The May Report: 12/15/2010: Holiday parties in full bloom: MIT-EF revelry was on a big ship moored to the harbor and no one got sea sick; We’re back again to the non-transparent and irksome ITA policies with respect to meeting and party attendance; Greg Brown of Motorola Solutions one of 20 CEOs to meet with President Obama today; January 4, 2011 is the big stock split day for MOTO — if you paid $4 a share, you’re sitting pretty; OK, what is SCRUM?; Bob Geras rumored to have been in Hong Kong recently

Editor and publisher: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com , 773-525-3944.

Assistant editor: Melanie Adcock, iPHONE: 312-259-0610, melanie_adcock@msn.com

If you missed an article, go here: www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
___________________________
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___________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

– Ashley Gross’ report about tech start-ups on WBEZ [Editor's note: May here. Ashley was at the Funding Feeding Frenzy event taping some of the presentations]
– Melanie Adcock explains her issues with the ITA’s policy of not allowing non-members to attend events and their policy of not allowing individuals to join

[Editor's note: May here. Melanie is not the only person who has this issue. And the history of the issue goes back long before Melanie was associated with me and TMR. I had a good talk at the MIT-EF party with Irv Michaels of Administaff Tuesday night. He cannot go to the ITA either and is disturbed by the lack of inclusiveness in their policies. The firm he works for is international and publicly traded but they don't have a local marketing budget for membership. It is ironic that one should have such problems with the ITA since it is a local organization and not constrained by any national headquarters that is calling the shots on such matters.]
– Anonymous: Ron, why do you have to be an AH? Will you ever learn?
– Don Samuelson: Kudos
– Anthony Kolton: Twenty months later, thanks for the suggestion that I lose weight
– Melanie Adcock: Mobile Experts please weigh in…
– Thursday, December 16: Digital Bootcamp: Mobile Apps & Marketing: GrubHub, The Meatyballs Mobile
– Briefly noted, by Ron May
– Koowie Launches New Social Network
– ScaleWell Chicago Grant 3 Is Open
– Wednesday, December 29: [Chicago-Lean-Startup-Circle] Join me at the Bootstrappers Breakfast
– Uki Lucas: GrubHub.com invitation + Chicago Android NEWS
– Thermo Fisher deals $2.1B in cash for Dionex
– Dawn Geras: Did I miss the report on the IVCA dinner?
– Alex Pyatetsky: TheHOTH
– A special request from Theresa Carter & The Local Tourist
_____________________________
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_________________________________
The Scoop section:
________________________
Ashley Gross’ report about tech start-ups on WBEZ [Editor's note: May here. Ashley was at the Funding Feeding Frenzy event taping some of the presentations]

Subject: RE: Ashley, when do you think your report on the tech world will be aired?
Date: 12/14/2010 4:32:12 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: agross@wbez.org
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Hi Ron – I think it’s going to air at 6:20 am and 8:20 am tomorrow (91.5 FM), but I’m not totally sure because they’re also doing a pledge drive tomorrow.

Thanks again for your help!

Ashley Gross

Reporter

WBEZ 91.5 FM

848 E. Grand Ave.

Chicago IL 60611

Tel: 312-948-4671

Listen at www.wbez.org

——————————————————————————–

From: RONALDMAY@aol.com [mailto:RONALDMAY@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2010 8:40 PM
To: Ashley Gross
Cc: ronaldmay@aol.com
Subject: Ashley, when do you think your report on the tech world will be aired?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Subject: WBEZ 95.1 FM’s Ashley Gross Mentions Funding Feeding Frenzy Event
Date: 12/15/2010 2:17:24 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

I spoke with Ashley Gross from WBEZ 95.1 FM today. What a nice lady! She told me her audio piece about Chicago’s Start up Community is available to listen to online by visiting here:

www.wbez.org/story/andrew-mason/groupon-ignites-chicago-startup-boom

Make sure when you visit the link to click on the button that says Listen to this story. Here is the corresponding article also written by Ashley Gross.

Groupon ignites Chicago startup boom

Now that the dust has settled and it’s clear the online discount company Groupon has reportedly walked away from six billion bucks from Google.

We wanted to find out what else is going on in Chicago’s tech scene. Turns out, the hog butcher for the world may in fact be moving toward a cyber future.

Ashish Rangnekar unlocks a door in Groupon’s sprawling headquarters in the old Montgomery Ward building.

He’s leading me to the office of Watermelon Express, his test-prep software company.

RANGNEKAR: And then we are here.

In this building, Watermelon Express is like a tiny barnacle stuck to the side of the Groupon battleship.

It’s an example of how Groupon is transforming the culture of Chicago, creating the right atmosphere for small companies like this one to get a start.

RANGNEKAR: I would say the last nine months have been phenomenal. I would not want to be in any other city but Chicago right now.

And here’s the lineage to Groupon.

Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell are serial entrepreneurs who bankrolled Groupon.

They discovered Rangnekar at the University of Chicago business school and funded his company in July.

It’s one of eight startups they’ve invested in this year out of a new $100 million dollar fund.

Keywell says Chicago’s tech scene is starting to get the ego it needs to rival Silicon Valley.

KEYWELL: There are enough successes now in our community that young entrepreneurs can look at those successes and say to themselves I can absolutely do it here, I can do it here in a unique way that I probably couldn’t do it on the West Coast, and time to go, let’s do it.

