[NEWS] George Deeb Named to Crain's Chicago Tech 50

Today, Crains Chicago released its Crain's Tech 50 list of people that are making a difference in Chicago's startup tech community.  I am honored to be included in this list, along side such well-deserving and respected colleagues.  And, frankly, I could easily add another 50 well-deserving people who are making Chicago a great place to build your startup.  Congratulations to everyone who is helping to contribute to Chicago's thriving startup ecosystem, as summarized in my blog post from July 2012.

For future posts, please follow me at:  www.twitter.com/georgedeeb.

Lesson #122: Setting Key Milestones for Your Startup

Don't launch your startup trying to build a "Rolls Royce" with all the bells and whistles out of the gate.  Why not??  Firstly, the key with startups is speed to market, so you don't want to wait for building out "Rolls Royce" functionality, when you could have launched a "Toyota" much faster without materially impacting the core user experience.  Secondly, a "Rolls Royce" costs a lot more than a "Toyota", and when you are on a limited budget, as most startups are, every penny matters.  And, thirdly, it is best to iterate your product in small bite-size chunks, to see how users engage with the product and what features and functionalities they most use and desire.  For example, you may think they want a "Rolls Royce", but they may really want a "Porsche" at the end of the day.  So, before you get too far into your development, constant testing and surveying of your users can save a lot of wasted re-building expense down the road.

To help you bucket your startup development, break your startup into three phases: (i) piece of paper business plan through minimum viable product (MVP); (ii) MVP through full production site; and (iii) full production site through proof of concept.  From there, hopefully, you will be in a position to raise venture capital to scale up your business for the following growth phase of your business.  Below are a few pointers for setting acheivable milestones, for each of these three phases:

PIECE OF PAPER BUSINESS PLAN THROUGH MVP (roughly months 0 to 6)

Product: A bare-bones site with basic functionality that you won't be embarrassed by.  Build the site in a lean startup, agile process in bite size iterations every couple weeks until MVP complete.
Team:  You and your co-founder, preferably one of you a technical person building out the site.  Outsource for additional developers or designers needed.
Business:  Start laying the ground work to identify and budget for key partnerships you will pursue, and key sales or marketing channels you will test.
Users:  None yet, other then the development team testing the iterations of the product.

MVP THROUGH FULL PRODUCTION (roughly months 6-12)

Product:  Use this time to test with users to see what they like and don't like about the product, and then build out additional features and functionality of your beta site.
Team:  Start to recruit the rest of your senior team or any additional technologists required.  You don't necessarily need to hire them yet, but have candidates identified in the wings.
Business:  Start to reach out to business partners and start testing key sales and marketing channels identified in phase one.  No material revenues yet.
Users:  A minimum base of customers that is large enough to test with, and start to establish trends for monthly growth.  No material traffic yet.

FULL PRODUCTION THROUGH PROOF OF CONCEPT (roughly months 12-18)

Product:  You will no longer be in beta testing, with a full production website.  Continue to add in additional features and functionality over time.
Team:  You should have your full management team hired and in place, even if working for equity without cash salary.  This will be required to get the full attention of the venture capitalists.
Business:  You will have signed a few key partnerships (with a good pipeline in discussions) and proven an affordable cost of customer acquisition.  So, new monies invested in marketing will be used to accelerate proven tactics.  You should be showing preliminary revenues at this point, materially growing month over month.  The closer you can get to $1MM in revenues, the easier your fund raising efforts will be.  Start identifying and laying the ground work with venture investors, relationship building, but not yet asking for any money.
Users:  A material base of traffic, growing month over month, that helps venture investors acknowledge there is a real and growing appetite for your product in a sizeable market.

By this point, you should be ready for prime time and be in a good position to begin asking venture investors for your growth capital from here.  So, said another way, you will have to creatively figure out how to fund the first 12-18 months of your business on a shoe string or with angel investors until then.  So, plan far enough ahead of time what your capital requirements will be to get you from a piece of paper business plan, all the way through proof of concept, which will be required by the venture investors.  And, as always, include a big cushion, as things never go perfectly to plan.

