Chicago is on the cusp of something big. We have fought hard to get to this point. It's been a huge struggle. A lot of people have laid their reputations on the line to make it happen.
However, where there is progress, there is also risk. When I was on the trading floor at CME I used to tell people it was where you could find everything. Everyone from every walk of life was there. Because there was a lot of potential money at stake every day, the floor attracted some pretty unsavory individuals. Don't get me wrong, the floor had some absolutely great people too. But, you sometimes had to navigate some pretty rocky shoals to get around.
The same is true in entrepreneurial ecosystems. My friends from Silicon Valley say there are a lot of sheisters out there looking to feed off the capital and make a quick buck. We also have them here in Chicago.
Raman Chadha wrote a nice little piece on ethics. I suggest you read it. He's right, because these companies are so personal, it's tough to call out the bad actors. But we must if we are to preserve the entire integrity of the ecosystem.
One model we might consider is the honor code at the nation's service academies. They state, "I will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate anyone who does.". Simple, yet so difficult to execute.
Let's think about how we might apply that simple code to the way we do business in our ecosystem. Building a great company, or finding a great company to invest in is hard enough without having to trip over bad guys looking to leech a little money off you.