And that’s a big change.

This city has long trailed Silicon Valley, New York, DC, even Dallas-Fort Worth in tech jobs.

And get a load of this – Netscape, PayPal, YouTube – those could have been Chicago companies.

Their founders studied at the University of Illinois but then quickly left for Silicon Valley.

Groupon founder Andrew Mason says Chicago lacks a kind of entrepreneurial savvy and he says that even applies to himself.

MASON: It didn’t even really occur to me that there were people out there who would give you money on the promise that maybe someday it would turn into more money. I just was lucky enough to work for Eric Lefkofsky, who heard about one of my ideas and said hey, stupid, why don’t you drop out of school and we can turn this into a company together?

There are lots of theories about why the city’s lacked that entrepreneurial spark… everything from an aversion to risk to a fear of failure.

But now long-time observers like Steve Kaplan say Chicago is becoming more of a place to launch great business ideas.

He’s a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago.

KAPLAN: I’ve had in my office a couple of East Coast venture capital firms saying we now view Chicago as a place to look for businesses – that didn’t happen, that hasn’t happened in my memory.

Chicago investors are also getting in on the action.

INVESTOR: I may have blanked out but did you say how much money you’re looking for and what you’re going to do with it?
BUSINESS OWNER: Yeah, we’ll be looking for approximately $500,000.

At this event called the Funding Feeding Frenzy, CEOs pitched their ideas to investors.

Scenes like this have been taking place a lot this year in Chicago.

As for what it would take for Chicago to become the next Silicon Valley, Andrew Mason of Groupon has this characteristically goofy take.

Remember, he’s the kind of CEO who once hired a man to walk around the office in a tutu just for laughs.

MASON: What’s made Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is the fact that there have been a lot of great companies that start there and then they get big and they get too big and they become a sucky place to work and then all those really smart people that learned so much go off to start their own things. So I think for Chicago to really develop a strong technology community, we need companies like Groupon to get really big and then start to suck and then for all our people to go off and do other things. So I’m actually against the idea of Chicago becoming a technology hub. I just want everybody to work for us and never leave.

He’s mostly joking, but he has hired almost 900 people in Chicago this year.

That alone isn’t enough to create another Silicon Valley, but with other new companies cropping up, it’s a good start.
_____________________________________
Melanie Adcock explains her issues with the ITA’s policy of not allowing non-members to attend events and their policy of not allowing individuals to join

[Editor's note: May here. Melanie is not the only person who has this issue. And the history of the issue goes back long before Melanie was associated with me and TMR. I had a good talk at the MIT-EF party with Irv Michaels of Administaff Tuesday night. He cannot go to the ITA either and is disturbed by the lack of inclusiveness in their policies. The firm he works for is international and publicly traded but they don't have a local marketing budget for membership. It is ironic that one should have such problems with the ITA since it is a local organization and not constrained by any national headquarters that is calling the shots on such matters.]

Subject: RE: ITA Holiday party
Date: 12/15/2010 1:27:00 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Ron (and readers, I’m assuming that Ron will publish this),

Today an ITA member in good standing with the organization strongly encouraged me to register to attend the ITA holiday party. They couldn’t believe the ITA would send messages telling me not to attend their events and asked that I forward them any communication I received from the ITA stating otherwise. I went to the site, registered and received the e-mail below. My worry is the ITA will e-mail me back another note and tell me I can’t go because I am not a member. I will then have to send them some type of reply saying I was invited by a member and tell them who I was invited by. Even then they might not let me go, even if I pay the money to attend. I say this because this sort of thing has been a hassle before. I wouldn’t have bothered if it weren’t for this person’s encouragement. The last thing I would ever want is trouble from the ITA. It would be nice if they surprised me and didn’t pitch a fit about a non-member registering for their members’ only event. After all, it is the holiday season.

One of the professional projects I’ve done this year is manage a team of 8 international IIT students for an internship project with MobileAppEx. I had two spaces ask me if the students would like to use their space for the project. One of them was the ITA and I was touched they would offer that. I ended up going with another space because that space was more suitable for the nature of the IIT internship and the students’ needs. I remember you wrote about that because I told you what I was up to but it wasn’t really a personal decision on my part of choosing the location. I felt bad because I didn’t want to come across as dissing the ITA in any way. They are always getting slammed in this report, but I’ve tried my best personally to avoid doing that because I feel having good relations is important. It’s been my hope that I can serve as a positive bridge for the community in this area and try to do some good. It may not be possible- it certainly isn’t easy- but I have tried.

For several years I was a member of the ITA while I was working at the SAVO Group. During that time I easily attended more events at the ITA than any other employee at SAVO and handed out hundreds of business cards there in efforts to promote where I was working and meet people in the tech community. People I met from that time have become dear friends of mine.

Sarah Habansky, an ITA employee, is a great person, someone I have a great deal of respect for and genuinely like. Because she is a subscriber of this report I felt it was important to address her needs and I posed the question, “What would someone like Sarah want when they read The May Report?” It is a good question to ask because in answering it this report improves not only for Sarah and the ITA but for the community as well. I’m not sure she wants attention really, but she’s someone I care about a lot. To bring a sense of balance to what we do I think it’s important to consider what we can do to grow, learn, stretch and even empathize. In bringing the issue of Sarah up to you it didn’t quite get the results I was hoping for from either of you but I’m still going to try. I’ve not lost all hope. She did defriend me on Facebook, but she’s not my enemy. She was just trying to protect herself from The May Report. Sarah Habansky symbolizes the Mt. Everest of what I hope we can tackle at TMR. I’m not saying we should be fake and launch a phony customer service effort. In being more aware of her needs and others like her it enables us to add something new and different to the report. I wasn’t trying to start trouble! I was trying to help. I may have failed that time but I will not give up the effort to create something good.

