All in nextNY
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Am I the only one that thinks that perhaps Steve Jobs will be introducing two Apple tablets next week... made of stone... from a mountain? Seems like anything less would be a letdown.
Oh, and btw... big miss on someone not doing a diversity hack-a-thon on Monday. That would have been awesomesauce. Next year!
Tuesday, January 19th
5:00PM Jan #140conf NYC Meetup
An opportunity to discuss the emerging Real-Time Internet and the effects on business. A monthly gathering for friends of #140conf to get together and discuss issues of the day.
RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/140conf/calendar/11989892/
6:00PM Fashion 2.0: Startups Showcase
Fashion 2.0 and FashInvest invite the online fashion community to present their startups to the audience and special feedback panel consisting of leading investors in the space.
RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/fashion20/calendar/12126247/
6:30PM Ultra Light Legal Series: January 2010
The Ultra Light Roundtable features a set of short talks on related topics of interest to entrepreneurs and business owners. This month's talk is about corporate formation, investor visas and and tax accounting for startups.
RSVP: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/498815972
6:30PM Digital Media MBA January '10 Happy Hour w/Foursquare Co-Founder
Please join other MBA grads from top tier schools for our Happy Hour this month when we will be joined by our latest "Featured Guest", Naveen Selvadurai, who is the co-founder of Foursquare, one of the most talked about startups in the mobile social networking industry.
RSVP: http://dmmbajanuary10hh.eventbrite.com/
Wednesday, January 20th
EVENT OF THE WEEK: 7PM Kevin Ryan & Henry Blodget: NYTech -10 +10 @ 92Y Tribecca
The city's enhancement-free version of the "Bash Brothers" talk NYC Tech in 2000, 2010, and 2020... what is changing/what isn't -- what are we willing to bet on, and where are the wildcards.
RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/BLKNY30/calendar/12226340/
Thursday, January 21st
At this Entrepreneurs Roundtable, we will have pitches from students and first-time entrepreneurs who are being mentored by highly-experienced VCs, investors and entrepreneurs.
Get updated on future Entrepreneurs Roundtable events: http://www.eroundtable.net/
7:00PM: Etsy Speaker Series: Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff is an award-winning writer, documentary filmmaker and scholar. He made the PBS Frontline documentaries Merchants of Cool, The Persuaders, and the upcoming Digital Nationpremiering February 2.
RSVP: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/529092530
If you need to replicate yourself to attend any of these events, remember: Don't make a copy of a copy!
Tuesday, January 12th
6:30PM Agile UX at the Economist (Waitlist only)
The Economist online will share their experiences, successes and lessons learned around practicing user-centered design in an Agile development process. This includes user research and testing, Drupal-based surveys, collaborative design tools using Google docs and a Drupal-based site called Good Ideas that supports collaboration around internal bottom-up (grass-roots) innovation.
RSVP for waitlist: http://www.meetup.com/Agile-Experience-Design/calendar/11903449/
Wednesday, January 13th
6PM Digital Somethings: 2010 and Beyond
WHO: @JennyDeluxe (Jenna Wortham, NY Times, Bits Blog), @AdamOstrow (Editor in Chief, Mashable), @DanPatterson (ABC News Radio, Blog), @RSHotel (Blog, Website), @PRNewswire (Jim King, SVP, Audience)
WHAT 2010 and Beyond - The Trends That Will Alter Media and Technology As We Know It (Open Bar from 8-9 p.m.)
RSVP: http://ds3.eventbrite.com/
6:30PM Health 2.0 NYC Chapter January 2010 Meetup
January meetup is dedicated to " enabling better care by enabling clinical staff" and we have just the presenters for that.
January 2010 Presenters:
1. YourNurseIsOn - Matthew Browning, CEO
2. OmniPACS - Francisco Parin, President & CEO
RSVP: http://www.health20nyc.com/calendar/12172752/
Thursday, January 14th
This month, we'll be hosting a special format of "lightning demos" at Dogpatch Labs in Union Square before usual beer and burgers.
RSVP: http://anyvite.com/rafgiuegjc
6:30PM: DigitalFlashNYC Networking Event on E-Readers
Kindle, Nook, Sony E-Reader, the Apple tablet (maybe?). Electronic “books” are rapidly changing the way we read information. Popular Science Magazine is developing a revolutionary way to view magazines and they want you to tell them what you think. Is this a good idea? How does this effect digital marketing? Just as the internet changed the way we could market, will e-books do the same?
Come see what the Popular Science guys have to say and give your 2 cents – trust us, they want your feedback!
RSVP: http://digitalflashnyc.com/index.php?option=com_registrationpro&view=event&Itemid=2&did=2
6:30PM: What the RDF? ... Firsthand perspectives from Semantic Technology in action
Semantic technologies promise to change the landscape of the web and enhance the user experience. Like many evolving technologies, there remains a gap between theory and practice.
We’ll share our experience developing enterprise and consumer facing semantic search applications from three perspectives: Content and user experience, knowledge engineering and technology.
Tuesday, I joined Howard Morgan, Josh Kopelman, Chris Fralic, Phin Barnes, and our GC Doug Bernstein on First Round Capital’s tour of NYC startup spaces—temp offices and incubators where there were critical masses of companies doing innovative things. We went to two Sunshine Suites locations, all three TechSpaces, the Incubator at RoseTech, the NYU/Poly Incubator, and New Work City. Our goals were twofold—one, of course, to meet new and interesting companies at an early stage and two, to let people know that we’re an active NYC investor willing to look at companies at such an early stage that the whole company is two people, two desks, and a whiteboard. At the same time, we pride ourselves on being a hustling, customer focused business—like the companies that we invest in—so showing people that we’re willing to come to them versus being an “ivory tower” VC that waits for you to go to them.
