New York Startup Movement

by mikekarnj on December 21, 2009

“You can tell by my attitude that I’m most definitely from New York
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothing you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York!”

Just in case you didn’t get the memo; the New York startup scene is taking off. Both Fred Wilson and Chris Dixon wrote on the New York Startup scene, and I thought I would add in my thoughts from what I’ve observed over the past couple of years.

“Greenwich Village 60s … Venice Beach 70s … London 80s … Silicon Valley 90s … Blogosphere 00s … NYC now…” — @RafeFurst

What sets New York apart from the rest of the world?  New York attracts the most creative, ambitious, and hard-working people into one extremely diverse city.  There’s an energy here that can’t be replicated anywhere else in the world.  Mix that with a great nightlife, culture, and a city that never sleeps — you can see why the New York startup movement has been picking up momentum.  I believe that NYC tech startups have a better eye for design, user experience, business models, and creating companies that solve real problems (and not launching more “me-too” companies).  And the icing on the cake?  The companies coming out of NYC right now are just… sexy.  There’s no other way to explain it.

Need proof?  Here’s a list of all the awesome things happening in the Big Apple.  (You should press play on the Jay-Z “Empire State of Mind” video for the full experience).

UPDATE (December 22, 2009): Just to clarify, I did not write this article as a “NYC versus the world” thought-piece. I wrote this piece to give a 50,000 feet view of what’s happening in New York City.  There are many other cities with a thriving startup culture such as Boston, Silicon Valley, Seattle, New Orleans, Boulder, Los Angeles, etc. Each city is unique in its own way, and each city will continue to pick up momentum and be successful. For example, Post-Katrina New Orleans is starting to become the hub for social entrepreneurs. That’s very powerful. They’ll uniquely define themselves for the history books. If we take what works in each city, this is something that can be replicated in every community around the world. Entrepreneurship is vital for innovation, and can work everywhere from New York to Africa. (Endeavor.org is a great example of a non-profit organization building entrepreneurial hubs around the world to lift communities out of poverty).

COMPANIES
I put together a short list of some of the more prominent startups and established companies in New York. There are hundreds and thousands of other companies that can make up this list, so please add missed companies to the comments section below.  Apologies if your company, organization, or initiative was left off this list.

One thing I’ve noticed over the past year is that NYC’s version of Silicon Valley will be Soho, which has been primarily associated with the fashion industry.  The combination of the falling price of leases stemming from the 2008 financial collapse, and the dropping rent (all the bankers moved out of Manhattan); there have been dozens of creative startups opening up office in Soho.  I’ve listed the ones I know in the list below.

