overview

In ILC:E&T, members can expect to engage in entrepreneurial projects and learn business fundamentals through discussions, guest speakers, and hands-on learning, ranging from pitching your own startup to local entrepreneurs and investors, to learning the ins and out of the startup lifecycle. ILC:E&T members can expect to leave meetings with thoughtful discussions on current trends, growing startups, and alternative business models, and be exposed to unique opportunities through our partnerships with local Chicago startups, UCIE, and the Polsky Center. Members learn from our general education curriculum, which includes workshops on business fundamentals, entrepreneurship, and more. In addition to our general education curriculm, members have the opportuniy to further their knowledge through our startup analysis track and technology track. During the winter and spring, members will participate in our 100 Days Challenge, where they will work on their own startups and pitch them to real entrepreneurs and venture capitalists across Chicago.

During the Fall, members can expect more emphasis on business fundamental education. Members will gain invaluable practice presenting and pitching through fun competitions, and learn how to create presentations, business plans, and more.

During the Winter and Spring, members will apply their knowledge by creating their own ventures with the help and support of the ILC network during the 100 Days challenge. There will be workshops, demos, and guest speakers throughout this process to support these startups. At the end, members will pitch their startups to real entrepreneurs across Chicago for cash prizes up to 3000 dollars.

In ILC Gen-Ed, we teach you how to build a startup (we’re really good at it, too - in the past year alone our startups have raised over $600k). No matter your background, we’ll teach you the intuition and processes to run a successful business - from identifying a problem to building a product. And at the end of the year, you’ll pitch your idea to earn real money from investors.

The Start-up analysis track is designed for students passionate about entrepreneurship. In this track, we look at why certain companies succeed through case studies, emphasizing value proposition and competitive landscape. Joining this track will give you the opportunity to learn how to identify success in early startups, practice creating pitch decks, and even compete in mock pitch competitions to prepare for the 100 Days Challenge.

ILC's Tech Track enables track members to develop real technical skills to gain a better understanding on how startups go from idea to a real product. Tech track leads will organize workshops, hackathons and other events to help members improve their existing coding skills, introduce them to new languages and provide frameworks/strategies for prototyping. The Tech Track also focuses on teaching practical software development methodologies, such as agile development and version control. The skills learned in this track will allow members to build functional prototypes and minimum viable products (MVP), preparing them for the 100 Days Challenge and beyond.