In Chicago, A Mutual First User While it can trace its roots back to 1999 with the founding of 37signals, the modern Chicago tech ecosystem is still very much in its infancy according to Kahoots founder and CEO Nick Petit. Because of this, many large companies and organizations are still trying to figure out the ways through which they can work alongside and with startups. And, in many cases, this kind of situation can be found in other cities, as well – where larger organizations and smaller startups try to determine which partnerships benefit both parties and whether such relationships can contribute to their greater local economy....

Founder Jamie Clark started the business out of her home in January 2016 with the idea for a subscription-box business based on selling and distributing quirky and inspiring products made by female entrepreneurs or small-business owners, from office supplies to home goods. She has since opened a brick-and-mortar store in downtown Bangor. The Willie Wags is one of 10 finalists chosen from a pool of more than 120 semi-finalists. The InnovateHER competition seeks to highlight innovative products, services or technology that has a measurable impact on the lives of women and the marketplace....

It’s not easy to get the attention of venture capitalists – they have tons of eager entrepreneurs coming to them for funding and advice. What will make then notice your startup? What elements do you need to present in your pitch to get the results you want? Here are tips from the VCs themselves: Highlight the product’s value! “Have your pitch focus on the market need and the focus of your company....

YeildMetrics is providing intelligence on display advertising with real-time and historical data. Their main product, AdRoutes, uses cloud-based servers to crawl and analyze the complicated process used by third parties to determine which ad is served on any given publisher. Display advertising has undergone many changes over the past decade. It has moved from one–to-one relationships to complicated ad serving technologies where ad networks, ad exchanges, SSPs, DSPs, yield optimizers, and data providers are making decisions on individual placements by the millisecond....

How Devastating is Credit Card Fraud? Even if you have not dealt with a fraudulent credit card transaction yet, the odds are high the one is headed your way. As a merchant, you will be part of a business environment that loses more than a combined $100 billion annually due to fraud such as stolen credit cards. To make matters even worse, a recent report revealed that American credit cards are used in 47 percent of all fraud cases worldwide....

TurboAppeal, a residential tax appeal technology service, has recently announced a $3 million series seed raise, led by KGC Capital with participation from Ned Jannotta Jr., and existing investors Gary Holdren, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Hyde Park Angels. Gary Holdren has also joined TurboAppeal’s board of directors. It would be safe to say that the founders are pretty good at raising capital. The Chicago-based startup was founded in early 2015 and had already raised over $1 million dollars before they were even fully-functional....

After the undeniable failure that was Fleets, Twitter’s take on Snapchat and Instagram stories, Twitter has taken another swing at adding a new feature, one that will allow users to hopefully make money from their Tweets. Now, users can buy Super Follows through the App Store, much like any app-related microtransaction. The feature is only available for those who applied to test it, but it should be coming soon for general use if it all goes well....

The new tools allow users to report a variety of troubles, including impersonations and harassment. The users can also report the harassment on behalf of other users, even if they’re not the target themselves, which is a big change. “We’re improving the reporting process to make it much more mobile-friendly, require less initial information, and, overall, make it simpler to flag Tweets and accounts for review,” stated the company in a blog this morning....

To sign up for the chance at a mark, users must fill out a form, according to a Twitter blog post today. In it, they’ll need to leave a working phone number and email address, their profile photo, and a justification for why they need verification. Those who’ll become a verified user, Twitter says, will be those “determined to be of public interest.” The mark has been a kind of dumb, pointless sign of prestige on the platform for a while....

uME digital business cards presents many key advantages over paper cards. Instead of having to carry cards around with you all the time, all you need is your phone. The app allows you to create multiple cards and send as many of them as you want to whomever you want for free, even to people who don’t have the app, and you can connect your business card to your social networks....

The study also found – quite unsurprisingly – that Wi-Fi is consistently better in airport lounges than the general, free Wi-Fi. It’s likely to be more secure too, as it often has to be paid for and has room for a smaller number of users. Working in airports on any public Wi-Fi network, however, is only safe if you use a VPN to hide your IP address – however fast the Wi-Fi is....

When you think of technical progress, your mind might not be instantly drawn to the likes of Romanian, Lithuania or Estonia, but on average, residents of these countries are pulling down faster broadband speeds than those in the US. We’ve listed the top 20 ranking countries below, along with some of the reasons why we think the U.S. places so poorly. US Lagging Behind On Broadband Rankings So, which countries are putting us to shame?...

That’s right, Tech.Co will be co-hosting 2016 Innovate! and Celebrate, a 3-day global conference in Silicon Valley on September 20-22nd, in partnership with CTA (Consumer Technology Association) which also produces CES. With hopes of creating some lively competition in the startup community, we will be holding our 4th annual Startup of the Year Competition. We’ve found some of the best emerging startups from around the world at this competition and this year will be no different!...

But no one really knows what the next step is. That’s kinda good: VR creatives have plenty of leeway to try their own thing, and many companies are looking into VR outsourcing. But it’s also high-risk: Many developers will wind up failing out before the winners emerge. As Yeti puts it: Expect a Lengthy VR Battle As virtual reality becomes a major tech industry, creators and producers will fight for more ground....

Despite compromised credentials being behind 81% of business breaches, the study revealed that company executives are using weak passwords just as much as regular internet users – with the code ‘123456’ being the most popular. Fortunately, for professionals already relying on security solutions like password managers, it’s no longer necessary to rely on simple, predictable passwords. But for high ups still attempting to remember codes manually, here are some examples of the top codes they are using....

The father-son team began their foray into digital wearable products by making t-shirts that featured 1080p-capable video panels. However, Seidman recognized that the market was shifting towards a different sort of wearable: smart watches. “My dad routinely misses phone calls and texts because he is hard of hearing,” explains Seidman. The initial smart watch designs incorporate vibration and light flash functions so people are made completely aware of an incoming call, message, or email....

You’re going to take a deep breath and head over to WeWork to take a look at their extensive selection of holiday gift guides before it’s too late. You’ll be able to get something for everyone on your list, from your mentor to your always-traveling friend. These guides aren’t your typical holiday gift guides. They provide you with the unique, personal gift ideas you need to really make the holidays a memorable time....

An empty women’s restroom functions as the canary in the coal mine of the tech industry. As Lin explains, the solitude she often finds within them at popular tech conferences highlights the lack of women at the very events that could propel them into industry leadership positions. Prior to becoming Ensono’s commercial product manager for hyperscale cloud, Lin worked at Google, another tech giant that has weathered its share of controversy regarding workplace sexism and racism....

With the rise of digital media, influencer marketing has come into existence. Brand owners found a new and effective way to take their products/services to places around the world without spending a boatload. If you are a new entrant to the world of digital marketing, the term may excite you, but influencer marketing is old wine in a new bottle. The new coinage finds its roots in brand advocates, which is a popular term even today....

But why is Skyrim so successful? Besides its impressive marketing strategy, Skyrim is an open-world RPG game. You can walk literally everywhere on the map. There are hundreds of dungeons and character voices and a very appealing story. But what makes this game even more interesting is the inclusion of unscripted moments using the “radiant story” technology. This technology acts as the narrator in the game; the story adapts according to your actions, adjusts the level of difficulty based on your skills and changes questions asked depending on how you play....