20×200 sells art for everyone at ridiculously affordable prices.
Behance organizes the creative world to make their ideas happen.
By/Association is a private service for new introductions to remarkable people.
Bug Labs is a modular, open source system for building devices.
Boxee
Carbonmade helps you build and manage an online portfolio website
Drop.io allows simple real-time sharing, collaboration, and presentation.
Etsy is the world’s most vibrant handmade marketplace.
Foursquare
Harvest allows simple online time tracking, timesheet, and reporting.
Hello Health is helps doctors communicate, document, and transact with their patients in person and online
Hot Potato allows you to find events, join the crowd, and share the experience.
Hunch helps you make decisions and gets smarter the more you use it.
Meetup selps groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities around the world.
OMGPOP is the #1 place to play free multiplayer games with your friends.
Parachutes aims to reinvent how people teach and learn.
Quirky is a social product development company.
Squarespace is a fully hosted, completely managed environment for creating and maintaining a website, blog or portfolio.
Tumblr is the easiest way to blog.
Vimeo is a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make.
  1. 20×200 sells art for everyone at ridiculously affordable prices (Soho).
  2. Aviary makes creation accessible to artists of all genres.
  3. Behance organizes the creative world to make their ideas happen (Soho).
  4. Betaworks is an internet media company.
  5. Blip.tv is the next generation television network (Soho).
  6. By/Association is a private service for new introductions to remarkable people (Soho).
  7. Bug Labs is a modular, open source system for building devices.
  8. Boxee is the best way to enjoy entertainment from the Internet and computer on your TV.
  9. Carbonmade helps you build and manage an online portfolio website (Soho).
  10. ChallengePost is a marketplace for challenges.
  11. Clickable is an online solution that makes creating and managing online advertising simple and effective.
  12. College Humor is the best humor site on the internet.
  13. Designer Pages is a free social application for finding products in architecture and interior design.
  14. Drop.io allows simple real-time sharing, collaboration, and presentation.
  15. Etsy is the world’s most vibrant handmade marketplace.
  16. Foursquare gives you and your friends new ways of exploring the city (Soho).
  17. gdgt is the new consumer electronics site by the guys behind Engadget and Gizmodo.
  18. Harvest allows simple online time tracking, timesheet, and reporting (Soho).
  19. Hello Health helps doctors communicate, document, and transact with their patients in person and online.
  20. Hot Potato allows you to find events, join the crowd, and share the experience.
  21. Hunch helps you make decisions and gets smarter the more you use it.
  22. Kickstarter is a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, investors, and explorers.
  23. Knewton allows students to prep for GMAT & LSAT with online courses guaranteed to raise scores.
  24. Livestream is the most powerful live broadcast platform on the internet.
  25. Meetup helps groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities around the world.
  26. OMGPOP is the #1 place to play free multiplayer games with your friends.
  27. Parachutes aims to reinvent how people teach and learn.
  28. Quirky is a social product development company.
  29. SeamlessWeb is the fastest, easiest, and smartest way to order food delivery online. 
  30. SecondMarket brings together buyers and sellers in an independent marketplace and auction platform for illiquid assets.
  31. Squarespace is a fully hosted, completely managed environment for creating and maintaining a website, blog or portfolio (Soho).
  32. Stocktwits is a realtime stock tips community.
  33. Tumblr is the easiest way to blog.
  34. Vimeo is a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make.

PUBLISHING/EMAIL COMPANIES
New York City has always been the epicenter of the publishing and advertising industries.  And that hasn’t changed with this list of innovative companies changing the publishing and email businesses.

  1. Daily Candy is a handpicked selection of all that’s fun, fashionable, food related, and culturally stimulating in the city you’re fixated on.
  2. Flavorpill is a daily guide to quality cultural events in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami and London.
  3. Gawker is an online media company (Soho).
  4. Gilt Groupe offers luxury designers and fashion brands at prices up to 70% off retail. 
  5. Huffington Post offers syndicated columnists, blogs and new stories with moderated comments.
  6. One King’s Lane offers exclusive sales on designer home accessories.
  7. Tasting Table is a free daily email about the best of eating and drinking culture.
  8. TBD is a free email newsletter that delivers one world-changing idea and one collective action to improve our future.
  9. Thrillist’s daily emails sift through the crap to find the newest and best the Nation is hiding (Soho).
  10. Urbandaddy brings you the single thing you need to know every day about your city.
  11. Very Short List is a collection of distinct, free, daily e-mails that each recommend one must-see gem a day.

VENTURE CAPITAL
Every city needs a strong VC and angel community to support everything from seed to established companies.  New York City has a strong list of investors supporting the entrepreneurs.

  1. First Round Capital is a venture capital firm dedicated to helping talented entrepreneurs build remarkable companies.
  2. Founder Collective is a seed-stage venture capital fund, built by a collection of successful entrepreneurs.
  3. Polaris Venture Partners invests in seed and early stage companies and in growth equity companies with substantial operating income.
  4. Spark Capital is a venture fund focused on the conflux of the media, technology, and entertainment industries.
  5. RRE Ventures focuses on expansion stage information technology ventures.
  6. Union Square Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm.

CO-WORKING SPACES
Every new startup needs a place to work out of when they first get started.  NYC has launched some new co-working spaces in the past year.

