Bytes Over Bagels ยท S1E6
Maria Katris, CEO of BuiltIn: transcript
A timestamped transcript with speaker turns separated acoustically from the original recording. Neutral speaker labels remain until individual names are editorially confirmed.
John Ostler
It's March 27th, 2013,
John Ostler
and you're listening to another episode of Fights!
John Ostler
It's Chicago's favorite morning tech talk show.
John Ostler
With me, as always in the studio,
John Ostler
is one Miss Heather Brown.
Heather Brown
Hello, hello, hello.
John Ostler
One Mr.
John Ostler
Brett Mackey.
Brett Mackie
Dry open dollar bills, y'all.
John Ostler
And everyone's favorite nemesis, one Mr.
John Ostler
Dave Seidler.
Dave Seidler
Painting my Easter eggs.
John Ostler
We got a great show for you guys today.
John Ostler
On today's show,
John Ostler
we're featuring an interview with Maria Catt.
John Ostler
Catrice, she is the CEO of what we would describe as built in Chicago, but now part of the bigger universe, built in.
John Ostler
Sub Denver,
John Ostler
sub LA,
John Ostler
et cetera.
John Ostler
Today is also our Easter episode.
John Ostler
Ooh, what's
Heather Brown
You're dying
John Ostler
this?
Heather Brown
eggs today.
John Ostler
Dying eggs, pro tip.
John Ostler
Pro tip.
Heather Brown
Pro tip, pro tip.
John Ostler
Dying
Heather Brown
We want
John Ostler
eggs.
Heather Brown
to.
Heather Brown
What's that, Mackie?
John Ostler
Do not use that flimsy wire thing to
Speaker C
Oh
John Ostler
dip
Speaker C
yeah.
John Ostler
your eggs.
Heather Brown
Oh, for sure.
John Ostler
Ridiculous.
Speaker C
Does everyone know what that thing is? It's Yeah, the little,
John Ostler
yeah.
Speaker C
you draw,
Heather Brown
Yeah,
Speaker C
okay.
Heather Brown
then you like twist it
Speaker C
The last
Heather Brown
and
Speaker C
name.
Heather Brown
then
Speaker C
Lasso.
Heather Brown
dip it.
Speaker C
Do
John Ostler
They
Speaker C
not always use the wire.
John Ostler
fall
Heather Brown
handy
John Ostler
always falls off.
Heather Brown
purse.
John Ostler
Yeah, right.
John Ostler
So put your egg inside of a wire whisk.
Speaker C
Oh, wow.
John Ostler
And dip it in.
Speaker C
Don't understand.
Heather Brown
I don't either.
John Ostler
You've never used a whisk,
John Ostler
Dave.
Heather Brown
But
Speaker C
How do
Heather Brown
like
Speaker C
you put
Heather Brown
a circular
Speaker C
an egg in
Heather Brown
whisk,
Speaker C
it?
Heather Brown
yeah how do you get
John Ostler
Yeah,
Heather Brown
it in there?
John Ostler
silver whisk. Well, those things just you can just pull them apart.
Heather Brown
Oh.
John Ostler
It's like a jailbreak. You just
Heather Brown
All
John Ostler
put
Heather Brown
right.
John Ostler
them in there, drop them in,
Heather Brown
pull Interesting.
John Ostler
it up, open
Speaker C
That's it genius.
John Ostler
up.
Heather Brown
That's
John Ostler
And dip
Heather Brown
really
John Ostler
them in.
Heather Brown
cool.
Speaker C
That really is a pro tip.
John Ostler
Yeah.
Speaker C
Oh.
Heather Brown
Now,
Speaker D
Yeah.
Heather Brown
do you use vinegar in your dye or just straight dye tablet things?
Speaker C
Uh, yeah, I've done I've done
Heather Brown
Both.
Speaker C
both. Yeah.
John Ostler
I thought you had
Speaker C
Yeah.
John Ostler
to use vinegar.
John Ostler
Yeah, I think you do.
