presentation to Dr. Magelli's EMBA class in Chicago on 9/19/2014

1. About Jeff Carter
• Partner, West Loop Ventures co-founder Hyde Park Angels
• Born and raised in Chicago
• linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-r-carter; blogs at pointsandfigures.com
Twitter:@pointsnfigures @westloopv
• https://www.facebook.com/westloopventures?ref=br_tf
• Independent investor, CME Member for 25 years, former CME Board of
Director; Board of Trustees National World War Two Museum
• Passionate about helping outstanding entrepreneurs turn promising ideas into
market-leading companies.

2. Some Facts:
Megatrends
1. Software is Eating the World
2. Unbundling of Everything
3. Networks Beat Hierarchy
4. Everyone a Node on a Network
Minor Trends
1. American Demographics are Bifurcating
2. Technology Costs are Always Cheaper
3. Public Education, Public Government unable to cope with
rapid changes and cannot fill needs
Workforce Trends
1. Rise of Solopreneur-Everyone is contingent
2. Rise of MegaCorporation

3. Some More Interesting Facts

4. It’s A New Day In VC

5. Speed and Mobile
• Online speeds are 120x faster than in 1995
• Mobile/Tablet exploding. Everyone connected

6. Amazing Opportunity for VC
50x users, 120x bandwidth 6x time spent
online
Mobile, Social, Payment ready
Global Economic Opportunity
Less VC firms

7. Best Performing VC Not in SV
• Spark Capital (Boston)
• Union Square Ventures (New York)
• Foundry Group (Boulder)
• Greycroft (New York, LA)
• IA Ventures (New York)
• First Mark Capital (New York)
• First Round Capital (New York)
• It’s time for a revolution in the Midwest

8. Access to Capital is Easier
Angel List, Seed Invest, Kickstarter, Funders Club (Unbundling of Everything)
Access to Market is Easier
Etsy and several democratized online platforms, Amazon Ebooks,
Streaming Television creating new networks. (Network Beats Hierarchy)
Get Big and Grow Value in a Hurry
Twitter, Tumblr, Braintree, all started in 2007

9. Build Something Great-Don’t Be Afraid
Marc Andreesen, Max Levchin, Larry Ellison, Steve Chen, are not unique
There are engineering students at Illinois right now that are working on cool stuff.
They are the next Marc Andreesen etc of the world. Up to you to find them.

10. It’s All About Perspective

11. What Makes A Good
Investment?

12. Would You Have Invested?
• Service that lets you profit from unused office space (2012 Desktimeapp.com)
• Company that creates memorable experiences for customers and employees
(2012, KapowEvents.com)
• Company that does performance reviews in 15 minutes (2014 JuvodHR.com)
• Company that recycles children’s clothes? (2012, MoxieJean.com)
• Social network for math and science nerds (founded 2012, Brilliant.org)
• Company that provides free stock market charts (2008, Ycharts.com)
• Company that finds you discounted parking (2007 ParkWhiz.com, 2011
SpotHero.com)
• Company that uses an algorithm to provide fair market value for used IT
equipment and allows you to trade it (2011, MarkitX.com)
• Company that manages public grants and employs big data analytics and
automates compliance (2013 StreamLinkSoftware.com)
• Social network for Fishing (2013 Fishidy.com)

13. What Can You Do?
1. Become A Customer of A Startup-Even if it means
taking some risk
2. Make an Introduction to a Potential Customer
3. Mentor Entrepreneurs for FREE utilizing Ohours.org
4. Give Startups Feedback
5. Talk about the local Startup Community with your
friends, neighbors and work associates
6. Invest via a local early stage VC fund or angel group
7. Encourage local government to support startups by
becoming a customer and easing regulations