Finally, my future looks bright for next year and the stage has been set for my troubles with the ITA’s event policies to be over soon. As well, we’ll be working in local tech media endeavoring to make a positive impact. Part of that will be advising teams of other aspiring local tech writers about what’s important to write about. There will be a small army of tech writers out there, many of whom will be new to the scene and listening to me about who’s hot and who’s not. The ITA has over 150 member companies. These companies can and will get written about with or without the mention or help of the ITA. It’s their call, and I hope to that end they will not burn the bridge with me because of their policies. I’ll let you know if I end up going to this event.

-Melanie Adcock

From: headquarters@illinoistech.org
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 3:59 PM
To: melanie@mobileappex.com
Subject: ITA Registration Confirmation: 6th Annual ITA Holiday Party

Thank you for registering for “6th Annual ITA Holiday Party” on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.

Your registration has been received and a place foryou has been reserved.

Event Location: Fado Irish Pub , 100 West Grand Avenue, Chicago

We look forward to your attendance at this event.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact ITA staff at headquarters@illinoistech.org.

Illinois Technology Association (ITA)
TechNexus | 200 S. Wacker Drive, 15th Floor | Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 435-2805 | headquarters@illinoistech.org
_________________________________________
Illinois Technology Association (ITA)
200 S. Wacker Drive, 15th Floor
Chicago, IL 60606
headquarters@illinoistech.org

Hey there, ITA Staff-

I was invited by an ITA member to your holiday party who wanted me there. I tried to tell them I’d get a message like the one below but they didn’t believe me. Compared to past messages like this I’ve received this message is better for two reasons: 1) It comes from “headquarters” and not a person. This puts more emphasis on your policies and makes it feel less like a person is telling me this. 2) This looks like a form letter that you’ve put some thought into and it comes across as more professional overall.

I realize I will not be the only person receiving this form letter and it’s not a personal issue. Since I’ve started helping out with The May Report I’ve learned that many people come to Ron to complain about all types of issues. These specific messages from the ITA are one of these issues. I hope that by pointing out the positive I am doing something good to help the community and the ITA.

One of the things I feel I’m guilty of is trying too hard to have positive relationships with people I care about a lot. I care a lot about you guys and your organization. I hope next year we can look at ways I can help you. Let’s not burn the bridge.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday party and the happiest of holidays.

Kind regards,

Melanie Adcock

Melanie -

Thank you for your interest in the ITA Holiday Party.

Per the registration page, the ITA Holiday Party is reserved for members and guests invited by ITA.

As you are not a current member, your registration cannot be confirmed.

Happy Holidays.

—–Original Message—–
From: Headquarters ITA
Sent: Tue 12/14/2010 3:34 PM
To: melanie@mobileappex.com
Subject: ITA Registration Confirmation: 6th Annual ITA Holiday Party

Thank you for registering for “6th Annual ITA Holiday Party” on Wednesday,
December 15, 2010 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.

Your registration has been received and a place for you has been reserved.

Event Location: Fado Irish Pub , 100 West Grand Avenue, Chicago

We look forward to your attendance at this event.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact ITA staff at
headquarters@illinoistech.org .

Illinois Technology Association (ITA)
TechNexus | 200 S. Wacker Drive, 15th Floor | Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 435-2805 | headquarters@illinoistech.org

Hey there, ITA Staff-

I was invited by an ITA member to your holiday party who wanted me there. I tried to tell them I’d get a message like the one below but they didn’t believe me. Compared to past messages like this I’ve received this message is better for two reasons: 1) It comes from “headquarters” and not a person. This puts more emphasis on your policies and makes it feel less like a person is telling me this. 2) This looks like a form letter that you’ve put some thought into and it comes across as more professional overall.

I realize I will not be the only person receiving this form letter and it’s not a personal issue. Since I’ve started helping out with The May Report I’ve learned that many people come to Ron to complain about all types of issues. These specific messages from the ITA are one of these issues. I hope that by pointing out the positive I am doing something good to help the community and the ITA.

One of the things I feel I’m guilty of is trying too hard to have positive relationships with people I care about a lot. I care a lot about you guys and your organization. I hope next year we can look at ways I can help you. Let’s not burn the bridge.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday party and the happiest of holidays.

Kind regards,

Melanie Adcock

Melanie -

Thank you for your interest in the ITA Holiday Party.

Per the registration page, the ITA Holiday Party is reserved for members and guests invited by ITA.

As you are not a current member, your registration cannot be confirmed.

Happy Holidays.

Illinois Technology Association (ITA)
200 S. Wacker Drive, 15th Floor
Chicago, IL 60606
headquarters@illinoistech.org

—–Original Message—–
From: Headquarters ITA
Sent: Tue 12/14/2010 3:34 PM
To: melanie@mobileappex.com
Subject: ITA Registration Confirmation: 6th Annual ITA Holiday Party

Thank you for registering for “6th Annual ITA Holiday Party” on Wednesday,
December 15, 2010 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.

