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The Best Cities In The Midwest For Venture Capital Funding In 2016 list. It did not surprise me to see Chicago startup funding drop by almost 35%! When we say funding is becoming harder in Chicago we are not kidding. Here are some facts about where the investments are increasing and which cities need to reconsider their offerings to talent, capital and support for the startup ecosystem. Speaking of investments; If you don’t have the proper mindset, infrastructure, support system […]

Startup Port in Boston University News. Startup Port co-founder and BU alum Archel Desir in the “The BUzz Lab” news. The BUzz Lab at Boston University serves as a hive of innovation and entrepreneurship for faculty, student and alumni startups, who profit from the lab’s resources, including mentorship, coworking and rapid prototyping space and community events that engage students and alumni and accelerate learning. Link to the Boston University “BUZZ Lab” Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e76_jn5 […]

At Startup Port we always invest in “Intellectual Capital” (People) rather than ideas, concepts and gadgets. This HBR article so very well describes our investment and mentoring philosophy and methodology. In order for any startup to succeed you need “People” capable of executing the “deal”. It’s that simple. So in a nutshell, failure has to do with People and not the model or the strategy. Execution Is a People Problem, Not a Strategy Problem By Peter Bregman,  January 04, 2017 […]

As of January 10, 2017: Here is a list of incubators and accelerators that are accepting applications for Startups:   Start-Up Port 3 months Sprint 90 Program. Product/business development, operational advisory, shared working space, funding options. CHI only. Min. of $12,000 services value, no equity, follow on guaranteed for successful teams Techstars Funding, Mentors & 13 weeks intensive focus on your company NYC, ATL, LA, CHI +More • $120,000 for 6-10% • 100+ Mentors Newark Venture Partner Labs Top-class mentors 1 year free space […]

Corporate Innovation: Will visiting Silicon Valley help? So called Innovation and strategy “experts” waste too much time on analysis and PowerPoint and not enough time actually doing it! There are corporations that take the “pilgrimage trip” to Silicon Valley (to drink the water and breath the air in the hopes of getting struck by innovative ideas we guess?) or engage in incremental innovation but they fail to realize its not getting them further on identifying and executing upon an innovation […]

Move over Machiavelli, here is a 4,000 years old proven strategy to deal with pain in the derriere people such as your partners, co-workers, bosses, and everyone else in between: Ancient Egyptians’ 4,000-year-old strategy for dealing with an “argumentative superior”. Great article from Quartz: Ancient Egyptians’ 4,000-year-old strategy for dealing with an “argumentative superior” http://qz.com/767291 […]

This is what happens when the “money jockeys” of Silicon Valley royally screw up a due diligence on a startup. We should stop blaming Elizabeth Holmes and start questioning the judgement of the so called VC experts that vet ideas and teams. When you analyze the total mess and scandals related to Theranos you will see that there is much more blame on the shoulder of few incompetent investors than others. Unfortunately there is a lot more like Theranos but […]

There are two pains that are killing our ability to focus and changing is in our hands! The first is the smartphone which provides you all around connectivity. We always see many around us texting or reading messages -or playing games-, even in meetings or even while we are having a conversation with them. One wonders how things got done before the introduction of cellphones in our lives? And the second one (my favorite) are meetings. In this day and […]

Successful people don’t compete, they collaborate. Great article form Fast Company: http://www.fastcompany.com/3058615/four-reasons-why-the-most-successful-people-are-great-collaborators Here are four reasons why the most successful people are top-notch collaborators: GROWTH COMES THROUGH SHARING & COLLABORATING YOU CAN FIND UNEXPECTED ALIGNMENT WHEN YOU SHARE AND COLLABORATE FLEXIBILITY & ADAPTABILITY TAKES COOPERATION AND, COLLABORATING FORCES EVERYONE TO MOTIVATE EACH OTHER It’s almost impossible to do it alone! You need experienced advisors / mentors / partners / collaborators along the way to success. Over the years we […]

Fresh blog posts coming soon … keep checking  back, you won’t be disappointed. […]