For future posts, please follow me at:  www.twitter.com/georgedeeb

Lesson #121: Designing an Omni-Channel Business

Today’s consumers are more tech-savvy, seek more value and seek it through more channels than ever before.  Therefore, you need a consumer brand/user experience across all platforms, with content customized to the needs of each specific customer.  A shift in mindset from “comparable store sales” to “comparable customer sales”.  Below are a few high-level trends and considerations for properly designing an omni-channel business to meet these customer-centric needs.

• Omni-channel puts the customer at the center of all decisions and breaks down silos between the retail/web/mobile/social platforms.  See the following graphic from CRMsearch:

• While shopping retail stores, consumers are heavily using their smart phone for product review, pricing comparisons, sourcing coupons, etc.  You need to tap into that trend with mobile apps.
• Tablet visitors spend 50% more per transaction than smart phone visitors and 20% more than PC visitors. Need to make sure you have tablet platform apps built out and optimized.
• 60-70% of offline sales now impacted by digital efforts in one way or another, with digital investments in the 1-3% of revenues range, on average.  One channel drives the other, and vice versa.
• Marketing silos must be broken down, with one centralized effort for sourcing new customers, driving incremental sales from old customers, reducing attrition, maximizing effectiveness, managing inventory, leveraging data and building loyalty on one tech platform.  You can’t have web competing with retail, but collaborating for a combined/unified experience/success.
• Furthermore, marketing and technology are converging into one department, formerly siloed between CMO’s and CTO’s.  CMO's are more dependent on data than ever, and only technology can help them to prioritize and make sense of the "fire hose" of data coming in.
• Multi-channel customers spend 15-30% more than single-channel customers, and omni-channel customers spend 15-30% more than multi-channel customers.  You have to identify, incentivize and grow this base of high-affinity customers to truly maximize sales.
• Study user behaviors while they are not shopping, to look for targeted marketing opportunities (e.g., posted on Facebook they have an upcoming vacation, so you know when to follow up with a targeted luggage offer).
• Organizations must shift to more entrepreneurial startup mentalities—“always be deploying”
  requirements will create reorganizational pressures in the short term.  Digital needs a green light to “do amazing, next-generational things”.  IT oversight will shift towards a more “venture capital” mindset, vs. the current capital budgeting approach.
• Organizations should be designed with incentives/rewards, people/culture, business processes, technology and internal structure to fully embrace the evolution to omni-channel needs.  Capabilities need to be assessed with a “fresh set of non-biased eyes”.  There is no “one right answer” here, need to figure out what works best for each organization.
• Customer experiences need to be seamless from platform to platform, with similar branding, functionality, and content, optimized toward the strengths of each channel.  Here is an example template from Tyler Tate on  how to think about omni-channel design across platforms and customer tasks throughout the entire customer experience:

Add caption

Omni-channel marketing and loyalty are not simply buzzwords, they are based on hard facts and current trends in the market. Think overhaul, not upgrade, while ditching the one-size fits all mindset with consumers and channel silos internally.

For future posts, please follow me at:  www.twitter.com/georgedeeb

Lesson #120: Plan Ahead for Proof-of-Concept Marketing

It is a sad, but familiar, story in startup land.  An entrepreneur raises a limited amount of funds, plows it entirely into building out their product, and has no gas left in the tank for driving users to the site once the product is complete.  Then they go out hat-in-hand to the venture community looking for additional growth capital, without achieving the proof-of-concept required by the venture investors (in the form of initial user adoption).  Hence, leaving them out-of-luck with the VC's and scratching their head on how to raise sales and marketing monies to achieve their proof-of-concept.  They then typically turn to their friends and family, the same ones they most likely tapped for their initial seed financing to build-out their products, who have nothing left to invest.  This is the typical cycle I see over and over again with the startups that reach out to me for financing assistance.