Speaker C
Well, no not
Heather Brown
We
Speaker C
those
Heather Brown
didn't g well,
Heather Brown
I guess we did.
Speaker C
do those tablets still I I don't I don't remember Do you have to use vinegar with those tablets?
Heather Brown
Yeah, I think
Speaker C
you You
Heather Brown
do.
Speaker C
do?
John Ostler
Yeah.
Heather Brown
I
Speaker C
Okay.
Heather Brown
got some today for us just so we
Speaker C
Well, anyway,
Heather Brown
could.
Speaker C
I use
John Ostler
Brad,
Speaker C
tablets
John Ostler
are you
Speaker C
at
John Ostler
Brad,
Speaker C
the
John Ostler
are you
Speaker C
pro.
John Ostler
just dying your eggs or are you bedazzling them?
Heather Brown
Ooh, diamonds.
Speaker C
That would be
Speaker C
Yes.
Heather Brown
Ruby,
Speaker C
Yeah.
Heather Brown
gems.
Speaker C
Yeah. Right.
John Ostler
Are you painting on the egg? What are you doing? Oh, people paint.
Heather Brown
I
Speaker C
Uh
Heather Brown
have-huh. stickers today so you can, you know.
Speaker C
Airbrushed. Yeah.
Speaker C
We do it all.
Heather Brown
That's
John Ostler
Cool.
Heather Brown
cool.
John Ostler
That's embarrassing.
Speaker C
Cool.
John Ostler
Cool.
John Ostler
Well, Chicago,
John Ostler
big announcement. We have hidden 15 eggs around Chicago.
John Ostler
Strategic locations,
John Ostler
each containing a thousand dollar bill.
John Ostler
This is a circa 1952 thousand dollar bill and if you head over to 600 West there are maps in the former office of Andrew Mason so check that out
Heather Brown
And if you can't find them, we can't
John Ostler
help 15 you. 15 grand could be yours today nerds We will not go and retrieve them either.
John Ostler
They're going to stay there until they're found. Yeah until they're found maybe they'll never be found There may be one near or in the river.
John Ostler
Her.
Heather Brown
So good luck.
John Ostler
Get your scuba gear on.
John Ostler
Well, we have a great show. We've got a lot of show,
John Ostler
so let's get own to it.
John Ostler
The title of today's episode is...
John Ostler
The moxies are coming! The moxies are coming!
John Ostler
Today's show is sponsored by Uber.com. Visit bitesoverbagels.com for a promo
Speaker C
code. What do they get, Dave?
John Ostler
You get $15 off your first black car ride.
Speaker C
It's now that part of the show we call the Bagel Bite.
John Ostler
So found a really,
John Ostler
really awesome app.
John Ostler
Where you can track an Easter Bunny throughout the country.
John Ostler
Wherever he is, it's called the 3D Easter Bunny Tracker.
John Ostler
You can see where he is from a bird's eye view from space.
Heather Brown
Ooh.
Speaker C
Why does it have to be 3D?
John Ostler
Yeah, I don't really know because 3D is cool.
John Ostler
I don't know.
Speaker C
Yeah, 3D is cool and the future. Imagine how dirty that bunny is by the time he gets to the last house.
Heather Brown
He's so tired.
Heather Brown
Like, he's so tired.
Speaker C
Tired, just looking real ragged, that bunny.
John Ostler
Really?
Speaker C
Yeah, they don't really thought about that that's some that's some dirt feet right there.
Speaker E
Yeah, yeah
Speaker C
You want to talk about dirt feet
Speaker E
Yeah
John Ostler
Yeah,
Speaker E
Exactly
John Ostler
so one of the reviews is...
John Ostler
This app is okay,
John Ostler
but I just don't understand how the bunny travels so quickly.
Heather Brown
Ginormous
John Ostler
Like
Heather Brown
hop,
John Ostler
dude,
Heather Brown
Steve.
John Ostler
dude, this is an app and it's fake.
