After a month apart, our third cohort of portfolio companies reconvened in Chicago for the second of four intensives as part of our accelerator program. This group of entrepreneurs continued to impress us with the strides they’ve made since we last met. They’ve increased their client bases, grown their internal teams, and have powered campaigns and organizations across the country.
During this intensive, our companies focused on improving their customer, pricing, and sales strategies. We were joined by Caroline Goggin, founder of Upcause PR, to teach us about communicating brand and value to customers and to the press, as well as HGL partner Andrew McLaughlin, who facilitated a working session on SaaS pricing. Our cohort heard from staffers on campaigns across the ballot and major progressive organizations to understand their approaches to building their tech stacks. Our founders got plenty of practice and coaching with their customer pitches, which they will be presenting at our next intensive in DC. We closed out the week with hearing an inspiring keynote address from David Simas, CEO of the Obama Foundation.
While this was an action-packed week, we saved some time for fun as well. We watched the White Sox slay the Astros 4 to 1 (and some were in head-to-toe Bears gear!), co-hosted a VIP happy hour reception with Wicklow Capital, and finished off the week with a concert and picnic in Millennium Park.
We wanted to extend our deepest thanks to all of these folks who joined us in August and made the week so meaningful and productive:
- Caroline Goggin, Upcause PR
- Steven Galanis, Cameo
- Shola Farber, Tuesday Company
- Jesse Thomas, CrowdPac
- James Slezak, Swayable
- Graham Wilson, Perkins Coie
- Sarah Eberhard, 270 Strategies
- Anthony Millin, NEXT powered by Shulman Rogers
- Kyle Layman, DCCC
- Bridget Halligan, Pete for America
- Chris Bolling, VA Democrats
- Stephanie Gent, Everytown for Gun Safety
- Rachel Hall, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
- Danielle Butterfield, Priorities USA
- Matt Ewing, Swing Left
- David Simas, Obama Foundation