Fortunately, for new ventures, this is an easily solvable problem to address, assuming you fund your businesses with enough proof-of-concept foresight right from the start.  When you are deciding how much money to raise day one, you can't only think about the cost of building out the product, you also have to leave enough cash cushion in the bank, to allow you to hit the sales and marketing accelerator once the product is built.  And, frankly, this latter amount is equally important as the product itself, as without it, you will not achieve the proof-of-concept points that will open up the additional venture capital to scale up your business from there.

Every business has its own unique sales and marketing objectives.  B2C businesses are usually marketing driven.  B2B businesses are usually sales driven, with enterprise-facing businesses having different challenges than SMB-facing businesses (e.g., tough to identify key relationships, longer sales cycle to drive revenues).  So, you need to think ahead of time for: (i) which tactics are best for your business (e.g., search marketing, social media, media relations, trade shows, salespeople); (ii) what is the "tipping point" that will get the longer-term venture investors over the proof-of-concept hurdle (by establishing relationships with them upfront, well ahead of asking them for capital); and (iii) budgeting how much sales and marketing monies will be required to allow you to reasonably achieve those objectives.

For example, let's say you are an e-commerce website.  And, the venture investor says, we would like to see 1,000 customers buy your product first, before investing.  With a 3% average conversion rate for e-commerce sites (which you learned from market research), you need to be able to afford driving 33,333 consumers to your website after the product is built.  And, if you are planning on buying paid search traffic from Google to do that, you will need to research the average price per click for your keywords and industry.  So, if that answer is $1 cost per click, you need to have $33,333 sitting in reserve to hit the gas on the marketing. 

And, worth mentioning, nothing goes perfectly as planned with startups, so I would set aside at least double what you think you will need.  As an example, if the average conversion rate for e-commerce sites is 3% overall.  It may only be 1% for a brand new company with no brand name recognition in the market, which suggests you would need to set aside $100,000, in the example above, to hit your proof of concept point.

Don't make the same mistakes of the thousands of entrepreneurs before you.  Start thinking through your proof-of-concept marketing needs from day one, to make sure you are raising enough funds right from the start.

For future posts, please follow me at:  www.twitter.com/georgedeeb

Lesson #119: How to Screen Venture Capitalists

Last year, I shared my definitive checklist for startup success, which included the things you needed to accomplish before approaching venture investors, to increase your odds they will be interested in funding your business. In this lesson, I am going to provide the inverse: a definitive list of things a venture investor should offer you, before taking money from them.

ABOUT THE FIRM

___ What is the firm's track record of success? Have them list their best performers.
___ Does the firm have a "brand name"? Some startups are perceived as being better investment/startup opportunities, if a big name firm is involved. This may help you attract other investors and business partners in the future. But, there are plenty of great lesser known investors.
___ How big is their current fund overall? And, more specifically, how much is still available for future investments. You want a firm with deep pockets, for this round, and the next.
___ Is this their first fund, or their fifth fund? The more funds they have raised over the years, the more successful their investments have been, attracting new capital over time.
___ What business contacts can the firm help make introductions for you? Their Rolodex is often more important than their capital, to help you more quickly open doors to business partners.

ABOUT THE TEAM

___ What is the specific Partner's track record of success? It is less about the firm, and more about the person you will be working with day-to-day.
___ Does the Partner have specific business experience, or only financial experience? It is always better to have the input of another successful entrepreneur who has actually been in the trenches.
___ Ask to speak to references from CEO's of their portfolio companies. Nobody will give you a better sense to the value provided and personality of the Partner, after the deal closes, than these CEOs.
___ Who from their firm will be sitting on your board of directors? Often times the senior Partner who does the deal, is not the more-junior person who will be filling their board seat.
___ What experience does the Partner have in your industry, as not all startups are created equal? Look for domain expertise in your industry and desired go-to-market strategies.
___ What is their personality and style? You will be spending the next five years with this team, make sure you can get along with them (in good times and in bad).

ABOUT THE DEAL

___ Are the investment terms, valuation and deal structure fair and in line with market levels? You can benchmark multiple VC offers against eachother, and research investment terms trends for a business of your size. Only work with firms that you feel are treating you fairly. A good startup lawyer can help here.