Speaker F
A a easy easy
John Ostler
I'm sorry, kids kids, the Easter Bunny's real yeah,
Speaker C
See I'm
Heather Brown
Yeah, we gonna need to have like some sort of parental warning.
John Ostler
Yeah.
Heather Brown
Remove your kids from listening.
Speaker F
No I'm gonna
Heather Brown
We're
Speaker F
definitely
Speaker C
all you
Heather Brown
about to
Speaker C
junior
Heather Brown
uh
Speaker C
developers
Heather Brown
reveal
Speaker C
out there.
Heather Brown
something.
Heather Brown
Oh.
John Ostler
yeah.
Heather Brown
All right, so to kind of talk about Easter more,
Heather Brown
um there is this company in the UK that uh
John Ostler
That's the United Kingdom for those of you who aren't familiar with the acronym UK.
Heather Brown
Yeah, sorry, I should have specified.
Speaker G
Yeah.
Heather Brown
Clearly, that's breaking news.
John Ostler
Katie Lin, should we get it right? Do we get it right?
Heather Brown
Oh, okay. So they're using Google Street View.
Heather Brown
for to find virtual easter eggs and by finding these virtual easter eggs you can get real prizes not sure what the point of this is but for example if you find three virtual eggs you can get a chocolate egg more eggs you find you can even get these tab tablets or whatever that they're giving away too so pretty
Speaker C
That's pretty cool.
Heather Brown
legit and
Speaker C
That's
Heather Brown
you don't
Speaker C
pretty cool.
Heather Brown
have to be in the uk to play it says so or
Speaker C
I would think
Heather Brown
play
Speaker C
that that...
Heather Brown
or find the eggs i don't even know
John Ostler
Well,
Speaker H
I
John Ostler
you know,
Speaker H
pray for
John Ostler
there's all these
Speaker H
my people baby.
John Ostler
who are finding pictures of, you know, like people in Street View images doing ridiculous things.
Heather Brown
Mm
John Ostler
So I
Heather Brown
-hmm.
John Ostler
think that those people would be the first one to find the eggs too,
John Ostler
right? I mean, they're in Street View all
Heather Brown
I'm
John Ostler
day going
Heather Brown
sure.
Speaker C
Right.
John Ostler
through.
John Ostler
Those people in Street View,
John Ostler
they stay in Street View. Yeah, they stay in
Speaker C
Oh,
John Ostler
Street View.
Speaker C
wow.
John Ostler
Ooh, so if they want to like check out,
John Ostler
you know, Oregon,
John Ostler
they got to basically drive there one click at a time.
Speaker C
Mm-hmm.
John Ostler
That's pretty legit.
Heather Brown
Easter is taking off for everyone around.
John Ostler
I've never talked about Easter
Heather Brown
I
John Ostler
so much
Heather Brown
know.
John Ostler
in my life, actually.
Heather Brown
We're just grabbing for stories
Speaker C
Yeah,
Heather Brown
here.
Speaker C
yeah.
Speaker C
I don't want to I I'm not going to talk about Easter. I'm going to talk about
Heather Brown
Change it up, Brett.
Speaker C
butt cracks.
Heather Brown
Ooh.
Speaker C
I'm serious,
John Ostler
Hmm.
Heather Brown
We're
Speaker C
actually.
Heather Brown
all intrigued.
Speaker C
Now,
Heather Brown
We're looking
Speaker C
I'm
Heather Brown
very
Speaker C
I'm sure
Heather Brown
curiously at you.
Speaker C
I'm sure you are.
John Ostler
This is a post-Easter
Heather Brown
Yeah,
John Ostler
segment.
Speaker C
yeah, right.
Speaker C
Can you see that bunny's butt crack from space, Dave? And that, anyway.
John Ostler
It's in If 3D.
Heather Brown
you can,
John Ostler
It's in 3D.
Heather Brown
you'll get three eggs.
Speaker C
You should be able to.
John Ostler
I wasn't looking,
John Ostler
Brett,
John Ostler
but yeah,
Speaker C
Yeah,
John Ostler
nice.
Speaker C
I apologize.