  1. Dogpatch Labs is an open source startup lab.
  2. Green Spaces is work space to launch green entrepreneurs.
  3. New Work City is a community coworking space in Manhattan.
  4. Rose Tech is an incubator and co-working space in Madison Square Park.
  5. Sunshine Studios is where startups grow up.

EVENTS
Free events are essential to networking, culture, and innovation.  Here’s a list of some of the premier events in NYC.

  1. Brooklyn Future Meetup is designed as an authentic off the record forum for discussing what the world might look like in 30+ years.
  2. Internet Week is a week-long festival of events celebrating New York’s thriving Internet industry and community.
  3. New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW) is the largest entrepreneurial movement through New York State.
  4. New York Tech Meetup is an event  where entrepreneurs can demo something cool to New York’s tech community.
  5. NextNY is a fun way to connect both socially and professionally with up-and-comers who have a stake in the future of tech and new media in New York City.
  6. Social Media Week identifies and advances the use of social media in the corporate, public and non-profit sectors.
  7. The Feast is a series of programs addressing social innovation and new ways to make the world a better place. 

INNOVATIVE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
What’s a community without charity?  These charities are re-inventing philanthropy.

  1. charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
  2. Echoing Green provides seed funding and support to social entrepreneurs with bold ideas.
  3. Endeavor transforms the economies of emerging markets by identifying and supporting high-impact entrepreneurs.
  4. Freelancer’s Union is a national membership organization that’s free to join.
  5. Pop!Tech is a network of remarkable people, extraordinary conferences, powerful ideas & innovative projects that are changing the world.
  6. StartingBloc educates, empowers, and connects emerging leaders to drive positive social change across sectors.
  7. TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.

GOVERNMENT
Every city needs the support of the government and politicians.  The City of New York has made numerous commitments to support entrepreneurship.

  1. Mayor Bloomberg outlines 11 initiatives to support New York City’s financial services sector and encourage entrepreneurship.
  2. NYC Seed funds seed-stage technology entrepreneurs in New York City.
  3. New York City Investment Fund identifies and supports New York City’s most promising entrepreneurs in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

EDUCATION
New York City has access to some of the top schools in the country for technology, design, and entrepreneurship.

  1. NYU ITP is a two-year graduate program who mission is to explore the imaginative use of of communications technologies.
  2. NYU Reynolds Program for Social Entrepreneurship is designed to attract, encourage, and train a new generation of leaders in public service.
  3. Parsons is the premier design and art school.
  4. Pratt Institute offers studies in architecture, art and design, and information science. 
  5. SVA is a fine art and graphic art school in New York City specializing in art education for aspiring professional artists.

FUTURE OF THE NYC STARTUP MOVEMENT
All of these things are essential to a thriving startup movement.  Established companies, investors, education, talent, events, etc.  But, what are some other things I’d like to see in 2010 and beyond to support the NYC startup movement and take it to the next stage?

  1. Government support. The City of New York should set something up similar to the initiatives of the Greater New Orleans, Inc. GNO, Inc has setup a venture capital match program, which provides for a match investment ($1 for every $2 up to $5MM) for qualified venture capital funds.  The also have angel investment tax credits, which redeems 50% of the initial investment to investors in the form of LA income tax credits.  Both of these initiatives can spur the investment community in New York City.  
  2. Summer incubators. To support younger and inexperienced entrepreneurs, programs such as Y-Combinator and TechStars should launch in New York.  Venture Capital firms should put up the capital to support these programs. This will attract some of the world’s most talented entrepreneurs to NYC while providing them an education and experience that will be vital to their success.  And hopefully keep them here in New York.
  3. Mentorship programs. The gap between new and successful entrepreneurs needs to be closed. Informal and/or formal mentorship programs should start for the up-and-coming entrepreneurs in New York City.  Why not lend your expertise and experience to the next Steve Jobs when you’ve already sold your company for $500M?  Pay-it-forward, please.
  4. Access to capital needs to stay open.  Another way to make this happen is through pitch events such as TechCrunch50 but our version in New York City.  Even if none of the companies get funded, it allows entrepreneurs and investors to network, meet, and hopefully close some deals for investment in 2010.  It would be even sweeter if the City of New York provided a tax credit for these investors (refer to #1).
  5. More failures and successes. In 2010, New York City needs to see more failures to show the world that we’re willing to swing for the fences.  And we need to see more successes to set the bar higher for all of the startups launching and growing.  Fail harder.