Your registration has been received and a place for you has been reserved.

Event Location: Fado Irish Pub , 100 West Grand Avenue, Chicago

We look forward to your attendance at this event.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact ITA staff at
headquarters@illinoistech.org .

Illinois Technology Association (ITA)
TechNexus | 200 S. Wacker Drive, 15th Floor | Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 435-2805 | headquarters@illinoistech.org
_____________________________________
Anonymous: Ron, why do you have to be an AH? Will you ever learn?

From: wised28419@mypacks.net
Subject: Why do you need to be an a**hole so much? Will you ever learn?
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:58:24 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
To: The May Report

MadMay,

Why the fu** do you have to add stupid, snide, negative snippets to parts of your report when you could just “report” the news and not try to insult people? Your readers might take you more seriously if you could just behave and play nice sometimes. There’s no need to cut down people in the nasty and mean way that you do,

You’re anything but a mensch and when the time comes, I feel sorry for you. And its coming baby, its coming.

Here’s what pissed me off this time:

Tech The Halls draws 170 on a cold wintry night and yours truly stays until 3am or when the last dog dies — and no Rollyson, Dalka or Willinger so it was a good night

What does the fact that a couple of people weren’t there matter to the fact that the event successfully drew 170 people, and you, despite your bad health and need for rest, stayed until the 3am end?

And I wasn’t there. Why didn’t you mention that? Why pick on a random 3?

Ronnie baby, the other sick Ronnie in Chicago died last week.

Haven’t you learned anything from Santo? This city mourned not because he was the worst baseball broadcaster in history. This city loved one of the nicest people in the world, who never said anything bad about anyone, who always looked for the positives, who saw the glass half full, who didn’t even understand when people were laughing at him while they were laughing with him. Boy, he was naive. He was a lousy broadcaster, but a really good guy.

You? In your mind maybe. Noplace else.

Santo on one end of the spectrum. May, over the edge on the other side.

Think about it Ronnie. Quickly, before its too late.

A friend. Who thinks you have something good in your soul, but you won’t let it out.
______________________________________
Don Samuelson: Kudos

From: DSSA310@aol.com
Subject: Re: The May Report: 12/12/2010: With all the hoopla about Grouoon, it’s nice …
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 23:33:52 EST
To: ron@themayreport.com

Ron:
Your reports are increasingly easy to read. Kudos.

Don Samuelson

In a message dated 12/12/2010 8:16:14 P.M. Central Standard Time, ron@themayreport.com writes:
____________________________________
Anthony Kolton: Twenty months later, thanks for the suggestion that I lose weight

From: Anthony Kolton
Subject: Re: The May Report: 12/12/2010: With all the hoopla about Grouoon, it’s nice to know that some firms that grew slowly, steadily and were founded in 1999 have finally made out A-OK: SurePayroll is sold for $115MM in cash to PayChex (PAYX) with promises that things will stay in tact; the VCs get their $17MM back and then some; Troy Henikoff and Michael Alter are happy campers; Tech The Halls draws 170 on a cold wintry night and yours truly stays until 3am or when the last dog dies — and no Rollyson, Dalka or Willinger so it was a good night
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:44:06 -0600
To: The May Report

Ron
Thanks for your comment on my weight
I have been working out and have lost 20 pounds!
Tony

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 12, 2010, at 8:08 PM, “The May Report” wrote:
________________________________
May here. When I got this note, I said to myself “Who is Tony Kolton?” I checked the archives and lo and behold, he is the guy who was on the MIT-EF panel in April 2009 at the Merc. He is referring here to this comment in my report:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And surprise, surprise, Tony knows my buddy Lou Borsellino. Lou dresses better though. Tony has a rumpled suede brown suit that won’t button and Lou wears $4,000 suits. Tony is fat and jolly and Polish and Lou is Italian, and pretty serious — at least he was at the trial.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So, to all of those of you who say I am mean and nasty — yes, that is true — but sometimes you have to be brutally honest with people and not mince words to get their attention about problems that need to be addressed. I have done it lately with Jerry Mitchell and here I did it with someone I did not even know and twenty months later, he is thanking me!
___________________________________

Melanie Adcock: Mobile Experts please weigh in…

Subject: Mobile Experts please weigh in…
Date: 12/13/2010 8:46:10 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Hey there, I decided to do an experiment this week and post some questions Ron had about Mobile on the Chicago Android site. We haven’t gotten any responses on the discussion thread yet, but if anyone would like to weigh in please visit this site or send us an e-mail. Thanks! -Melanie

chicagoandroid.com/forum/topics/what-is-involved-with

Hi all,
Ron May, creator of the infamous May Report www.themayreport.com is still trying to understand the basics of Mobile Apps and he asked me a few questions about what is involved. I can answer many of them but I thought I’d pose these questions to the Chicago Android Community to see if we can get some experts to weigh in. I’m going to take your answers and send them to Ron for publication in the report. Please feel free to give me your name and a link to your website or Linkedin Page for inclusion also. Many thanks to this community for your opinions.
-Melanie Adcock melanie_adcock@msn.com
1. What are the steps involved in “launching an app”?
2. Specifically, does the app reside on a server or in the cloud?
3. How is the word disseminated that the app has been launched?
4. Does the person launching the app have any on-going responsibilities after the app is launched such as troubleshooting and maintenance?
5. Does the person or company launching the app make money on it and if so, how?
6. How many apps are there now for the Droid and the iPhone? Where can one get a list of them?
_____________________________
Thursday, December 16: Digital Bootcamp: Mobile Apps & Marketing: GrubHub, The Meatyballs Mobile