Speaker C
But no,
Speaker C
I thought this is just kind of a funny story. So, I mean,
Speaker C
people struggle with,
Speaker C
like, finding names for their apps or their websites, whatever.
Speaker C
And sometimes they get translated.
Speaker C
improperly in other countries so this dude he named this uh this location uh save your location app rego and he was just super surprised when he got all this traffic from brazil and
Heather Brown
Oh, no. Hate mail?
Speaker C
no not at all they like actually love this app because uh well rego translates to butt crack in brazil
John Ostler
Ah, man.
Speaker C
it's
Heather Brown
Ah, that's
Speaker C
like for butt crack but this guy's tagline was really funny on the site it says
Speaker C
Rego's private.
Speaker C
Nobody sees what you add to Rego. But sometimes you'll want to share a place with a friend or even the whole world and Rego makes that easy.
Heather Brown
Man.
Speaker C
So instead of running this guy totally embraced it and he was like, you know, he's killing it in Brazil right now.
Heather Brown
The best day of his life.
Speaker C
Yeah, so maybe that's how you angle your, the name of your app.
Heather Brown
It's hysterical.
Speaker C
Shooting for, yeah.
Speaker C
Anyway.
Speaker C
I like
Heather Brown
Good stuff
Speaker C
I like
Heather Brown
today.
Speaker C
that.
John Ostler
We have one correction from last show.
John Ostler
Man,
John Ostler
did we get called out.
John Ostler
You know, I've been waiting for this. I've been waiting for someone
Heather Brown
Which
John Ostler
who actually
Heather Brown
is good. That means people are listening.
Heather Brown
People are involved.
John Ostler
Yeah, it's a positive
Heather Brown
Yes.
John Ostler
thing. It's a positive thing.
John Ostler
So we've got to get some, I think the first one to call us out,
John Ostler
there were two people, but I'm going to only mention the first because the first one always wins,
John Ostler
is Frank Griggers on Facebook was like,
John Ostler
hey,
John Ostler
nice work on the DeVorek keyboard comment.
John Ostler
It wasn't right at all.
Speaker C
John's story.
Heather Brown
Yeah, we blame John
John Ostler
Not
Heather Brown
for this
John Ostler
my and problem.
Heather Brown
take him down.
John Ostler
Yeah, I mean it literally is something that I just made an assumption about just because there's a tech writer blogger podcaster guy,
John Ostler
John Dvorak, who's really famous.
John Ostler
I thought he actually was responsible.
John Ostler
I gave him a lot of props.
John Ostler
I was like, this guy,
John Ostler
keyboard,
John Ostler
new keyboard.
John Ostler
No,
John Ostler
it wasn't him.
John Ostler
It's just some other guy.
John Ostler
If you go to our Facebook.
John Ostler
Frank supplied a link to the Wikipedia that will get you set straight. I'm not going to mention any names
Speaker C
Thanks,
John Ostler
because it's
Speaker C
Frank.
John Ostler
it's
Speaker C
Thanks,
John Ostler
embarrassing.
Speaker C
Frank.
John Ostler
He would like a free bagel and I was like, all right, give us your address.
John Ostler
We're getting you a free bagel. And then he got scared.
Heather Brown
So,
Speaker C
Okay,
Heather Brown
Frank,
Speaker C
yeah.
Heather Brown
if you're listening,
John Ostler
Yeah, Frank?
Heather Brown
you know, email us. We'll get
John Ostler
Yeah,
Heather Brown
you
John Ostler
seriously,
Heather Brown
a free bagel.
John Ostler
rain or buy you a bagel,
Speaker C
Five
John Ostler
right?
Heather Brown
We just
Speaker C
to seven
Heather Brown
appreciate
Speaker C
days,
Heather Brown
the that tip.
Speaker C
bagel will be at your doorstep. And, and if
Heather Brown
We do not
Speaker C
you're,
Heather Brown
guarantee freshness.
John Ostler
well,
John Ostler
and if you're in Chicago,
John Ostler
you'll get a fresh New York City bagel, deli bagel,
Heather Brown
This is true.