I often get asked, “what’s happening in New York” and now I can finally zip over this link to answer that question.  If you live in another city, take note on what’s happening in NYC right now.  It’s a good case study to adopt and practice in your own community.  And to quote Jay-Z, “You can tell by my attitude that I’m most definitely from…. Let’s hear it for New York!”

Feel free to add suggestions, ideas, and thoughts to continue this discussion in the comments section below.

  • Anonymous

    This is nowhere NEAR true..

  • Anonymous

    adidas arenas Signature thread! I’m not agree you standpoint,but toally approve your view!Anybody has his own dream,someone makes them reality ,another leaves it just dreams.So it lie on how hard you distribute,how long you persist! This post make a way to lead to success,any only insist on studying new knowledge and digest them for your own that can make you gradually growing up ,thank you for this outline,it will be very useful for those who are in the lost!n

  • Anonymous

    basketball shoes outlet Thank you very much for sharing!!To top!XX is a professional webside which offer lots of common sense of life and I have learnt a lot since my friends recommended it to me.There are several articles about this theme in XX,come on and have a discussion!n

  • Anonymous

    NYC was our second issue after Silicon Valley and its our strongest issues out of all 22 cities we cover outside of the valley. Go NYC!

  • Anonymous

    nThis is music to my ears.This is really a great post! Thanks for sharing. A blog really owes its success to its loyal readers and faithful followers.n

  • Anonymous

    Mike – Great article. Would be great to include our fund, Greenhill SAVP (www.gsavp.com) as one of the NYC venture funds. We’ve backed many NYC companies very ealry on including LivePerson, Traffiq, UGO, Pontiflex, Critical Media, Knovel, Medidata Solutions, Mobile Commons, Altruik, YellowJacket, Partsearch and others.

  • Anonymous

    Mike – That’s quite an extensive list!nnI’d appreciate it if you could add NerdWallet (www.nerdwallet.com) to your list as well. We’re a newly-launched free web app to help users find the most rewarding credit card for their spending habits, and we’re the _only_ unbiased credit card search site on the web.nnWe’re also NYC-based and 100% bootstrapped.

  • Anonymous

    Mike – Great list, though would love if you included Bessemer (www.bvp.com) amongst the NYC VC’s. We’re investors in a bunch of NYC companies including Yodle, Hunch, OMGPOP, Knewton, OLX and several others.

  • Anonymous

    We also have a [Startup Digest] issue in NYC! http://www.thestartupdigest.com nnNYC was our second issue after Silicon Valley and its our strongest issues out of all 22 cities we cover outside of the valley. Go NYC!

  • Anonymous

    http://www.jauntsetter.com – a travel site and e-newsletter for New Yorkers.nnAlso, hosting a breakfast for startups this Friday at Enid’s in Brooklyn. We’re hoping it will be a monthly event – hope you can join us!nnhttp://www.meetup.com/North-Brooklyn-Breakfast-Club/calendar/12277692/

  • Anonymous

    We started a free mentorship program at Entrepreneurs Roundtable:nhttp://www.eroundtable.net/mentoring-program/

  • Anonymous

    I’m not sure if you wanted us to add additional NY based startups but;rnrnhttp://www.LiveChatConcepts.com – Changing the way you interact with live events forever.

  • Anonymous

    dont forget http://buzzd.com

  • Anonymous

    For co-working spaces, it’s hard to beat Common Spaces (www.commonspaces.org) in Downtown Brooklyn, a member-run coop with an open floor plan and amazing views.

