., one of Chicago's most interesting startups, solving a looming labor shortage in farming with self-driving tractors.
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John Pletz
@johnpletz
I cover tech, startups, weed and airlines Business. It's an eclectic mix of things that can take off and get you high. jpletz@crain.com
John Pletz’s Tweets
A huge loss for Chicago and Illinois. Few people understood public finance as well as Laurence Msall. I'll miss his wisdom, wit and candor.
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Illinois marijuana sales rose in January at their fastest clip since summer, although prices are slipping.
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Hard to argue with this. analyst Helane Becker's take on more winter or less: 'Regardless of whether the groundhog sees his shadow, we will have 6 more weeks of winter. Spring arrives on March 20, 2023 at 5:24 PM; that's 6.5 weeks from today. So, winter it is.'
After just 17 days, a former top executive at #OutcomeHealth handed over his laptop and phone to CEO Rishi Shah.
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Ever wonder how Willie Wilson became a millionaire? Justin Laurence has the story. A trip to Bentonville helped.
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If you follow the Illinois cannabis industry, take note of this departure announced today by :
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Braintree founder cashed out in one of Chicago's biggest tech exits, then focused on self-improvement and turning back time. He takes the quantified self to a whole new level.
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You knew that any discussion about and monopoly would include Jerry Mickelson of Jam Productions. “In 1996, Jam produced 100 concerts in arenas, But in 2011, one year after the (Live Nation-Ticketmaster) merger, that decreased to 46 concerts.”
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Female founder in our portfolio said to me today: “Well, when we only receive 2% of the VC dollars, it’s always a recession for us. We just have to convince the market otherwise.”
Can’t stop thinking about this powerful statement.
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We were at Dank Haus for Open House Chicago in 2019 when a kindly man offered to take our picture. I couldn’t place his face, but I knew his voice immediately. It was our best friend in the whole world . RIP and condolences to the entire family.
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Chicago had a record year for venture capital investment in 2022, says. But don't expect a repeat anytime soon. That said, VC investment in Chicago companies is holding up better than many places right now.
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Raccoon tracks in concrete 🦝
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.'s Scott Kirby says planning for a return to the old days (pre-COVID) in the aviation business is a fool's errand. 'You can’t run your airline like it’s 2019 or you will fail.' The new reality requires investment, not hope.
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. took advantage of a historic downturn in travel to renovate its airport lounges, increasing club space 48%. The new club at is a good example of the strategy at work.
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More than three years after they were indicted, the founders of Outcome Health will get their day in court.
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. sets aside $3.5M from COVID saliva-test spinout to seed tech-training endowment at , which it hopes to grow to $50M.
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., a Chicago unicorn backed by JB Pritzker's former venture fund, , and Goldman Sachs, has been acquired.
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It was a welcome upgrade
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Killing time today at O'Hare? Take a peek inside @United's new lounge. It's a major upgrade from the old United Club. chicagobusiness.com/airlines-airpo
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Killing time today at O'Hare? Take a peek inside 's new lounge. It's a major upgrade from the old United Club.
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Tech exec Mike Gamson named CEO at biotech startup Evozyne
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Why and are spending more time at and other campuses.
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Weed sales topped $1.5B in Illinois but lost momentum at the end. Will new stores reignite growth?
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. picked to lead a group of top universities that are taking the next big step in computing with $40M from industry and government sources.
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. doubles down on startups with deep-tech accelerators and a $25M venture fund.
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. shows off ’ new offices at Marshall Field’s with and .
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. lays off 150 employees ahead of CEO transition. It's the latest in a string of tech layoffs.
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. says weed delivery is worth considering. He also defends the state's licensing strategy, saying it may give social-equity owners a lift in the long run. chicagobusiness.com/cannabis/pritz
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Big Weed was already having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year before Mitch McConnell showed up.
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'I believe in crypto as a potential store of value. It would be useless to pay with Bitcoin on Uber. The friction costs are too high at this point. The environmental costs make no sense. It would be more than the car,' tells .
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'We need more drivers: We don’t have a demand problem. We have a supply problem. That’s one of the reasons we are investing in safety.'
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