John Ostler
which
Heather Brown
This is true.
John Ostler
I got to say is pretty legit. And there's a lot of flavors and a lot of different cream cheeses, so you better pick out something nice.
Heather Brown
Mm-hmm.
John Ostler
All right, and that concludes today's bagel bite.
Heather Brown
Today's bagels are brought to you by NYC Bagel Deli Catering. Get some kettle baked goodness today.
John Ostler
Today's featured interview is with Maria Catris,
John Ostler
the CEO of Builtin, not to be confused with Builtin Chicago,
John Ostler
because they are going big time.
John Ostler
Thanks for coming to the show.
Maria Katris
Thanks for having me.
John Ostler
Was that an awkward intro?
Speaker C
No, I like no no at all great.
John Ostler
It's a little weird.
Maria Katris
It's fabulous.
John Ostler
All right, so tell us...
John Ostler
Tell us a little bit about built in your role how it got started You know give us kind of give everyone the overview of what is going on over there
Maria Katris
Yeah, absolutely.
Maria Katris
So Built in Chicago in general is a online community for digital startups in Chicago.
Maria Katris
It was founded in late 2010 by an entrepreneur by the name of Matt Moog.
Maria Katris
Yes.
Maria Katris
And so he started it really in response to 30 digital CEOs in town who used to get together.
Maria Katris
They're informally over pizza and beer at each other's offices.
Maria Katris
They were at Matt's office in August of 2010,
Maria Katris
and they were trying to figure out a way to better connect digital startups in Chicago,
Maria Katris
find a way to really know what companies were being, you know, born in Chicago,
Maria Katris
how many employees they had,
Maria Katris
how much funding they were raising,
Maria Katris
if they were raising funding,
Maria Katris
identify the ones that weren't raising money and that were growing exponentially,
Maria Katris
and really then amplify to the rest of the world what was being built in Chicago.
Maria Katris
because historically people just didn't realize that Cars.com and CareerBuilder and Morningstar were all built in Chicago.
Maria Katris
And so we really wanted to let the rest of the world know.
Maria Katris
So they came up with this map throughout the idea of an online community.
Maria Katris
They all came up with the name Built in Chicago with the idea being that everyone would put the Built in Chicago footer on their website and really showcase the pride.
Maria Katris
So Matt went home that night and in two hours threw up the Ning platform site,
Maria Katris
which was our original site as a $20 a month experiment to see what would happen.
Maria Katris
He kept it closed beta for about two months where he just had a small group of about 100.
Maria Katris
It was a little slow going and then attended another meeting at the New World Ventures office where there was yet again another meeting of the minds of digital leaders in town who all were saying,
Maria Katris
woe is me, you know, I can't build it.
Maria Katris
accompanying to Cowboy Camp, I don't have capital and you know we really no one knows what's happening here and that's when he went back to his office and literally just invited everyone in his context distribution list who worked in digital so whether they were an entrepreneur from a digital agency in Chicago an e-commerce division from one of the larger corporations an investor a service provider even and invited them all to join the site and from there it really grew through Matt's like prodding and sort of
Maria Katris
will to about 2,000 registered members. It was getting about 10,000 visits a month to the site as of April 2011.
Maria Katris
At that point, everyone was coming out of the community wanting to help it, support it, etc.
Maria Katris
So Matt went to J.B.
Maria Katris
Pritzker of New World Ventures and the Pritzker Group,
Maria Katris
Joe Mansueto of Morningstar,
Maria Katris
Bob Feely of the Duchessois Group,
Maria Katris
and Eric Lefkoski of Groupon.
John Ostler
Whoa.
Speaker C
Well done.
Maria Katris
Asked them
John Ostler
That was quite a list.
Maria Katris
each to be the founding sponsors of Built In.
Maria Katris
than Chicago,
Maria Katris
which they were.
Maria Katris
And that's when Matt brought me in and I've been running it ever since.