  • Anonymous

    oh, and http://appify.com/ too :)

  • Anonymous

    I should also add that the NY State Senate CIO office has been one of the best “start-ups” in the open gov scene this year: http://www.nysenate.gov/department/cio

  • Anonymous

    Nice overview. nnhere’s some more that might be good to include with non-profits/gov/civic-sector:nnhttp://expertlabs.orgnhttp://openplans.org/nhttp://www.participatorypolitics.org/nhttp://personaldemocracy.com/nhttp://publicstuff.com/nnAlso, these are definitely worth a read:nhttp://dashes.com/anil/2009/11/new-york-city-is-the-future-of-the-web.htmlnhttp://blog.irvingwb.com/blog/2009/10/innovation-entrepreneurship-and-the-evolution-of-cities.html

  • Anonymous

    I will add:rnCloudContacts (my startup) – http://www.cloudcontacts.comrnCenterNetworks (startup coverage focused on NYC) – http://www.centernetworks.com

  • Anonymous

    Great post. Day was starting off a bit slow after the holidays-until I read this! Now, fully energized.

  • Anonymous

    This is nowhere NEAR true..

  • Anonymous

    adidas arenas Signature thread! I’m not agree you standpoint,but toally approve your view!Anybody has his own dream,someone makes them reality ,another leaves it just dreams.So it lie on how hard you distribute,how long you persist! This post make a way to lead to success,any only insist on studying new knowledge and digest them for your own that can make you gradually growing up ,thank you for this outline,it will be very useful for those who are in the lost!n

  • Anonymous

    basketball shoes outlet Thank you very much for sharing!!To top!XX is a professional webside which offer lots of common sense of life and I have learnt a lot since my friends recommended it to me.There are several articles about this theme in XX,come on and have a discussion!n

  • Anonymous

    NYC was our second issue after Silicon Valley and its our strongest issues out of all 22 cities we cover outside of the valley. Go NYC!

  • Anonymous

    nThis is music to my ears.This is really a great post! Thanks for sharing. A blog really owes its success to its loyal readers and faithful followers.n

  • Anonymous

    Mike – Great article. Would be great to include our fund, Greenhill SAVP (www.gsavp.com) as one of the NYC venture funds. We’ve backed many NYC companies very ealry on including LivePerson, Traffiq, UGO, Pontiflex, Critical Media, Knovel, Medidata Solutions, Mobile Commons, Altruik, YellowJacket, Partsearch and others.

  • Anonymous

    Mike – That’s quite an extensive list!nnI’d appreciate it if you could add NerdWallet (www.nerdwallet.com) to your list as well. We’re a newly-launched free web app to help users find the most rewarding credit card for their spending habits, and we’re the _only_ unbiased credit card search site on the web.nnWe’re also NYC-based and 100% bootstrapped.

  • Anonymous

    Mike – Great list, though would love if you included Bessemer (www.bvp.com) amongst the NYC VC’s. We’re investors in a bunch of NYC companies including Yodle, Hunch, OMGPOP, Knewton, OLX and several others.

  • Anonymous

    We also have a [Startup Digest] issue in NYC! http://www.thestartupdigest.com nnNYC was our second issue after Silicon Valley and its our strongest issues out of all 22 cities we cover outside of the valley. Go NYC!

  • Anonymous

    http://www.jauntsetter.com – a travel site and e-newsletter for New Yorkers.nnAlso, hosting a breakfast for startups this Friday at Enid’s in Brooklyn. We’re hoping it will be a monthly event – hope you can join us!nnhttp://www.meetup.com/North-Brooklyn-Breakfast-Club/calendar/12277692/

  • Anonymous

    We started a free mentorship program at Entrepreneurs Roundtable:nhttp://www.eroundtable.net/mentoring-program/

  • Anonymous

    I’m not sure if you wanted us to add additional NY based startups but;rnrnhttp://www.LiveChatConcepts.com – Changing the way you interact with live events forever.

  • Anonymous

    dont forget http://buzzd.com

  • Anonymous

    For co-working spaces, it’s hard to beat Common Spaces (www.commonspaces.org) in Downtown Brooklyn, a member-run coop with an open floor plan and amazing views.

