UChicago Tech Ventures Demo Day Talks Solving Hard Problems, and Solving Them in Chicago

The importance of solving hard problems – and the benefits of solving them in Chicago – was a key theme during the UChicago Tech Ventures Demo Day, which brought together more than 300 founders and investors during TechChicago Week.

“You can knock down insane technical challenges if you just put your mind to it,” said Pete Shadbolt, cofounder and chief scientific officer of PsiQuantum, during the opening keynote, setting the theme for much of the day.

“Endlessly, I get people in my ears trying to diminish our ambition,” he added, attributing much of the company’s success to being “absolutely pigheaded and insisting that we’re only going to do the real thing.”

“It’s been amazing to see how the engineering team stares it down and grinds forward,” said Shadbolt.

Following pitches from 20 startups working across cleantech, quantum, data science, and AI, a fireside chat closed out the afternoon of presentations.

Michela Wilde, go to market strategy and operation at Google, moderated the discussion between Jonathan Ozeran, VP of generative AI at Tempus AI, and Connor Hund, chief operating officer at NanoGraf.

As he’s told many similar rooms, Ozeran said, “I feel very strongly that you should stay here.”

“We need to believe in this town. To believe in Chicago and why we’re building here. It’s game over if we don’t,” he added. “I want more ‘rah, rah Chicago.’”

Closing out this thought, Ozeran summed up his advice in short: “Don’t leave.”

Connor Hund, chief operating officer at NanoGraf, echoed this sentiment, specifically citing the presence of several world-class universities as key to the innovation ecosystem.

“We’ve personally benefited from all the talent here and all those resources that the universities offer,” said Hund. “We wouldn’t be here today if not for those tools.”

He also noted the increasing amount of government support at the state level and the importance of buy-in from external stakeholders and partners.

Compared to the “glory days” of funding in 2021/22, Hund said there is a lot more focus now on partnerships with larger organizations.

“You need to be telling a story that’s going to resonate with investors… that story – that’s much more partnerships focused and much less pure equity.”

Hund closed with two pieces of additional advice. His first, “Try to solve hard problems – and stick with it, because it is difficult.” His last, focused on the importance of pivoting.

“If your company is around for more than a decade then the business plan you pitch today will not be the thing. You’re going to need to pivot,” he said. “We are seeing a world where things are changing rapidly,” he added, noting the importance, at least in the hardware space, of “building in a flexible, dynamic way… not to what the current component is, but to a range of possibilities.”