Maria Katris
I basically,
Maria Katris
when Matt launched the site, became its biggest fan,
Maria Katris
became its biggest user.
Maria Katris
So it was sort of inevitable that I would take on this role, I think, because he's like, you're pretty much working and doing this without me paying you. So would you like to do this?
Maria Katris
So
Speaker C
It works.
Maria Katris
yeah,
Maria Katris
so I loved it.
Maria Katris
And I've been running it ever since a CEO,
Maria Katris
you know, really,
Maria Katris
and I have an incredible sort of right hand and left.
Maria Katris
And left hand, who I call Adam Kalika, who's awesome. He's been with me since almost the beginning.
Maria Katris
And he and it's really been a two person full time staff for quite a while. We have a host of freelancers and we have an amazing external development team now.
Maria Katris
I'm with Lucklighter Mitchell,
Maria Katris
and they've been incredible,
Maria Katris
but really have been your prototypical lean startup who's been bootstrapped.
Speaker C
So Built-In started in Chicago.
Speaker C
How has that influenced the other markets and what is different about them than the Chicago market?
Maria Katris
Sure,
Maria Katris
absolutely.
Maria Katris
So as Built-in Chicago grew,
Maria Katris
a lot of the attention we've received to date has really been because of the data that we aggregate and publish.
Maria Katris
So we've been tracking a number of startups who have launched, acquired,
Maria Katris
funded.
Maria Katris
We also have tracked the top digital employers in town.
Maria Katris
We've published that report as well.
Maria Katris
And at this point, Wall Street Journal and New York Times, Huffington Post,
Maria Katris
Atlantic,
Maria Katris
Next Web,
Maria Katris
VentureBeat, they've all at some point linked back to the data and the site.
Maria Katris
And that's what's really gotten Chicago a lot of the attention.
Maria Katris
And so what happened was, is all of a sudden we started getting these phone calls everywhere from Barcelona and Norway to Austin,
Maria Katris
Boston,
Maria Katris
Denver.
Maria Katris
you know and everyone was saying this is exactly what we've needed in our city you know we want this can you help us and so we thought about it for quite some time we you know we wanted to get the platform to a point where it was in a good place before we actually launched in a different market and the first came about with Denver their chair there called and said we've you know dissected your site we've priced it out with the local agency to build it
Maria Katris
But it makes no sense to reinvent the wheel. Would you guys want to do this here?
Maria Katris
We really need this.
Maria Katris
And we said, sure.
Maria Katris
And so we picked Denver and L.A. Really,
Maria Katris
L.A. was the opposite.
Maria Katris
It's about three X the size of Chicago.
Maria Katris
Denver's maybe a third the size of Chicago.
Maria Katris
And so it was a really good test case for us to see how this would scale and how the different markets would compare to Chicago.
Maria Katris
They're both doing incredibly well.
Maria Katris
I think the one trait all three markets have in common is that they are as passionate as we are about the city they live in and the companies they're building there.
Maria Katris
and yet really want to tell the rest of the world their story.
Maria Katris
And so I think that's the common thread that sort of unites all of the markets.
Speaker C
Cool.
Maria Katris
Okay, where do you see the Chicago tech landscape,
Maria Katris
Chicago tech world,
Maria Katris
where do you see that headed?
Maria Katris
Yeah, I think Chicago is in an incredible position right now. I think we're finally at the point where everyone is sort of collectively telling the same story. We have the data to back it up. So, you know, in 2012,
Maria Katris
we published a report about 197 startups launched. You know, 391 million was raised by Chicago tech companies.
Maria Katris
We are now at the point where we've had enough serial entrepreneurs who have exited and are now giving back time,
Maria Katris
giving back money.
Speaker I
And so and are starting their second,
Speaker I
third and fourth company.
Speaker I
And I think that's a really good sign,
Speaker I
like building this startup community and ecosystem,
Speaker I
as Brad Feld always likes to say, it's, you know, it's a 20 year plan,
Maria Katris
Mm
Speaker I
it's not
Maria Katris
-hmm.
