Fred Hoch has spent more than two decades helping shape Chicago’s technology and innovation ecosystem, and much of his work comes down to one thing: connecting the right people and ideas.

In this episode of Ted Listens, Fred, co-founder of TechNexus Venture Collaborative, joins Ted Novak to talk about why Chicago shouldn’t try to become Silicon Valley, how corporations can work with startups to create new products and businesses, and where he sees opportunity emerging around AI and quantum computing.

They discuss TechNexus’s approach to venture-enabled innovation, why a failed $150,000 investment can still be a major strategic win, what established companies get wrong about innovation, and why startups need to understand the very different pace of selling into large corporations.

Fred also shares why Chicago’s diverse industrial economy may be one of its biggest advantages, and why he believes the most important question in business is often simply: “What can I do to help you?”

More on Fred Here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredhoch/

More on Ted Here: https://cliquestudios.com/authors/ted-novak

In this episode of Ted Listens, Ted Novak sits down with Munzoor Shaikh, Founder & CEO of Long Game Health, for a conversation about what it takes to create meaningful, durable change in healthcare.

Munzoor shares his perspective on the intersection of strategy, operations, data, and leadership, and why real transformation requires more than a new initiative or short-term answer. Together, they explore the long game: creating clarity, alignment, and follow-through while keeping people at the center of complex systems.

Learn more about Munzoor and Long Game Health: https://LongGame.com

More on Ted: https://CliqueStudios.com

In this episode of Ted Listens, I sit down with Justin Kaufmann of Axios for a conversation about Chicago, journalism, storytelling, and the future of media.

Justin shares his journey from interning at WBEZ in the 1990s to hosting at WGN Radio and eventually helping launch Axios Chicago.

The conversation explores:

• How Smart Brevity changed modern journalism
• Why Chicago still feels like a “small town in a big city”
• The realities of media in the AI era
• The importance of authentic voice in storytelling
• Why local journalism still matters
• How personality and perspective shape great reporting

This episode is for the Chicago fanatics and the Chicago curious alike.

More on Axios Chicago: https://www.axios.com/newsletters

More on Justin Kaufmann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-kaufmann-57642b6/

More on Ted Novak: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tednovak/