Stage 3: First Traction
From Use to Repeatability
Stage 3 exists to explore a central question:
“Can this work more than once without heroics?”
Traction without repeatability is fragile.
Stage 3: Chicago Organizations
1871 Launch Programs
Serves: Chicago-based founders with a working product pursuing early customers and repeatable GTM motion
Fit: Provides hands-on growth support, operator access, and execution-focused programming aimed at helping founders convert early interest into traction.
Allies for Community Business (A4CB)
Serves: Under-resourced and underestimated founders building revenue-generating businesses in Chicago
Fit: Provides flexible capital, coaching, and financial readiness support to help founders stabilize early revenue and prepare for scale and external scrutiny.
Drive Capital Seed Program
Serves: Midwest-based founders with a live product who need to prove early customer adoption, usage, or revenue
Fit: The seed program emphasizes validating real traction signals and GTM motion before companies are considered ready for larger institutional scale.
Founders Network – Chicago Startup Community
Serves: Venture-backed and growth-oriented founders seeking peer support through scaling inflection points
Fit: Provides structured peer groups and operator insight that help founders navigate early GTM traction challenges and prepare for scale, capital, and leadership complexity.
mHUB (later-stage engagement)
Serves: Hardtech and applied-innovation founders moving from solution to real customers
Fit: Offers pilot programs and industry connections that help founders
TechNexus
Serves: B2B founders seeking pilots and enterprise customers
Fit: Connects founders directly with corporate partners to secure pilots, validate GTM motion, and establish early commercial traction.
Stage 3: 🧠 Resources
How many people are really using your product?
A clear explanation of why measuring real user engagement—not vanity metrics—is critical for early-stage startups seeking product-market fit and sustainable growth.
Measuring Startup Traction: Essential Guidelines and Must-Have Metrics
A practical guide to measuring startup traction, outlining key KPIs investors expect and helping founders translate early activity into credible signals for fundraising and scale.
Early Funding Resource Guide
This is a curated guide to the early-stage funding ecosystem in Chicago, showcasing angels, accelerators, and various programs that are specifically designed to assist first-time founders as they navigate the initial stages of raising venture capital.
7 Effective Ways to Measure a Startups Traction
A practical article outlining how founders can define, measure, and communicate traction using the right metrics for their stage, helping teams move beyond vanity signals toward evidence that matters to investors and operators.