  • Anonymous

    oh, and http://appify.com/ too :)

  • Anonymous

    I should also add that the NY State Senate CIO office has been one of the best “start-ups” in the open gov scene this year: http://www.nysenate.gov/department/cio

  • Anonymous

    Nice overview. nnhere’s some more that might be good to include with non-profits/gov/civic-sector:nnhttp://expertlabs.orgnhttp://openplans.org/nhttp://www.participatorypolitics.org/nhttp://personaldemocracy.com/nhttp://publicstuff.com/nnAlso, these are definitely worth a read:nhttp://dashes.com/anil/2009/11/new-york-city-is-the-future-of-the-web.htmlnhttp://blog.irvingwb.com/blog/2009/10/innovation-entrepreneurship-and-the-evolution-of-cities.html

  • Anonymous

    I will add:rnCloudContacts (my startup) – http://www.cloudcontacts.comrnCenterNetworks (startup coverage focused on NYC) – http://www.centernetworks.com

  • Anonymous

    Great post. Day was starting off a bit slow after the holidays-until I read this! Now, fully energized.

  • http://TeamHomeField.com reecepacheco

    TeamHomeField.com – sports video startup!

  • http://srcasm.com Jesse Middleton

    Wow, this is a FANTASTIC set of links! Thank you very much.

  • http://www.officelinks.com Paul Carter

    Great set of links, thanks.

  • http://www.theblindproject.com Sean Pfitzenmaier

    Muse Games is one of the most innovative start-ups in the gaming space (bringing 3D games to the browser) and is also in SoHo.

    As for innovative non-profits, there’s the Blind Project which is about ready to launch their new initiative BeABiographer.

  • http://www.tellmycell.com Josh

    TellMyCell – an established SMS marketing firm in Midtown!

  • http://getpeek.com amol

    hey! you forgot Peek. NYC-based mobile + hardware + global service provider and proud of it

  • http://knewton.com Josh

    What about Knewton? EdTech start-up funded by First Round, Bessemer, Accel, Chris Dixon, Reid Hoffman, etc — right in Union Square.

  • http://www.mikekarnj.com mikekarnj

    Thanks for adding these startups to the list. Had no idea these existed. Very exciting to see!

  • Frank Espoe

    The Universal Record Database (URDB.org) – these guys are building a Wikipedia of world records. So long, Guinness Book!

  • http://giffconstable.com/2009/12/nyc-startup-scene-give-hope-to-the-dream/ NYC startup scene: give hope to the dream — giffconstable.com

    [...] Blumberg of Return Path and Michael Karnjanaprakorn of All Day Buffet just added their thoughts to blogosphere commentary on the revival of the NYC startup scene.  [...]

  • http://www.brilig.com Paul Cimino

    In NY since ’85 (NYU) and a NY entrepreneur since ’95.

    NYSE + AdTech = Brand New Co. / Brilig

  • http://blog.makezine.com/ pt

    love it. here are 3 more… Adafruit industries (open source hardware company, was just in the WSJ). MAKE magazine, offices and staff here and MakerBot (open source hardware robots, also in the WSJ).

  • http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2009/12/21/new-york-based-start-ups/ New York based start ups… « adafruit industries blog

    [...] Nice list of NYC based start ups and companies, we’d add Adafruit, MAKE (has an offices & lots of staff here) and MakerBot of course What sets New York apart from the rest of the world?  New York attracts the most creative, ambitious, and hard-working people into one extremely diverse city.  There’s an energy here that can’t be replicated anywhere else in the world.  Mix that with a great nightlife, culture, and a city that never sleeps — you can see why the New York startup movement has been picking up momentum.  I believe that NYC tech startups have a better eye for design, user experience, business models, and creating companies that solve real problems (and not launching more “me-too” companies).  And the icing on the cake?  The companies coming out of NYC right now are just… sexy.  There’s no other way to explain it. Filed under: random — by adafruit, posted December 21, 2009 at 2:23 pm [...]