I have said this before: not all cash is the same shade of green. So, choose your investors wisely, to increase your odds of long term growth and business success.

For future posts, please follow me at: www.twitter.com/georgedeeb.

Chicago's Best Lawyers for Startups

Getting a good startup lawyer right from the beginning, can often be the difference between "off to the races" and "oops, why didn't we think of that before".  Picking a good lawyer often revolves around their expertise with startups, expertise in your industry, expertise for your specific project, bench strength of their firm, affordability, references and personality fit with your organization.  So, speak with several, to assess who is best for your business and liking, before making your decision.

There are several worthy lawyers in Chicago, with deep expertise in serving the startup community.  Below is a list of some of my favorites (in alphabetical order), having worked with them over the years.  You will be well-served by any of their counsel.

Frank Ballantine at Dykema
Online Bio: https://www.dykema.com/professionals-frank_ballantine.html 
Contact: 312-627-2509 or fballantine @dykema.com
Firm Size: 450 lawyers nationally ($$$ , but startup discounts) broad scope and depth of skills for all business needs
Clients: Confidential, but over 50 times outside general counsel, countless equity and debt transactions, 100+ M&A deals
Expertise: Strategic and legal counsel, entity formation and governance, IP protection and licensing, equity and debt financing, incentive compensation, M&A and joint ventures
Industries: AI, Fin Tech, Saas, mobile, software, digital security, tech services and development, healthcare and medical innovation, specialty materials, advanced manufacturing
Involvement: Advisory board of two venture funds; have invested personally  in 24 startups, venture funds and PE funds; served/serving ex officio on 26 client Boards of Directors, founding sponsor Hyde Park Angels, finals judge Booth Business School New Venture Challenge and Harvard Business School Regional  Business Plan Competition,  speak regularly on emerging growth corporate finance at Chicago business schools

Craig Bradley at Much Shelist
Online Bio:  http://www.muchshelist.com/attorney/craig-c-bradley
Contact:  312-521-2780 or cbradley@muchshelist.com
Firm Size: 85 attorneys ($$$).  Wide range of talent for all needs.
Clients:  Hireology, UrbanBound, UICO, Mediafly, Vertex, FourKites, Goby, Regenerative Medical Solutions, RedWave Energy.  100+ deals since 1993.
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, distribution, partnering, licensing, IP, M&A, compensation.  Highly rated by Chambers.
Industries:  technology, software, internet, communications, life sciences, health care, energy, materialsInvolvement: director at ITA, faculty at Kellogg, founder Wildcat Angels, steering committee for TEDxMidwest, 1871 mentor and speaker 

Matthew Brown at Katten Muchin Rosenman (or his partner Jeffrey Patt)
Online Bio:  http://www.kattenlaw.com/matthew-brown/
Contact:  312-902-5207 or matthew.brown @kattenlaw.com
Firm Size: 650 attorneys on three continents ($$$$, but flexible for startups).  Wide range of talent for all needs.
Clients:  BCV Evolve, eSpark Learning, LiveOne, Eved, Bloom Nation, Vaporstream, iKonverse
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, transactions, compensation, M&A, governance, strategy, IP.  Two recommendations from other lawyers on this list.
Industries:  technology, software, healthcare, financial services, entertainment
Involvement: director at Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, sponsor Booth Seed Con, sponsor New Venture Challenge, sponsor Clean Energy Challenge

Chris Cain at Foley & Lardner
Online Bio:  http://www.foley.com/christopher-c-cain/
Contact: 312-832-4553 or ccain@ foley.com
Firm Size: 900 attorneys in 21 offices in three continents ($$$$, but flexible for startups including deferred or discounted fees).  Wide range of talent for all needs.
Clients:  StyleSeek, VLinks Media, Bid Med, Procured Health, Shiftgig, Tap.Me, Tech.li
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, M&A, outsourcing, IP, litigation, strategy.  Former general counsel at Sonic Foundry and CPA from Arthur Andersen.
Industries: software, hardware, technology, social media, private equity.
Involvement: co-founder and host of Catapult Chicago

