Add one more point of rivalry for denizens of these two great U.S. cities: "who's best for startup companies," New York's Silicon Alley or Chicago's Silicon Prairie?
Weighing in with their two cents is Chicago-based ed-tech company MentorMob, which recently "graduated" among the first class of the (New York City-based) Kaplan EdTech Accelerator.
As reported by George Deeb on Forbes.com:
MentorMob is a rapidly growing startup in the B2C education technology space. The company was founded in Chicago in 2010, and was one of the first tenants of Catapult
Chicago, a shared location facility for startups. In 2013, MentorMob relocated to New York City, to participate in the Techstars/Kaplan Ed Tech accelerator program. The company has had the unique experience of living in the two cities, both with growing startup ecosystems. Vince Leung, MentorMob’s co-founder and CTO, was kind enough to share his experiences, helping us to compare the plusses and minuses of these two startup hotbeds.
The Strengths of New York
- NYC has a more “holistic” perspective in launching startups, assessing perspectives from around the world (compared to Chicago being more insulated by geography and mindset)
- NYC has a larger base of well-established internet companies to help mentor the startups along
- NYC investors are more amenable to B2C startup strategies of gaining traction first and worrying about revenues later (where Chicago investors typical require a clear revenue model and traction out of the gate)
READ Vince's full list of New York and Chicago "pro's" in "New York Or Chicago For Startups? MentorMob Compares Both," (09/25/13) by George Deeb on Forbes.com.
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