  • http://www.softbank.com Jordan Levy

    Michael, just want to say that there are more VC’s in NY than your listing. Over the last 4 years, we have made 14 investments in NY area companies, 12 of which are in NYC and they include Thumplay, Huffington Post, KickApps and BuddyMedia to name but a few.
    So, along with others, there is a very strong and active VC business in the community

  • http://funwareblog.com Gabe Zichermann

    Michael:

    Interesting article – and lots of good links, but I think – like many posts on this topic – you miss the point.

    No one has ever argued that New York isn’t awesome (why does everyone here feel the need to start with that in every discussion? ) – it is. After all, we all live here. :) But, the question has always been: why, for a city of this wealth and intellect is the startup scene so impoverished?

    Instead of writing another rah-rah article, perhaps you could give us more insight on some of your brilliant and interesting ideas for the future? I’d like to hear more about how things get better.

    For my part, I’m joining or have joined the boards of a number of interesting entrepreneurship organizations around town (like Startout), help guys like Richie Hecker and Gary Whitehill with their events (Bootstrapper, NYEW), help organize for the Founders Roundtable and mentor entrepreneurs through the Founder Institute (and informally).

    I’m also personally committed to making NYC a better place for tech and entrepreneurship. But I believe that in order to do that, we must start being honest about the city’s weaknesses, not endlessly flogging its benefits. By doing so, we merely obfuscate the truth: there are a lot of problems for startups here – and we should work to fix them.

    -Gabe

  • http://www.mikekarnj.com mikekarnj

    @Jordan Yes, there are tons of VC’s in NYC, and we appreciate all of the hard work you’re doing! There’s no possible way for me to list all of them though. I just listed the ones that came off the top of my head.

    @Gabe I listed 5 actionable ideas at the end of my post for the future of NYC. Also, I wanted to give a 50,000 feet view on what’s happening in New York City. A lot of people in our own city have no idea what’s going on, and I wanted to document and share it. Lastly, I think the NYC startup eco-system is turning for the better. Everyone is doing their part and it’s happening naturally and organically.

    I’m a huge supporter of entrepreneurship in every city, and this is a model that should be shared and replicated in every community. If we focus on the positive and take what works in NYC, Boston, SF, Seattle, New Orleans, etc — we just might be able to get somewhere.

  • Andrew

    Awesome post–thanks.

    I’d add SecondMarket to the list as well.

  • http://nytm.org/2009/12/21/new-york-startup-list/ New York Startup List

    [...] York Startup scene is seeing a major surge in activity. Michael Karnjanaprakorn put together a great list of startups and organizations here in New York.  A post like like this is a ton of work, so [...]

  • http://funwareblog.com Gabe Zichermann

    @Mike:

    Yes, I saw your 5 ideas for the future, and I _entreat_ you to tell me more about them (the central ask from my last post). :) I’d love to get behind your vision

    Separately, have you considered a wiki resource for NYC startup stuff? Would be cool.

    -Gabe

  • http://smoothemoose.com Peter B

    Love the links. Good ideas are currency right now…

  • http://ambush.tv Tim Kress-Spatz

    Please add Ambush.TV to the “Video” section.

  • Jonathan Prins

    Just a heads up – you forgot about a big one making waves in Music – IndabaMusic.com is based in SoHo.

  • http://twitter.com/mikomercer Miko Mercer

    More great startups for the video section: NextNewNetworks, Rocketboom and Epix TV

  • http://www.teamlalala.com/blog/2009/12/21/the-new-york-city-start-up-scene-is-warming-up/ Closer To The Ideal » Blog Archive » The New York City start-up scene is warming up

    [...] A fascinating look at some of the startups based in New York City. One thing I’ve noticed over the past year is that NYC’s version of Silicon Valley will be Soho, which has been primarily associated with the fashion industry. The combination of the falling price of leases stemming from the 2008 financial collapse, and the dropping rent (all the bankers moved out of Manhattan); there have been dozens of creative startups opening up office in Soho. I’ve listed the ones I know in the list below. [...]

