeping current with technology, social/new media and new ventures in the Chicagoland area. Once a month, we have lunches where we discuss a topic related to technology, social media, mobile, small business issues and/or marketing. Starting in October of 2012, we also have monthly lunches where companies that are seeking funding can practice their pitch and get feedback which will help them improve th …

Founder Sensei is a voluntary mentorship program for founders who want to improve themselves and the businesses they create. Mentors act as facilitators with small groups of founding teams to help them through their journey to startup success. By combining the Art of Customer Development, Business Model Design and Agile Engineering together with fellowship and mentor support, entrepreneurs can discover what is missing in their startups and how they can take their businesses to the next level.

Welcome to Co-Founders Wanted of Chicago Meetup group! Maybe you are a serial entrepreneur, maybe you are a developer, and maybe corporate life is not for you. Have you been doing searches on CoFoundersLab.com? Tasted a startup, or want to startup your own business? Co-Founders Wanted of Chicago serves as an in-person matchmaking service for co-founders. Did you know VCs prefer co-founders over one-man startups? There are lots of benefits to starting a business with someone who complements you. …

The intent of this group is to encourage and develop relationships between small business owners and suitable investors. Monthly meetings will be focused on short presentations that provide timely and applicable lessons for starting, developing, and funding new business concepts. This group is solutions-oriented, and it embraces a no-nonsense approach towards immediate and actionable relationships, partnerships, and conceptual fruition.

Startups don't fail because they can't get the product built, they fail because they can't acquire customers. This group is for startups and professionals who are actively acquiring customers. We meet to discuss strategies and tactics for taking your startup up and to the right.

This is a group for startups, freelancers, developers, entrepreneurs, remote worker, work-from-home professionals (and everyone in between) living on the north side of Chicago, who want to work and network in a coworking environment that will stimulate, inspire and support. If you don't want to schlep downtown to a coworking space and are looking for a community of like-mined, supportive folks in the Wicker Park, Bucktown, Ukranian Village, Lakeview, Logan Square (and elsewhere!), then please jo …

Join Other Entrepreneurs Who Eat Problems For Breakfast. * Compare Notes * Exchange Ideas * Learn from Others’ Mistakes * Brainstorm with Peers * Find Partners * Small Group Atmosphere * Serious Conversation Bootstrappers Breakfasts® are for founders of early stage technology startups. It is a chance to compare notes on operational, development, and business issues with peers. These breakfasts were designed for entrepreneurs to share ideas and leverage thoughts with other folks who are serious …

Coffee with entrepreneurs, makers, developers, and creatives in the Chicago area. Meet other entrepreneurs and creatives, hear announcements on upcoming startup and creative events, and talk about startup and tech news. What better way could there be to start your day? Have a question? Get it answered at this meetup. Like to network? No problem here. Get caffeinated, start your day, and meet some interesting, creative, and smart people in the city.

Launch Night is the culmination of a 6 month social entrepreneurial fellowship. It's your one chance to hear this year's 8 social entrepreneurs pitch their ventures covering topics that range from food, health, and the environment, to community, LGBT mentoring, and social services. If you're interested in social entrepreneurship, Chicago or Jewish community then you won't want to miss this free, fun and inspiring event. Check out our website for more information. www.jccpresentensechicago.org/la …

If you believe in a fulfilling career outside of traditional paths, then you are ripe for "Uncubing"! Join the movement. If you are a talented dev, designer or hustler looking to access a whole slew of great opportunities in one single place, then you'll fit right on in! Be the first to learn about upcoming events, early bird discounts, exclusive workshops, and advice for getting face-time with some of the leading startups in across the US. About Us: Wakefield is a media company that publishes …

The Startup Trebuchet Entrepreneurs’ Clinics create environments to explore the challenges of securing the best position in launching and maintaining a business. The groups are purposefully kept small, with 10 – 20 participants, to allow for in-depth discussion of actual issues. These are not lectures, but rather highly interactive sessions. Subjects range from entity formation, establishing co-founder agreements, protecting intellectual property and trade secrets, business assumption validati …

Chicago Food Tech offers a variety of meetup events to bring together restauranteurs, food and technology changemakers and innovators with diverse backgrounds in order to create dialogues surrounding new business models, showcase opportunities, challenges, synergies, and forecast food technology's future.

CEO Space is the world's oldest, largest & most successful network for CEOs, Entrepreneurs and Visionary Investors. We are an entrepreneurial training and world class business networking organization, providing MBA level ~ training, development and an immersion experience of cooperation that result in income acceleration through exponential business growth. Come experience our “Community of Cooperation” and extend this special invitation also to your partners, associates and other entrepreneurs …

digitalundivided GROW Chicago is a monthly meet up of digital companies founded/co-founded by black women working together to GROW their tech-based companies from Idea to MVP to Growth and then Exit. Sponsored by digitalundivided, a company that builds forward thinking initiatives that change the digital space.

Business Network Chicago (BNC) is a network for professionals offering extensive offline and online networking opportunities to the Chicago business community. Our mission is to bring professionals together, facilitate the development of mutually beneficial "win-win" relationships, educate, and promote the growth of business in Chicago. We support members in all phases of their career whether looking for clients, talent, a job, capital, or strategic alliances. BNC Groups – Each month BNC hos …

At Idea Lemon, we understand that there is potential in everything that life doles out. Be it lemons, limes, or lychees, with a little effort you can turn these singular items into something great & we aim to be the juicer that gets you there. Idea Lemon is more than just networking, it's KNOWLEDGEWORKING. Our goal is to not only bring people together, but to bring together their brainpower as well. Providing a forum to share perspectives and explore your passions in a powerful, thought-provokin …

Let's keep it true to the name! Happy Hour for Tech Power is what it sounds like. We will get together and enjoy the fine locales of Chicago. It will be run in conjunction with ChicagoHour to offer as many networking and happy hour opportunities as possible without diluting the experience. Prizes of all sorts will be part of it too. Why? Well, who doesn't like free stuff they can use!

Tech In Motion is an event that originated during Chicago's 1st annual Tech Week. The event went so well we decided to continue to do more. The basic idea of the group is to explore how to create a company from an idea and what it takes to become a successful business. We will explore this process by focusing on three critical areas and inviting a panel of experts talk about each phase: Idea, Build and Go. We will be speaking about the full life cycle of an idea from inception to profitability. …