WE'RE LIVE: @1871tech's CEO Betsy Ziegler talks about how Chicago’s flagship startup hub went from a 100,000 square foot home at the Merchandise Mart to something bigger than any address: infrastructure for the city’s founders We talked leaving the Mart, SpotHero’s exit, Chicago’s next big categories, and her health journey to six months of remission 📺 youtube.com/watch?v=xb3vwLxj… Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:28 My first memory of 1871 1:18 The Momentum Awards speech 2:56 Leaving the Merchandise Mart 5:25 How Betsy communicated the move 7:31 The rumor that 1871 shut down 8:23 1871 as infrastructure, not an address 11:41 Who 1871 serves today 14:07 Programming and convening the right rooms 16:48 Campus 1871 and keeping students in Chicago 19:31 SpotHero’s acquisition by Uber 21:13 Chicago’s next breakout categories 23:13 Civic role and tech policy 25:46 Betsy’s health journey 29:19 Remission, clarity, and legacy @BetsyZEO @landonsloop

CHICAGO: November 12th with Waymo, Ford, Lyft, O’Hare Flyer, and more Bringing together 200 founders and policymakers to discuss the future of transportation in Chicago 🚊 🚙 🚴🚛 Link below @landonsloop

Back in college, I used to borrow the @1871tech podcast space. It was my introduction to Chicago tech Recently, I sat down with CEO @BetsyZEO to talk about 1871’s next chapter and how cancer shaped her outlook on life and leadership Coming soon @landonsloop

Chicago has 39 data centers. What are they powering and are the public's biggest fears true? Brad Tietz from the Data Center Coalition (@DCC_org) helped write the 2019 Illinois data center incentive He joins to talk water, jobs, electricity bills, Chicago's proposed moratorium, and what the next decade of data centers in Chicago should look like 📺 youtu.be/cBt8MpxgARA 0:00 Intro 0:30 What's Changed Since The 2019 Illinois Incentive 2:50 Rewriting the Incentive for the AI Era 4:50 Chicago's 39 Data Centers and Who They Serve 6:53 Why the Non-AI Story Isn't Being Told 8:37 Do Residents Actually Feel Tax Revenue 11:13 Myth #1: Data Centers Drink All Our Water 14:38 Myth #2: Data Centers Don't Create Jobs 16:34 Myth #3: Data Centers Are Raising Electric Bills 20:03 NDAs, Transparency, and Regulation 22:01 Chicago's Next Decade: AI Inference and Smaller Sites 24:16 The Chicago Moratorium and Springfield's Framework 28:18 Is the City Bringing Industry Leaders to the Table? 29:13 Historical Comparisons: Rail, Fracking, and 5G

🎙️ Next up on @landonsloop My conversation with Brad Tietz of the Data Center Coalition @DCC_org 🗄️ 🗄️ 🗄️ Brad helped pass the Illinois data center incentive in 2019 We spoke about what's changed since: - $16B in data center investment in Illinois from 2019 to 2024 - Illinois went from top 3 in the country to outside the top 10 by some rankings - Only 25% of data center workloads are AI. The rest is cloud, banks, hospitals, trading firms, schools - Most of Chicago's 39 data centers are small edge sites, not giant AI campuses - City Colleges and College of DuPage now run 8-week data center certificates that lead to $120k+ jobs Plus the myths everyone keeps repeating about data centers

Speakers at Chicago Builds: Third Rail on Nov 12 ​Lara Dailey, @Waymo Dave Lundy and Kristi Lafleur, @ohareflyer Audrey Wennink, @Metroplanners ​Kevin Green, OTR Transportation ​Michael Fassnacht, @ClaycoInc ​Alderman Red Burnett, 27th Ward ​Kristi Dula, @IllinoisDCEO ​Lou Raizin, Cultural Stadium ​Will Jenkins, @journeydelivers ​More to be announced!