Leslee Cohen at All Rise Legal Counsel
Online Bio:  https://www.allriselawyers.com/leslee 
Contact:  312-445-9628 or lcohen@allriselawyers.com
Firm Size: 10 attorneys ($$).  Partners with other small firms on an as-needed basis.
Clients:  CompassMD, Cognitive Advisors, Mobile Doorman, Trusted Mobile, Realync, Resident Gifts, StockTrendSpotter, BeyondTags.
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, distribution, partnering, licensing, M&A, compensation.  Super Lawyers Top 50 Women Lawyers and Top 100 Lawyers in Illinois 2012-present.
Industries: real estate, technology, retail, health care, education
Involvement: She has been named a Top 10 Lawyers in the State of Illinois by Super Lawyers. Co-founder of SBACConnects, mentor at WiSTEM, Elmspring, Bunker, Start-up Instititute, 1871 speaker, co-founder Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law.  Outstanding Service to Entrepreneurs Award from the Herald Daily Business Ledger.

Jon Fieldman (Independent)
Online Bio:  http://fieldmanlawgroup.com
Contact: 312-961-3844 or fieldman @fieldmanlawgroup.com
Firm Size: sole practice ($$).  Partners with other lawyers on an as-needed basis.
Clients:  Policy of non-disclosure.  But, many venture-backed startups.
Expertise:  Formation, fund raising, employment, litigation, IP, contracts, strategy.  A former partner with Sidley & Austin and a former CIO/COO (with deep business experience).
Industries: technology, finance, manufacturing, distribution, transportation, retail, food & beverage
Involvement: past-chairman of Lumity, member Friends of Blaine, producer of Transformational Leadership events

Scott Glickson at McGuire Woods
Online Bio:  http://www.mcguirewoods.com/lawyers/index/scott_l_glickson.asp
Contact: 312-321-7652 or sglickson @mcguirewoods.com
Firm Size: 950 attorneys in 19 cities in U.S. & Europe ($$$$, but flexible for startups).  120 in Chicago and 30 in tech practice.  Wide range of talent for all needs. 
Clients:  Sagence, Give Forward, ContextMedia, Code Academy, Akoo, Northstar, Future Simple, Fango (sold to GrubHub), FeeFighters (sold to Groupon).  Worked for me at iExplore.
Expertise: formation, fund raising, licensing, outsourcing, IP, team building, partnerships, disputes.  Two recommendations from other lawyers on this list.
Industries: information technology, clean tech, healthcare, private equity
Involvement: director emeritus ITA (20 years), director i.c. Stars

Michael Gray at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg
Online Bio:  http://www.ngelaw.com/mgray/
Contact: 312-269-8086 or mgray @ngelaw.com
Firm Size: 175 attorneys ($$$$, but flexible for startups).  Wide range of talent for all needs.
Clients:  Built in Chicago, FireStarter Fund and others that are confidential.
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, M&A, IP, agreements, employment, compensation, taxation, estate planning, strategy.  Former VC, understands both sides.  Highly rated by Chambers.  Six recommendations from other lawyers on this list.
Industries: information technology
Involvement: member IVCA, member ITA, speaker 1871, speaker Booth School

Darren Green (Independent)
Online Bio:  http://www.fizzlaw.com/lawyers/darren-green
Contact: 847-205-0977 or dgreen @dgattorney.com
Firm Size: Sole practice ($$). 
Clients:  Total Attorneys, Local Offer Network, Inventables, Ad Gooroo, mFoundry, Body Shop Bids, Belly, Lightswitch, Code Academy, BankVue, Luxemi, Moving Station, Psylotech, Revenew
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, IP, M&A, JVs, agreements, compensation, employment, T&Cs, strategy.  One recommendation from another lawyer on this list.
Industries:  information technology 
Involvement: professor Northwestern Law School (teaching venture capital), partner Old Willow Partners (buy-out fund), writer Chicago Tribune