Subject: FW: [java-165] Mobile Apps & Marketing: GrubHub, The Meatyballs Mobile
Date: 12/13/2010 8:50:39 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

REGISTRATION ON EVENTBRITE REQUIRED chicagoandroid20101216.eventbrite.com/

Time: December 16, 2010 from 6pm to 8pm

Location: Digital Bootcamp
Street: 25 West Hubbard St.
City/Town: Chicago, IL
Ticket: $15 and includes sandwich, chips and drink

A smartphone is a mobile phone that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary basic feature phone.Smartphones and feature phones may be thought of as handheld computers integrated within a mobile telephone, but while most feature phones are able to run applications based on platforms such as Java ME, a smartphone allows the user to install and run more advanced applications based on a specific platform. Smartphones run complete operating system software providing a platform for application developers. A smartphone can be considered as a Personal Pocket Computer (PPC) with mobile phone functions, because these devices are mainly computers, although quite smaller than a desktop computer (DC). Additionally a PPC (Personal Pocket Computer) is more personal than a DC (desktop computer).

Growth in demand for advanced mobile devices boasting powerful processors, abundant memory, larger screens, and open operating systems has outpaced the rest of the mobile phone market for several years. According to a study by ComScore, over 45.5 million people in the United States owned smartphones in 2010 and it is the fastest growing segment of the mobile phone market, which comprised 234 million subscribers in the United States. Despite the large increase in smartphone sales in the last few years, smartphone shipments only make up 20% of total handset shipments, as of the first half of 2010.

GrubHub will provide a demonstration of their new and improved mobile application. It allows users to Search their address or current location to see every restaurant that delivers to them and allows users order online or by phone. This application is perfect for people looking for takeout and food delivery in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and Boulder.

FEATURES
- Over 13,000 restaurants
- Use your phone’s GPS or enter an address to find out who delivers to you.
- View menus, reviews, and ratings before placing your order.
- Search for restaurants that deliver in 13 major cities: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and Boulder.
- Filter by cuisine, who’s delivering now and who accepts online orders.
- Order online or by phone from thousands of local restaurants.
- Search for specific items, restaurants, & cuisines from the home screen.
- Save multiple addresses so you can order from all your homes away from home.
- View past orders and reorder with one tap.
- Save credit cards so you don’t have to retype all those pesky numbers next time.

GrubHub was founded in 2004 and is the number one place on the Web to find out who delivers to you and allows you to order food online. The two founders, Matt Maloney and Mike Evans, were software engineers in Chicago who found themselves working late one night, lamenting the lack of web sites that would tell them every restaurant they could order from.

They wrote the first business plan on a mustard-stained bar napkin over cold drinks, and ever since then, they have been a company whose sole vision is to be the best destination for ordering food online. They have grown enormously over the past few years from just two to almost 50 employees, secured two rounds of funding from venture capital firms and several angel investors, and have expanded service to over thirteen cities – and counting…

Dinner will be provided by The Meatyballs Mobile
All items are served on an artisan style baguette:
* Meatyballs – Mushrooms, Shallots, Farmstead Cheese Sauce, Truffle Oil
* BBQ Balls – Pulled Pork Shoulder, Red Cabbage, Apples, Cola-Bourbon BBQ Sauce
* Bouilla-Balls – Brandade, Crab, Shrimp, Shellfish, Marseilles Veges, Rouille
* Buffalo Chicken Balls – Blue Cheese, Celery, Spicy Sauce
* Ricotta Balls (Vegetarian) – Ricotta Dumplings, Eggplant Bolognese, Parsley Pesto
* Thai’d Balls – Turkey, Coconut Milk, Thai Chili Sauce, Sweet Peppers
* Game Balls – Venison, Pumpkin, Cranberries, Espresso
* Not Yo’ Daddy’s Balls – Bull’s Testicles in a Pepper and Tomato Ragout

The Meatyballs Mobile is the brain child of chef Phillip Foss.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Foss boasts over 20 years in the culinary arts and has trained in many of the World’s finest kitchens, including significant time logged in New York City at the 4 Star Le Cirque, The Quilted Giraffe, and Lafayette. He has also logged time with 3 Michelin chef, Jacques Maximin in France and has also lived and cooked in Hawaii, Brazil, Israel, and Bermuda.

Since Coming to Chicago in 2007, Chef Foss has become renowned not only for his inventive and award winning cuisine, but also for his wildly popular movement to bring more street cuisine and food trucks onto the Chicago culinary scene.

REGISTRATION ON EVENTBRITE REQUIRED chicagoandroid20101216.eventbrite.com/

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Briefly noted, by Ron May

* Greg Brown of Motorola Solutions was one of 20 CEOs in the room with President Obama in Washington, D.C. today to discuss job creation issues. According to Andrew Skipor who was at MIT-EF last night, the big day for MOTO is January 4, 2011 when the stock will split. They have fewer than 50,000 employees now, Andrew said. The split is 7 to 1. The stock closed at $8.40 yesterday. The two new firms will be the Mobility firm and the Two-way radio and Enterprise Solutions firm which I gather will be called Motorola Solutions. Greg Brown is the CEO of that firm.