Today’s @landonsloop Planes, Trains, and Automobiles landonsloop.com/p/ohareflyer

Downtown to O'Hare in 15 minutes. That's the promise of @ohareflyer I sat down with CEO Dave Lundy to talk about what it takes to pull off this $2B project in Chicago We spoke why Boring Company never happened and how this project is funded without taking money from the CTA or Metra 📺 youtu.be/gZvIf-CxBAA See Dave speak at Chicago Builds: Third Rail on Nov 12: luma.com/78iclzrl 0:00 Intro 0:30 How do you market a 15-minute train to O'Hare 2:39 Why past attempts like the Boring Company failed 3:56 Battery-electric trains every 15 minutes, no freight delays 5:42 Old Post Office to O'Hare Terminal 2 6:48 New European-style track on existing freight routes 8:06 Project labor agreement and 1,500 construction jobs 9:35 More HQs, conventions and easy layovers 11:05 Safety, full-height gates and ticket price 12:40 No CTA or Metra money: private funding and federal loans 15:14 Where the money is coming from 16:50 Why no Midway Flyer 18:46 Working with the mayor, CDA, CDOT and IDOT 19:42 Downtown station reveal and final rail agreements 21:10 The founding team 23:20 How big things get done 26:05 The 2031 headline

CHICAGO BUILDS: THIRD RAIL 🚊🚊🚊 A summit exploring the future of autonomy, freight, micromobility, and rail in Chicago In partnership with @waymo November 12 in Chicago 🔗 luma.com/78iclzrl

Chicagooooooooo We’re getting the world’s biggest supercomputing and HPC conference next month So we’re running a local AI hackathon right before @Supercomputing Partnering with @CtrlIQ @nvidia @VAST_Data @moonlite @Lenovo at @drivecapital Apply: luma.com/local-ai-hack-chica…

It shouldn’t take an hour to get to O’Hare 🚊 @ohareflyer wants to cut the trip from downtown to 15 minutes with a battery-powered express train, expected to launch in 2031 I sat down with founder & CEO Dave Lundy to break down the plan Coming soon @landonsloop

Asked @JBPritzker and @cmitchellforlg about the proposed Digital Asset Tax It's the question every crypto startup to trading firm wants answered The tax just got pushed back 6 months We spoke about how filing comments has the power to change policy

We can also thank CEJA for that

WE'RE LIVE: Illinois Governor @JBPritzker and @cmitchellforlg in a room full of Chicago founders, investors, operators, and creators The question: What does Chicago need to get right to win the next decade? Quantum. Nuclear. AI. Data centers. Digital assets. Affordability. Tourism. Creators. Legacy 📺 youtu.be/k-0VRV6MKfo 0:00 Intro 1:02 How the Pritzker-Mitchell Ticket Came Together 2:09 Christian Mitchell’s Journey 3:56 Why Pritzker Chose Christian Mitchell 8:37 What's Unfinished with CEJA 11:45 Nuclear Power, Energy Bills & Rebates 14:30 Making Decisions for the Next 20 Years 19:41 Illinois New AI Cabinet 23:43 What Downstate Illinois Thinks About AI & Data Centers 26:45 Universal Preschool 30:11 Why Does Illinois Approach Quantum and AI So Differently 33:35 Illinois Digital Asset Tax 35:26 Chicago’s Music & Tourism 39:03 Keeping Young Creators in Illinois 40:05 Growing SMB in Illinois 43:52 Christian Mitchell on His Legacy @landonsloop

Congrats to my guy @garrycooperjr and his team LFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 🧫⚗️🧬🧪🥼🚀

SUPERCOMPUTE CHICAGO ❗❗❗ The world’s largest HPC conference comes to Chicago next month Thousands of people working across AI infrastructure, energy, data centers, and chips will be in town from around the world We’re doing a ton the weekend leading up to it. More on that soon... 👀 In the meantime, reply below or DM me if you’re interested in being part of the community we’re building around it

Did you know @Cloudflare’s first data center was in Chicago