Greg Grove at Much Shelist
Online Bio:  http://www.muchshelist.com/attorney/gregory-d-grove
Contact: ggrove @muchshelist.com
Firm Size: 85 attorneys ($$$).  Wide range of talent for all needs.
Clients:  Voxsup, Engage-a-Pro, Noblivity, Conceivex, Pegasus Biosolutions, Blossom Coffee, Guardian Angel, Lemnos Labs
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, M&A, IP.  Silicon Valley based lawyer for 11 years. Former electrical engineer (MIT).
Industries: software, internet, communications, technology, electrical devices, healthcare tech
Involvement: sponsor and host of Founder Institute Chicago, speaker and free hours at 1871 

Jim Jerue at Horwood Marcus & Berk
Online Bio:  http://www.hmblaw.com/professionals-directory/james-l-jerue.aspx
Contact: 312-606-3202 or jjerue @hmblaw.com
Firm Size:  52 attorneys in Chicago ($$$).  Wide range of talent for most needs.
Clients:  eSpark Learning, KLUTCHclub, Smarteys, Vibes Media, HireBrite
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, M&A, partnerships, employment, contracts, taxation, estate planning. Two recommendations from other lawyers on this list.
Industries:  technology, healthcare
Involvement: mentor Excelerate Labs and Chicago Booth Accelerator, sponsor and investor Hyde Park Angels, co-chair private equity subcommittee at Chicago Bar Association

Ben Kern at Winston & Strawn LLP
Online Bio:  http://www.winston.com/en/who-we-are/attorneys/kern-benjamin-d.html

Firm Size: 900 attorneys in the US, Europe and Asia ($$$$, but flexible for startups)
Contact: 312-558-3747 or bkern@winston.com
Clients: Fruition Partners (sold to CSC); Base (FutureSimple); SIM Partners; Amstatz; Momentum Dynamics; Synapse Games; Liquidus; also represents venture capital investors and large strategic buyers and investors.
Expertise: venture capital, M&A, joint ventures, strategy investing and acquisition, technology transactions
Industries: software, SaaS, technology services, devices and medical devices, wireless, life sciences, gaming, new technologies

Bart Loethen at Tucker Ellis LLP
Online Bio:  https://www.tuckerellis.com/people/bartly-loethen
Contact: bartly.loethen@ tuckerellis.com
Firm Size: Founded in 2003, Tucker Ellis LLP has strategically grown to more than 215 lawyers serving clients nationwide from seven locations ($$$).
Clients: policy of non-disclosure, but has a great list (e.g., Bart has done my legal work for Red Rocket and MediaRecall).
Expertise: formation, fund raising, taxation, litigation, M&A, IP, licensing.  Two recommendations from other lawyers on this list.
Industries: technology, high growth, healthcare, software
Involvement: board SmartBet

Galen Mason  at Michael Best
Online Bio: https://www.michaelbest.com/People/Galen-Mason
Contact: 312-596-5814 gmason @michaelbest.com
Firm Size: 300 attorneys in 13 offices ($$$, but flexible for startups including deferred and discounted fees).  Wide range of talent for all needs.  Very founder focused.
Clients:  Lumere, Tillable, Reconstruct, Serra Ventures, Network Ventures, Woodlawn Partners
Expertise:  formation, venture fund raising, M&A, outsourcing, regulatory, IP, litigation, strategy. Runs a Series A venture capital index fund focused on the Midwest, Service Provider Capital.
Industries: software, hardware, consumer goods, manufacturing, technology, social media, private equity.
Involvement: co-founder of Catapult Chicago, co-founder of Service Provider Capital

