Y’all take your time. Sisters are doing it for themselves.
Genevieve Thiers ? launched a $150,000 fund for women entrepreneurs who are creating businesses that solve problems for other women. An early investment: MoxieJean, a resale site for maternity and kids clothing and accessories, founded by Sharon Schneider ?.
“It’s enough to make a real difference when they’re at those launch stages,” Thiers told Amina Elahi. “When they’re going around and talking to investors who probably don’t understand their industries, I’m there.”
In the Hub, this Inc. story on the psychology of productivity turned heads: a long read about the tyranny of productivity, what impact really means and how to avoid habits like procrastination and gaming your to-do list.
Greg McKeown, author of “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less,” tells people to imagine they have no to-do list, no inbox, no schedule of appointments. “If you didn’t have any of that, and you could do one thing right now that would help get you to the next level of contribution, what would you do?” he asks.
Chicago’s TechNexus is one of two accelerators bidding to draw the attention of the Department of Homeland Security, which is looking for innovative gear for first responders. They’ll bring startups making relevant gear — think anything from protective clothing to monitoring devices — to a demo day in September, says TechNexus co-founder Terry Howerton ?.
John Carpenter went to Automate 2015 to interview exhibitors about a range of new collaborative robots, which help the injured walk when they’re not picking up objects and shooting hoops.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak spoke at the same show
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, giving advice on entrepreneurship but also weighing in on artificial intelligence and the Apple Watch. Let’s just say he disapproves of the price. “When I looked at the $10,000 watch and the $17,000 watch and the only difference for $7,000 was the band, it didn’t seem like when we started to move the world forward,” he said.Meg Graham took us on an Office Tour of fast-growing Kapow Events, where the vibe is all about hospitality. Kapow aimed for a boutique-hotel style at its downtown office with dark spaces, leather sofas and a moose head.
Dick Costolo, a Chicago guy before he went off to run Twitter, talked to Inc. about the pressure he’s under as an under-fire CEO and how he runs the business in the meantime. One interesting note: He teaches a mandatory class for new managers with lessons on setting direction, giving and getting feedback and improving your team.
Upcoming Blue Sky events include an April 28 workshop on how to tell your company’s story and a May 4 panel discussion on hiring and creating an innovative team. Hope to see you at one or both of these.
In the meantime, enjoy your weekend. Warmth is for wimps.