Speaker I
going to happen overnight. And I would say Chicago is probably at the 10 year mark,
Speaker I
I think we're now starting and it'll accelerate from here.
Speaker I
I think now we've got all the support,
Speaker I
we've got the incubators, we've got the accelerators, right?
Speaker I
We've got capital now and
Speaker I
and are only going to attract more capital.
Speaker I
And we have the companies and we have the mentors and the support resources.
Speaker I
And so I think now it's really for us to grow from here and to exponentially grow,
Speaker I
it's going to be focused on two things, talent and capital.
Speaker I
It's we need to just make sure that we're retaining a lot of the talent,
Speaker I
that people aren't leaving,
Speaker I
that we're bringing them back.
Maria Katris
Mm
Speaker I
We're
Maria Katris
-hmm.
Speaker I
seeing that a lot actually.
Speaker I
So we get, excuse me, called and emailed.
Speaker I
a lot of people who left 10 years ago and because nothing was happening in Chicago and they were in the sector and so they went out west or they went east and now they want to come back because they're like this is where I want to be and this is where I want to live and now there's a place for me to start my business or work for a digital company and so I honestly think you're going to see a lot more of that and over the next 10 years I think you're going to see a lot of people moving back because it's an incredible place to live and
Maria Katris
Yeah.
Speaker I
we're really lucky that Rami Emanuel our mayor is so
Speaker I
absolutely supportive and invested in this sector.
Speaker I
It's becoming an industry here. You know, Chicago is known for their corporations and which is awesome if you're a startup who is selling to corporates, but the digital
Speaker I
startup sector has sort of been overshadowed by it where I think now people are really starting to take it seriously we're showing job creation we're showing job growth at a time where other people are shedding jobs and so I think it's it's really everyone is taking it much more seriously than they did before and so everyone is really invested and that's from coming from the corporate that's coming from the investors the mentors the government the civic the non-profits so I think you're only going to see it exponentially grow from here
John Ostler
So built in Chicago and built in really but built in Chicago now has
John Ostler
Over 1400 companies,
John Ostler
right?
John Ostler
Over 13,000 users.
John Ostler
And so, you know, what are what are some of the challenges you guys are facing or starting to talk about in terms of continuing that growth path and maintaining that user base?
Speaker I
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker I
I mean, it's a great question and it's something we've put a lot of thought into over the last six months and will continue to do so. I think really the biggest challenge is.
Speaker I
understanding what our users want and need,
Speaker I
and then helping them find that.
Speaker I
So from our perspective,
Speaker I
like we've been successful if we've helped you connect with a co-founder,
Speaker I
we've helped you find talent,
Speaker I
we've helped you promote your company,
Speaker I
we've helped you raise money,
Speaker I
we've helped you learn something new that you didn't know before you got to the site.
Speaker I
And so we're really, really focused on adding value at this point.
Speaker I
at this point and really trying to talk to our users and ask them what they want more of and what they want less of I think it'll be imperative for us to figure out you know a focus and moving forward you know we're not going to be able to do everything as we as we scale even further and so finding out what are the biggest needs of our members and fulfilling those
John Ostler
So last year was the first year of the Moxie Awards.
John Ostler
It was by far, in my opinion,
John Ostler
and a lot of other people I know,
John Ostler
the best.
John Ostler
event in Chicago tech focus so when is the next event when is the next Moxie Awards and and tell us about it
Speaker I
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker I
So save the date, June 20th, Moxie Awards at Park West again.
Speaker I
We promise there will be a lot more food and we will not close down the bar during the awards ceremony.
Speaker C
Yes!
Speaker I
So make
Speaker C
I'm still hungry.
Speaker I
sure that makes sure that makes it into the podcast.
Speaker I
We,
Speaker I
you know, the Moxie Awards and I appreciate that.
Speaker I
It was awesome.
Speaker I
Awesome.
Speaker I
It was the most incredible event for Chicago and for built in, honestly.
Speaker I
We had last year, we gave away 21 award categories or 21 awards,
Speaker I
and we had 70,000 votes submitted by the public for the first annual.
