The Next Act: Chicago's Early-Stage Venture Ecosystem I was born and raised here in Chicago. I love the city & I love working at startups. I spent the last 7 years working in strategy and ops, as well as, building partner networks at startup businesses. While actively looking for opportunities to work in the startup space, I found myself having to go to SF, Austin, and even Denver to find the roles I wanted. This experience raised the question: why is this and what can we do