Chicago Lean Startup Circle

The Chicago Lean Startup Circle is a group of smart and driven high-tech entrepreneurs that have learned how to discover customers and build products they want.

Lean Startups (which can include for profit and not for profit organizations, new product/innovation organizations within larger companies and even government agencies) achieve success faster than most because they get out of the building to talk to customers, validate business model assumptions as quickly and cheaply as possible, use agile development to decrease time to market and leverage continuous deployment to learn as fast as possible.

Our mission attracts the brightest entrepreneurs in the Midwest and beyond and help them reduce risk and find a path to success. Our guest speakers like Eric Ries, Mike Evans, Brant Cooper, Patrick Vlaskovits and Troy Henikoff share their stories and techniques so we can all learn from each other.

Most of our previous events are recorded; you can find videos and slides from our events here.

Follow ChicagoLean on twitter and the #leanstartup hashtag

* The Lean Startup is a trademark and service mark owned by Eric Ries. *

Join us

Who do I know here?

Join us and be the first to know when new Meetups are scheduled

By creating a Meetup account, you agree to the Terms of Service

Chicago Entrepreneurs Sharing Lessons Learned

Join and suggest a new Meetup

Meetup
June Lean Startup
- Thu Jun 21
  5:30 PM
- → RSVP
- 9 attending
- 141 spots left
- 0 comments
Price:

$10.00 per person

RSVP deadline:

Jun 20, 2012 2:30 PM
1871

222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, 12th Floor Chicago, Illinois 60654, Chicago, IL (map)
Details to follow Learn more

Hosted by: Todd Wyder (Co-Organizer), and Bernhard Kappe (Organizer)
Meetup
July Lean Startup
- Thu Jul 19
  5:30 PM
- → RSVP
- 2 attending
- 148 spots left
- 0 comments
Price:

$10.00 per person

RSVP deadline:

Jul 19, 2012 2:30 PM
1871

222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, 12th Floor Chicago, Illinois 60654, Chicago, IL (map)
Details to follow Learn more

Hosted by: Todd Wyder (Co-Organizer), and Bernhard Kappe (Organizer)
Meetup
August Lean Startup
- Thu Aug 16
  5:30 PM
- → RSVP
- 2 attending
- 148 spots left
- 0 comments
Price:

$10.00 per person

RSVP deadline:

Aug 16, 2012 2:30 PM
Illinois Technology Asociation

200 South Wacker Drive, 15th Floor,, Chicago, IL (map)
Details to follow Learn more

Hosted by: Todd Wyder (Co-Organizer), and Bernhard Kappe (Organizer)
Meetup
September Lean Startup
- Thu Sep 20
  5:30 PM
- → RSVP
- 2 attending
- 148 spots left
- 0 comments
Price:

$10.00 per person

RSVP deadline:

Sep 20, 2012 2:30 PM
Illinois Technology Asociation

200 South Wacker Drive, 15th Floor,, Chicago, IL (map)
Details to follow Learn more

Hosted by: Todd Wyder (Co-Organizer), and Bernhard Kappe (Organizer)
Meetup
October Lean Startup
- Thu Oct 18
  5:30 PM
- → RSVP
- 2 attending
- 148 spots left
- 0 comments
Price:

$10.00 per person

RSVP deadline:

Oct 18, 2012 2:30 PM
Illinois Technology Asociation

200 South Wacker Drive, 15th Floor,, Chicago, IL (map)
Details to follow Learn more

Hosted by: Todd Wyder (Co-Organizer), and Bernhard Kappe (Organizer)
More Meetups

Recent Meetups

May 17 at 6:00 PM, 133 Members attended
Find a Cofounder Night - Speed Dating
They rated it 3.0025 (25 ratings)

“
Great event, but it could be better organized. ...

—Brad Gerstein

“
Intro remarks a touch too long, great content though. Noise levels very high and rotations infrequent. ...

—Dan Marks
April 19 at 5:30 PM, 270 Members attended
Lean Startups Invade 1871
They rated it 4.0033 (33 ratings)

“
Volume was weak in the room.

—Aaron Zeitner

“
The content has been stronger and more focused at past Meetups. ...

—Bob Hedgcock
March 29 at 5:30 PM, 160 Members attended
Groupon: Using Lean Startup Principles to Manage Hypergrowth - Post IPO Update
They rated it 4.5017 (17 ratings)

“
Excellent meeting and presentation. Would have liked a greeter or registration desk - this was my first meeting and felt lost. ...

—David

“
Great meeting. Only drawback was that it started 90 minutes late.

—Anthony Bertolini
January 12 at 6:00 PM, 106 Members attended
Lean UX with LUXr's Lane Halley
They rated it 4.5013 (13 ratings)

“
Informative and excellent presentation/energy. Venue left a little to be desired.

—Mike Leahy

“
Presentation was great. My only complaints were with the format and presentation techical difficulties. ...

—Jeremy Spencer
December 15, 2011 at 6:30 PM, 220 Members attended
Chicago Lean Startup Challenge Finals: Four Startups Pitch for $75,000
They rated it 4.0022 (22 ratings)

“
All were good. All well done. ...

—James R Pitcher Jr

“
I thought the event was well planned and executed. I look forward to future startup pitch challenges. Rich

—Richard Alesky

See all past Meetups

What's new

See all photos
New Member

PJ joined
7 hours ago

"I'm exploring the start-up path for wireless sensor network solutions and want to learn more about the start-up scene an opportunities in Chicago."
New RSVP

JC Grubbs RSVPed Yes for June Lean Startup
7 hours ago

Jun 21

June Lean Startup
Thursday 5:30 PM at 1871

9 attending
New Member

Oscar Aabech Jung joined
Yesterday at 7:44 PM

"Just moved here from the Valley and brewing a cool startup! Former Groupon VP in Asia"
New Member

Christopher joined
Saturday at 4:36 PM

"I am the founder of Feltpad Inc, creators of The Mosaic Photo System. www.feltpad.net www.MosaicPhotoSystem.com"
New Member

Farhaan Shaikh joined
Saturday at 12:59 PM

"I am a student majoring in Teaching of Chemistry at UIC. I have a lot of tech ideas. For any of them to come into existence, I will need people, friends, partners who can help me translate thoughts into reality. This is the essence of job creation."
New Member

Joaquin Aguilar joined
Saturday at 9:11 AM

"Hi! I'm considering starting a business in the future."
New Discussion

Fred Grott started Funded Startups:Want An Android Application Prototype?
Saturday at 6:38 AM

"So you have seen the reports that 54% of the US uses an android smart-phone...."

Read more…
New Member

Alex Kazerooni joined
Friday at 7:10 PM

"New to CHI, instructed R&D VC course"
New Member

Fred Grott joined
Friday at 4:56 PM

"Build android prototype applications for start-ups."
New Member

Roderick Monje joined
Friday at 1:48 PM

"I've written publishing systems in Java for the US Army & Starbucks, sold a web-consulting company, and now work on mobile apps. For fun, I also run a Google Maps/Amazon mash-up for finding books that take place where you travel, novelsonlocation.com"