* The MIT-EF holiday party was held on the ship at 600 E. Randolph at the Columbia Yacht Club.

I would estimate that there were at least ninety people, including:

Nural Eusufzai

Nancy Munro and her son who is a college senior studying web radio casting

Ted Wallhaus

Sheldon Rosenfield and his wife

Terry Flanagan

Collin Canright

Bob Brill

David Culver

Andrew Skipor is now a program leader in the division of educational programs at Argonne National Labs. He was riffed from Motorola in December 2009.

Spencer Maus

Bill Hartzell

Ray Markman who very generously drove me home and he also helped me find my coat. Ray got a bit lost on the way to Lakeshore Drive but he is a very safe driver. We have something in common. He went to Mizzou in the 1960s when I was in grade school in Columbia, MO. Ray studied journalism.

Roy Klein has some interesting things to say about Jerry Mitchell and his pyramid scheme seminar.

Kent Vincent

Irv Michaels helped me quite a bit last night by walking me to the boat and from the boat.

Scott Miller whose new company name will be announced early next year and it is The Innovation Machine.

Jim Orrico was there, but I did not see him. Scott Miller told me that Jim is the ideal of an entrepreneur, someone who is doing something to make the world a better place and being an entrepreneur at the same time.

Dick Mulvihill who was responsible for the location since he has been a member for thirty years.

Richard Bogdan of www.clearmgt.com.

Bill McDonald

Robert Sansome

Tom Wieser who still won’t gimme his card.

Jessica Lybeck who, along with Erin Hopmann, is hot, hot, hot, both at www.hoply.com.

Mike Nelson of NanoInk who has been one of their longest serving employees.

Lanny Feder

Chris Rollyson

Peter Veen… something

Philippe Lavie who won the Kindle in the raffle last night.

Ray Willis who has a lot of irons in the fire including a meeting at Argonne National Labs today, Wednesday the 15th. He is still running iSoy.

Tom Lemanski

Jack Quill

Tom Gorman

Sid Bennett

Chuck Corush

Phil Berman who just had about 65 people at his 50th birthday party at S.P.A.C.E in Evanston. We talked about iPhone apps and he showed me one that cost $275K to develop and one, Flashlight, developed by John Haney at Lextech, Alex Bratton’s firm, is just a blank screen, but the app is actually making money through advertising. The Joe Krowa Trio played at his birthday party. Phil and his firm Appletite are heavily tied into the music scene. Phil told me that there are currently more than 200,000 iPhone apps and most, he said, don’t make money.

Robert Davidson, tall guy who has the company I wrote about, www.enternetworldwide.com in the write-up of Funding Feeding Frenzy was talking to Culver, Wallhaus, Mulvihill, and Wieser, all tall guys except for Dick Mulvihill.

Jack Trytten, who I haven’t seen in a long time. He does strategic consulting and has lost touch with his old buddies Scott Drucker and Nick Andrus.

Erin Hopmann, along with Jessica Lybeck of www.Hoply.com, both hot, hot, hot.

Tim Curley

Joshua Gutstein, www.cmbec.org where he is a financial analyst tied to the CCV.

Mike Beedle, www.enterprisescrum.com, who is the author of the first book on Agile Software development titled “Agile Software Development in the SCRUM.” This is now the second time in two weeks I have heard the word SCRUM. Joel Berez mentioned it to me on December 1st at the BNC Venture Capital Group and he mentioned it in the context of a new methodology for game development. I have to educate myself on SCRUM.

Not there:
Jason Jacobsohn
Ron Kirschner
Avery Cohen
Rachel Kaberon
Bob Lepkowski
Steve Swibel
Paul Fricke
Bruce Montgomery
Rachel Patterson
Joel Berez
Robert Jacobi
Jack Curley
Len Bland who was with his in-laws in Vegas — where they live.
Rich Kooy
Ray Genellie

I held a very informal gabfest with a few people including an IP lawyer and Scott Miller among others on the question: Was the Groupon-Google deal real and if so, why didn’t it fly?

Some ideas I have not heard anyone suggest before:
– They would have been subject to an anti-trust investigation by DOJ and the SEC
– Too many benchmarks for the deal to be completed
– Only one of their copycat firms has any traction, but I don’t know the name of it.
– With $800MM in sales, no one will catch up to them
– The anti-trust issue is because Google has a lot of market power.

* Melanie has two observations on the ITA invite issue.
1. They have obviously dedicated some time and effort to writing and wordsmithing their rejection letter. That indicates they are giving it thought.
2. By signing the letter ITA Headquarters instead of Mary Pat McGlynn for example, they de-personalize it and make it much more palatable. This way, it avoids personal antagonism.

