Chicago's Tech Scene

Technical.ly (Brooklyn, March 1) -- One key ingredient for any thriving tech scene is major universities as an anchor resource for innovation and talent. Chicago has a handful of higher-ed heavyweights, with Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, DePaul, the Illinois Institute of Technology and others in the city. Two hours south, the renowned computer science school at the U. of I. trained Larry Ellison of Oracle (who grew up in Chicago), PayPal cofounder Max Levchin, Yelp cofounder Russel Simmons and famed investor Marc Andreessen. They all left for Silicon Valley.