Miko Mercer at LaunchSquad helped us with some of the PR event, which included a great piece in the WSJ and awesome coverage in CenterNetworks. She collaborated with Ben Kessler on a great video record of the days events as well:
I learned quite a lot about the startup ecology during the walk:
1) First off, every space like this needs an advocate—not just someone to call when the toilet overflows but someone who not only knows the companies in their space, the residents by their first name, the potential synergies, but who is also tapped into the outside world that these companies live in. I was struck by the shepard-like position that Bruce Niswander holds at NYU/Poly and how much Paula Hughes at Techspace Chelsea was tapped into the local startup community and paying attention to that world through social media.
2) Some spaces are more tech-y than others—and one thing we learned is that there’s a big difference between a startup incubator and a temp office space. I thought we were going to run into more bootstrapped companies like Yipit than we did—two guys putting out the money to work in a small office because they found themselves to be more productive outside of their house. What’s clear is that most entpreneurs are not spending their own money on desk space—but perhaps to their own detriment. Some of the facilities here were really impressive—and clearly there was a sense of collaboration among the teams we met that you don’t necessarily find when everyone is working remotely.
3) Much more needs to be done to bridge the gap between the communites inside these spaces and the community outside. Most of us at First Round hadn’t seen all of these spaces, and many of the residents I spoke to didn’t necessarily know about things like nextNY or any of the more focused meetups that have been going on. I talked to a few of the spaces about hosting more events for outsiders to bridge that gap and help advertise what they have.
4) VCs are much more resiliant than I thought they’d be. While not all of them made it the whole length of the trip, I was pretty impressed with the walking speed and general resistance to the 20-degree temps shown by the First Round Capital team.
5) A place where the innovation community could use a little more glue is among service providers, consultants, and investors. I ran into two PR firms that had done work for First Round portfolio companies that I didn’t know too much about—and a graphic design and user experience shop that had built some of the largest ecommerce sites in the world. These are important resources for an invester to be able to share with companies—and they also see a fair number of companies themselves.
6) Startups generally suck at “wide open networking”—where the purpose of a meeting isn’t specifically stated. There were a bunch of companies that I met that didn’t initially come out to see us who hesitated because they weren’t sure if they were supposed to be pitching, if there was a signup, or they had already raised money. As an entrepreneur, you need to be out there building a huge network. Even if you raised money, as a feeder fund for larger VC firms, we probably have better relationships with most of the top tier funds than anyone else—and if you’re not right for us, we’re happy to pass you on. At the same time, with more than 60 companies in our portfolio, it would be really surprising to me if there wasn’t someone you couldn’t strike a biz dev deal with, get bought by, etc. Startups need to do a better job of realizing the opportunity that arises when someone with a big network just wants to shoot the shit and talk shop.
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Welcome to the future...2010. If you peek out your window, you'll see everything is different. There are flying cars and you'll notice that you have a crystal embedded in your hand that will change color when you're 30. Crime has been eliminated and disease is a thing of the past.
Ok, maybe not... but you'll have a better shot at building Utopia if you attend these tech events:
Monday, January 4th
6:30PM Androids Dream of Monadic Sheep - New York Scala Enthusiasts (WAITLIST ONLY)
Even though this event is sold out, I had to include it based on the name alone--and to support the local Android developer community, given that I've got an HTC Hero in my pocket.
What's cool about this Meetup is that they'll actually be building an Android photo app during the meetup, so if you're a dev into Scala, sign up for the waitlist and maybe you'll get lucky, or just get in next time.
RSVP for waitlist: http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Scala-Enthusiasts/calendar/12057029/
Tuesday, January 5th
Special All Day Event: The First Round Capital Startup Trek
Are you and your co-founder renting temporary desks at Sunshine Suites, TechSpace or one of the city's new incubators? Then the East Coast partners of seed stage venture fund First Round Capital may be coming to see you! They'll be on an all day trek to 8 of the city's top startup locations visiting companies, answering questions, and talking shop.
See when they'll be in your neighborhood: http://www.frcstartuptreknyc.com/
6:30PM: MediaBistro AgencySpy Party
Because there's nothing agency professionals love better than drinks and feather boas--for agency folks only. Undoubtedly the most gender balanced event on our list this week.
The Bubble Lounge
228 West Broadway
(between Franklin and Moore)
RSVP: http://www.mediabistro.com/events/view_event.asp?id=13996
7PM: EVENT OF THE WEEK: NY Tech Meetup
The mainstay event of the NY innovation community, the NY Tech Meetup brings together over 500 professionals to watch pitches and connect with up and coming startups. This month features SpeakerText, Udorse, and drop.io's new Presslift product among others.
FIT - Haft Auditorium
27th St & 7th Ave
RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/ny-tech/calendar/11998028/
Thursday, January 7th
6:30PM: Ultralight Startups presents: PR Branding, and Buzz
Why is brand important to tech startups? How can buzz be generated? What is the purpose of PR for a startup? Do all startups need to do PR? When in a startups lifecycle should it become a priority? All these questions and more answered by experienced PR professionals.
Sun Microsystems
101 Park Avenue