Melanie does not agree with the overall policy, but she feels that these changes are steps in the right direction.
__________________________________
Koowie Launches New Social Network

Subject: Koowie Launches New Social Network
Date: 12/13/2010 8:34:22 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Ron, Here is an interesting press release about a new Chicago area software. -Melanie

www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/koowie-launches-new-social-network-111787994.html

Koowie Launches New Social Network

Koowie.com takes a new direction in the social networking space.
CHICAGO, Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Peter Shen, Owner, has launched a new social network website called Koowie.com. Koowie is a repository of information where people can publish their thoughts, search for other people’s thoughts and conversations, and connect with others based on shared interests through a dynamic and easy to use interface.
Koowie takes a completely different approach to social networking. Unlike other social network sites, Koowie connects people based on a person’s thoughts or interests through a powerful and quick search engine. Koowie allows all members to post, search, browse, read, and comment on any of the discussions. What separates Koowie from other social websites is that Koowie is engineered not just for great social connections like conversations but for people to post thoughts on social commerce, such as selling, buying and servicing. Koowie is designed to be a repository of information for not just ideas but for products and services as well.
Koowie’s memberships is growing daily and is continually adding new and exciting features. The most recent features include the ability to categorize and add a location to any post, ability to send a discussion thread to a non Koowie member, enhance search engine, and the ability to attach links, pictures, and embed videos to a discussion.
Koowie is located in downtown Chicago, IL:
1917 W Division St., Chicago, IL 60622
Fax: 312-268-7256

Koowie: Connecting people one thought at a time. For more information, go to www.koowie.com.
SOURCE Koowie
Back to top
RELATED LINKS

www.koowie.com/

________________________________
ScaleWell Chicago Grant 3 Is Open

Subject: RE: ScaleWell Chicago Grant 3 Is Open
Date: 12/13/2010 8:34:48 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

ScaleWell Chicago’s 3rd $1000 grant is officially open for applications.

Send us your application here: chicago.scalewell.com/entries/new

or sign up to be a trustee: chicago.scalewell.com/trustees

We’ve publicized the opening of the grant around the internet:

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2002554

www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/elbps/scalewell_chicago_grant_3_open_for_applications/

Feel free to get a discussion going on those sites.

We are changing the process a bit, applications will close two weeks after
we’ve raised $1000 in funds for the grant. We expect it won’t take long so
make sure to submit your application or sign up as a trustee quickly.

Thanks for participating in previous ScaleWell grants. Happy holidays to all and thanks for making this crowd-sourced grant possible!

- Andy Angelos, Sean Corbett
Managing Trustees, ScaleWell Chicago
________________________________
Wednesday, December 29: [Chicago-Lean-Startup-Circle] Join me at the Bootstrappers Breakfast

Subject: FW: [Chicago-Lean-Startup-Circle] Join me at the Bootstrappers Breakfast on December 29th.
Date: 12/13/2010 8:35:12 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

From: bkappe@pathf.com
To: Chicago-Lean-Startup-Circle-list@meetup.com
Subject: [Chicago-Lean-Startup-Circle] Join me at the Bootstrappers Breakfast on December 29th.
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:32:56 -0500

Bootstrappers Breakfast is a great group. Griffin Caprio runs the Chicago chapter that meets for Breakfast on the 4th Wednesday of every month. It’s a group of founders of early stage technology startups comparing notes on operational, development and business issues. I go myself and find it very enlightening. I’m planning on going on the 29th, so I hope to see you there!

Sign up here or go to www.meetup.com/Bootstrappers-Breakfast-Chicago/calendar/15472146/
________________________________

Uki Lucas: GrubHub.com invitation + Chicago Android NEWS

Subject: FW: GrubHub.com invitation + Chicago Android NEWS
Date: 12/13/2010 8:36:39 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Chicago Android NEWS:

GrubHub.com, Meatyballs Mobile on mobile marketing – December 16, 2010 – bit.ly/f3GALc

Google GTUG: HTML5 and Chrome OS – The event is full and registrations are CLOSED bit.ly/fjrQ7x

“Chicago Local Guide” application has been released to Android Market in BETA version. bit.ly/g6XRAT

Notion Ink Adam Tablet is available for Pre-order bit.ly/fMXISq

60 Million Handsets from HTC in 2011 bit.ly/hrnJ9b

Best Android Tablets bit.ly/fdN42V

Best Android Phones bit.ly/gxfvin

Android Market Update bit.ly/eWmCph

Andy Rubin presented Android 3.0. More details about new Motorola Motopad appeared. bit.ly/eB7XfM

Android became No. 2 Smartphone Platform! bit.ly/eBwHcy

Cheers,

Uki D. Lucas
info@ChicagoAndroid.com
Twitter: @UkiDLucas
_________________________________

Thermo Fisher deals $2.1B in cash for Dionex

Subject: Thermo Fisher deals $2.1B in cash for Dionex
Date: 12/13/2010 9:27:59 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Ron, I found this info about Thermo Fisher and decided to send it. Thermo Fisher is headquartered out East however they do have a sizable office in Hanover Park, IL called Fisher Science Education so I thought the readers may find it interesting that they just acquired this company. -Melanie

www.masshightech.com/stories/2010/12/13/daily1-Thermo-Fisher-deals-21B-in-cash-for-Dionex.html

Thermo Fisher deals $2.1B in cash for Dionex

By Rodney Brown
Video Gallery

MHT’s Galen Moore: Mass. companies building to be sold

Regenerative medicine firms make business of creating skin

MHT’s Emerging Technologies Forum: Health IT and the Cloud
Related News
SensorLogic adds $5M financing, new CFO [December 13, 2010]

Catalyst firm Rive Technology raises $25M [December 13, 2010]

Virtual biz service MyVBO records $2.36M round [December 13, 2010]

Wormser Energy gets $130k financing boost [December 13, 2010]

Semprus socks away $18M in Series B funds [December 13, 2010]

Scientific instrument maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. plans to put down $2.1 billion in cash to buy Dionex Corp., a California-based maker of chromatography systems that marketed the first ion chromatography system for analyzing water.