Ken Obel at goodcounsel
Online Bio:  http://www.mygoodcounsel.com/bio/
Contact: email contact@mygoodcounsel.com or using contact form on site is best.
Firm Size: 3 attorneys and paralegal ($$).  Partners with other lawyers for other full-service needs (e.g., patent prosecution).  Often fixed-fee projects instead of hourly rate based.  Also offers subscription-based Counsel-as-a-Service packages.
Clients:  ItemMaster, Neighborhoods.com, Pictarine, SingleHop, SkinIO, Upfront Health Services
Expertise: Entity formation and structuring, co-founder matters, debt/equity financing rounds, incentive compensation, commercial agreements. Also offers internal legal process automation to streamline client operations and reduce contract cycle times. Was the co-founder of a local startup (Fox & Obel Food Market) and served for 10 years thereafter as general counsel for early-stage companies (HighBeam Research, Viewpoints Network), so has firsthand legal and business experience in startups. An avid cyclist, Ken is willing to hold an introductory meeting on a ride with you. Two recommendations from other lawyers on this list.
Industries: SaaS platforms, information technology, EdTech, consumer, healthcare
Involvement: Class mentoring at Northwestern/Kellogg. LawMeets judge at Northwestern University Law School

Michael Rosenthal at Polsinelli Shughart
Online Bio:  http://www.polsinelli.com/professionals/mrosenthal
Firm Size: 600 attorneys nationwide ($$$$, but flexible for startups).  40 lawyers in tech practice, many with computer science and engineering degrees.
Contact: 312-463-6318 or mrosenthal@ polsinelli.com
Clients: C-Sam, ViMedicus, Advanced Molecular plus many venture firms (e.g., Adams Street, River Cities, Amiti, Psilos).
Expertise: formation, fund raising, strategy, partnerships, IP, compensation, M&A, JV's, litigation, data privacy, a bridge to capital/strategic partners globally.  Highly rated by Chambers.  Three recommendations from other lawyers on this list.
Industries: information technology, healthcare, medical
Involvement: member IVCA and ACG, sponsor of Chicago chapter of Startup Leadership Program, sponsor Illinois Business and Investor Forum and Chicago New Media Summit

Spencer Wood at Polsinelli Shughart (or his partner Teddy Scott)
Online Bio:  http://www.polsinelli.com/swood/
Contact: 312-873-3677 or swood@ polsinelli.com
Firm Size: 600 attorneys nationwide ($$$$, but flexible for startups).  40 lawyers in tech practice, many with computer science and engineering degrees.
Clients:  policy of non-disclosure.
Expertise:  formation, fund raising, M&A, IP, tech development
Industries: technology, software, internet, medical, financial, digital media, life sciences, clean tech, energy.
Involvement: lecturer at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy, mentor at PROPEL and Chicago Innovation Mentors, hosts Venture Capital Group meetings of Business Network Chicago (BNC).

Anthony J. Zeoli at Freeborn & Peters LLP
Online Bio: http://www.freeborn.com/attorney/anthony-j-zeoli

Contact:  312-360-6798 (Phone); azeoli@ freeborn.com (email)
Firm Size: 125 attorneys ($$$).  Full service law firm, with expertise for all needs.
Clients:  Range from entrepreneurs and small, privately held, businesses to multi-million dollar entities. 
Expertise:  Specializes in the areas of real estate, commercial lending, private equity, securities/private placements, M&A, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, Regulation A+ offerings, and general corporate law. Industry-recognized crowdfunding, Regulation A+ and JOBS Act expert and author of the Illinois Intrastate Crowdfunding Exemption (House Bill 3420).
Industries:  Real estate, crowdfunding/P2P lending, technology, commercial finance and general start-up.

Involvement: Board member and Secretary of the CfPA (Crowdfunding Professional Association) and an active member of CFIRA (Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates); Board member of the New York Distance Learning Association (NYDLA); Mentor and a student advisor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Bruce Zivian at Barnes & Thornberg
Online Bio: https://www.btlaw.com/en/people/bruce-zivian
Contact: 312-214-5601 or bzivian @btlaw.com
Firm Size: 600 attorneys in 18 offices in U.S. ($$$$, but flexible for startups).  Wide range of talent for all needs.
Clients:  policy of non-disclosure.
Expertise:  Formation, fund raising, JV's, distribution, compensation, licensing, IP.  Three recommendations from other lawyers on this list.
Industries: biotech, medical products and devices, web based services, software
Involvement: director Urban Students Empowered


If you think I am missing anybody, or think you should be included in this discussion, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments field below.

For future posts, please follow me at:  www.twitter.com/georgedeeb.com


-