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.

Some Facts:

Megatrends1. Software is Eating the World2. Unbundling of Everything3. Networks Beat Hierarchy4. Everyone a Node on a Network

Minor Trends5. American Demographics are Bifurcating6. Technology Costs are Always Cheaper7. Public Education, Public Government unable to cope with

rapid changes and cannot fill needs

Workforce Trends8. Rise of Solopreneur-Everyone is contingent9. Rise of MegaCorporation

Some More Interesting Facts

It’s A New Day In VC

Speed and Mobile

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

50x users, 120x bandwidth 6x time spent online

Mobile, Social, Payment ready

Global Economic OpportunityLess VC firms

Amazing Opportunity for VC

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

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

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.

Build Something Great-Don’t Be Afraid

It’s All About Perspective

What Makes A Good Investment?

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)

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 Customer3. Mentor Entrepreneurs for FREE utilizing Ohours.org4. Give Startups Feedback5. Talk about the local Startup Community with your

friends, neighbors and work associates6. Invest via a local early stage VC fund or angel group7. Encourage local government to support startups by

becoming a customer and easing regulations