Speaker I
So we're honestly expecting that to probably double this year. We've taken out a few of the awards that weren't probably as popular and we're replacing them with even better ones.
Speaker I
So I think it'll continue the excitement and generate a lot of.
Speaker I
of um traction but the nominations to nominate your company in april 1st
John Ostler
Yes, right around the corner.
Speaker I
so get on it because we're going to have incredible press there's going to be incredible uh press there there's going to be incredible opportunities um to really showcase your company
John Ostler
So now for the most important question on Bites Over Bagels, what is your favorite bagel and how do you like it prepared?
Speaker I
That's a pretty tough one.
Speaker C
Yeah.
Speaker I
I actually like two different variations and they're pretty much tied. So you're not getting one answer.
Speaker I
It's either cinnamon raisin with cream cheese,
John Ostler
Oh, wow.
Speaker C
What kind
John Ostler
Yeah,
Speaker C
of cream
John Ostler
what kind?
Speaker C
cheese?
Speaker I
plain,
Speaker C
Oh.
Speaker I
all
John Ostler
That's
Speaker I
next
John Ostler
kind of like Hoover.
Speaker I
night.
John Ostler
Well, he liked the butter.
John Ostler
Butter. Okay, keep going.
John Ostler
That's good.
Speaker I
And
John Ostler
That's a good
Speaker I
or
John Ostler
start.
Speaker I
it's whole wheat,
Speaker I
egg and cheese.
John Ostler
Oh, very
Speaker C
Nice.
John Ostler
nice.
Speaker C
Nice.
John Ostler
A real bagel sandwich.
Speaker I
As long as there is no onion and no garlic, I'm good.
John Ostler
Oh, wow.
John Ostler
Wow,
John Ostler
you don't want onion or garlic.
John Ostler
That's usually the opposite.
Speaker I
And I'm Greek.
Maria Katris
Like,
Speaker C
Yeah,
Maria Katris
shock.
Speaker C
I was going to say that.
John Ostler
Damn you!
John Ostler
Well,
John Ostler
thanks for coming in and talking to us.
Speaker I
Thanks
John Ostler
for I'm
Speaker I
having me.
John Ostler
very excited about building Chicago. We were just talking before the show about how they're going to have to change their format because Bites Over Bagels week to week has been blowing up the homepage and we're probably working
Maria Katris
Is what one would
John Ostler
the
Maria Katris
say.
John Ostler
algorithm right now to be famous. So that will change shortly.
Speaker C
It's John promoting it from nine different...
John Ostler
different email addresses and
Speaker C
Yeah,
John Ostler
logins.
Speaker C
of course. Yeah, of course.
John Ostler
My name is fake.
Speaker C
Moltar.
John Ostler
Anyway, thanks for coming in and thanks for your time.
Speaker I
Thanks. Appreciate it, guys.
John Ostler
Best of luck.
Speaker C
Thank you.
John Ostler
Thank you.
Speaker C
Filling in the gaps today is the band Stephen Paul Smoker. Check them out on stephenpaulsmoker.com or bitesoverbagels.com.
John Ostler
And that concludes episode six of...
John Ostler
BYTES OVER!
John Ostler
Join us next week where Seth Kravitz will be on the show. He's doing technori,
John Ostler
he's got this boat trust coffee thing,
John Ostler
a lot of interesting things to talk about. You can also check us out again on the Twitters and the Facebook if you haven't already.
John Ostler
Please follow us, please like us if you will. And also, this week is going to be our last week we're going to do the promo code for the black car service on
John Ostler
So, if you're interested in writing in style this week, you're gonna wanna sign up for that right now, right now. You're on the interwebs right now, uber.com and type in that uh the promo code. I'm not gonna tell you, 'cause you have to go to the website. Classy, classy.
Maria Katris
What is our website?
Maria Katris
For
John Ostler
Bikes
Maria Katris
my own listeners.
John Ostler
over bagels dot com. Thanks for listening y'all. We'll see you next week.