37 Signals is one of Chicago’s best start-up stories and one of the most prominent, internationally. Their business model is building work productivity web apps, like project management tool Basecamp and contact management tool Highrise. A “freemium” business, 37 Signals offers basic service from their apps for free while charging monthly subscription fees for larger service offerings. They also dip their toe into revenue streams from advertising and even a book on their project management/development philosophy.

You may see a re-occurring theme of Chicago tech start-ups using open source development tools. 37 Signals doesn’t just use open source tools, the Ruby on Rails framework so popular with open source developers spun out of 37 Signals (they’re arguably more famous for their affiliation with Ruby on Rails than for their very popular web apps). (more…)

You might remember Tom Thorton as the head of the Illinois Coalition or the Illinois Technology Development Alliance. You might remember Tom as a managing partner with divine interVentures. For a decade, he was an exceedingly accessible fixture on the tech scene and an important man to know for early stage companies. Then in 2006, he up and left town for Kansas, a state getting more headlines at the time for their disregard for the theory of evolution than their commitment to technology. When a person leaves a company, a common practice is give them an “exit interview” and find out why they’re leaving. Chicago Tech News recently spoke with Tom to the get that exit interview on how one of our communities more prominent members left that. Come to find out, Tom really did find greener grass in Kansas.
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