If Americans love two things, it's lists and articles about lists. Well, folks, I am happy to provide and indulge your passions, because that's exactly what this is. On Thursday, Built in Chicago's Maria Katris posted a list of the top 100 digital companies in our city, but, really, it's a lot more than that.
It's an infographic that yields fun facts that are actually fun to tell others, like that in 2011, a new startup launched every 48 hours, or that 71 of the top 100 are located within a one-mile radius of the Merchandise Mart. There are also breakdowns like 41 percent of the companies are consumer web-oriented and 17 percent are ecommerce.
So, yeah, it's interesting, even if you haven't heard of some of the companies featured – like Leapfrog Online and eshots – because it gives you license to check them out because, hey, they must be doing something right, right?
David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a comedy-writing instructor for Second City. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.