The terms of the deal call for Waltham’s Thermo Fisher (NYSE: TMO) to pay $118.50 per share for each outstanding share of Dionex stock. Thermo Fisher officials say that price is a 32 percent premium over the average price of Dionex (Nasdaq: DNEX) stock in the last 60 trading days. The sale is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of next year.

Founded in 1975, Dionex reported 1,550 employees in September of this year. Thermo Fisher said in a release that it expected to realize “total operating synergies of $60 million in year three following the transaction’s close through a combination of cost savings and revenue enhancements.” Following the close of the sale, Dionex will become part of Thermo Fisher’s Analytical Technologies Segment.

Marc N. Casper, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher, said in the statement that buying Dionex brings the company a number of benefits, and specifically “complements our strong presence in China, where we’ve established the headquarters for our global environmental instruments business.” Dionex gets more than 35 percent of its revenues in Asia-Pacific and other emerging high-growth regional markets, according to officials.

In August Thermo Fisher held the opening of its China Technology Center in Shanghai, established to meet the needs of a growing Chinese customer base, according to the company.

Earlier this month. Thermo Fisher reported plans to acquire Lomb Scientific, a provider of laboratory chemicals, consumables and instruments in Australia and New Zealand, for an undisclosed amount. Its customers include hospitals, universities, research and analytical laboratories.
____________________________________
Dawn Geras: Did I miss the report on the IVCA dinner?

From: Dawn Geras
Sender: hidawng@gmail.com
Subject: Re: The May Report: 12/10/2010: Funding Feeding Frenzy, held all day Wednesday at The Sync, a success with 13 firms presenting & about 130 attendees: Guppy Bowl winner PointBearing; Piranha Pond winner: ISIS Power; and Great White Cage winner: TIP So
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2010 23:35:53 -0600
To: The May Report

Did I miss it or did you report on the IVCA awards dinner?
Dawn Geras
President
www.SaveAbandonedBabies.org
www.facebook.com/SaveAbandonedBabies
Phone: 312-440-0229 Fax: 312-440-0805
55 E. Erie St., #2905
Chicago, IL 60611-2255

On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 11:18 PM, The May Report wrote:
____________________________________
Alex Pyatetsky: TheHOTH

Subject: Re: Alex, it was 3am & I was tired. What’s your business about? 400 clients already?
Date: 12/14/2010 7:34:05 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: alex@hothtactical.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Ron,

The HOTH is an Aggressive, Outsourced SEO Link Building Solution for Agencies and Publishers.

You are correct, we started in August of this year, 2010.
Since then we have gotten exactly 388 orders to date.
Our goal is to become the GoDaddy of this industry.
That is to say, we want The HOTH to be “bigger” than SEO Link Building.

The HOTH is endorsed by some of the top SEOs, as well as
numerous happy customers. To learn about how The HOTH
works, please watch our video at TheHOTH.com.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

-AP

–
Alex Pyatetsky
(312) 970-0637
HOTH Tactical
We Hit ‘em Over The Head

TheHOTH.com
_________________________________
A special request from Theresa Carter & The Local Tourist

Subject: RE: A special request from Theresa Carter & The Local Tourist
Date: 12/14/2010 4:44:50 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: events@thelocaltourist.com
Subject: RE: A special request from Theresa Carter & The Local Tourist
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:41:45 +0000

Hey there Theresa, Happy holidays. Please feel free to bug me with e-mail any ole time you want. And Ron May, too. He loves e-mail. I’ll send this notice to him and hopefully he’ll print it in the report to help you get the word out. Best regards, Melanie

From: events@thelocaltourist.com
Subject: A special request from Theresa Carter & The Local Tourist
To: melanie_adcock@msn.com
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:18:48 -0600

To All Local Tourists,

First of all, I apologize for the mass email. I hate spam and I know you do, too. Spam wastes your time. That’s exactly what I try to avoid with The Local Tourist by providing information about Chicago in an efficient, easy to use format.
I’m writing you today because at some point we met or we corresponded so I’ve got your email address in my database. But that doesn’t mean I’m just going to contact you willy-nilly. If an email shows up in your inbox from me or from The Local Tourist it shouldn’t be a waste of your time.
I’m reaching out now because we just launched TLT Deals and are emailing offers to our permission-based list, so I’m asking your permission to email them to you. Our first one is $10 for $30 at Hawthorne Race Course – a 66% savings. If you want to receive offers like this one all you have to do is subscribe.
By subscribing not only will you be the first to know about these exclusive deals, you’ll also:
Get the heads up on what’s happening in Chicago
Receive invitations to awesome events
Enjoy being entertained by TLT’s signature quirky, kitschy style with our weekend highlights email
Feel really good about saving money since a percentage of every deal benefits Endure To Cure
If you don’t want it, do nothing. We won’t bug you with deals and newsletters. Promise.
But if you do want to get these special offers, to keep up on what’s happening in Chicago, and to help out pediatric cancer research all at the same time, then go ahead and subscribe! thelocaltourist.com/subscribe

Thanks for your time,
Theresa Carter
The Local Tourist

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_________________________________
END OF REPORT