  • Cute

    Uh. Silicon Valley has been the epicenter for startups since the late 60′s. For every startup in New York, there are quite literally a hundred in SV which is amazing considering the population difference. Trying to compare the two is ridiculous.

  • I think not

    “Soho, which has been primarily associated with the fashion industry”

    only insomuch as a mall is associated with the fashion industry. Historically, Soho is the center of art. For the last 10 years, it really is just a outdoor mall.

    Aside from that, great article!

  • http://twitter.com/udorse Geoffrey Lewis

    Great post that I generally agree with.

    One under-looked and esoteric factor that I think makes NYC a bit harder for startups is the level of distraction in this city. The constant hum of activity and endless nature of the city can make it hard for a small team to stay focused over time when working on an independent and fundamentally untracked project — e.g. a tech startup. Mountain View doesn’t have this problem :-)

    P.S. — another seed stage startup that should be on the list is Udorse, which previewed in private alpha at TC50, has had +40,000 uniques, and is launching a new product in public beta right after Xmas.

    BTW, Empire State of Mind has gotta be the definitive NY Start Up Scene Anthem!

  • Cemre Güngör

    Add NYU-Poly’s Integrated Digital Media program to the list too, it’s very relevant :) http://idmi.poly.edu

    Would be useful to mention that ITP is in Tisch.

  • http://thefastertimes.com Sam Apple

    great list. very helpful. would love to see thefastertimes.com on the publishing list. we’re new but growing quite quickly…

    -sam

  • http://www.mikekarnj.com mikekarnj

    Just to clarify, I did not write this article as a “east coast versus west coast” thought-piece. There are many other cities with a thriving startup culture such as Seattle, New Orleans, Boulder, Los Angeles, etc. Each city is unique in its own way, and each city will continue to pick up momentum and be successful. For example, Post-Katrina New Orleans is starting to become the hub for social entrepreneurs. That’s very powerful. They’ll uniquely define themselves for the history books. Like I said before, if we take what works in each city, this is something that can be replicated in every community around the world. Entrepreneurship is vital for innovation, and can work everywhere from New York to Africa. (Endeavor.org is a great example of a non-profit building entrepreneurial hubs around the world to lift communities out of poverty).

    @Geoffery I totally agree with the level of distractions around the city. But, I think New Yorkers have a work-hard/play-hard mentality. Most people won’t enjoy the distractions unless they finish their work. I think that’s difference between NYC and other major cities, which is also why there are so many successful people here.

    @Gabe These were 5 ideas I would like to see implemented in New York City in 2010. While living in post-Katrina and working with IdeaVillage.org (mission is to create an entrepreneurial community in NOLA), I put together a list of things that were essential to a thriving startup ecosystem. Ironically, these are all things happening here already. The five things I listed for New York were things already happening in New Orleans. Ironically, it’s not happening here. If we could only combine the two for both cities?

    @Everyone else Will update the list today!

  • http://www.wehelpyourock.com mike walsh

    excellent post! The energy is amazing and creativity enormous.

  • http://www.ywse.org/nywse Natalia Oberti Noguera

    Hi Michael,
    Great amalgamation! In terms of an incubator for #socent newbies, check out the NYWSE Incubator: http://www.ywse.org/nywse-incubator. We match participants with an apprentice and a mentor.

    New York Women Social Entrepreneurs (NYWSE), launched January 2008 with six women and has grown 700+ members strong.

    Our programs include a book club, a Mastermind-Mentoring Initiative (MMI), and a training for social intrapreneurs called Emerging Sustainability Leaders (ESL) Program. To learn more, go to: http://www.ywse.org/nywse

    Best,
    natalia

  • http://www.nyew.org Gary Whitehill

    I agree @ Gabe- we must start being honest about NYC’s weaknesses, not endlessly flogging its benefits.

    We must work together to fix the systemic issues of NYC. Right now is a critical time in our economy, and the stage is ripe for a fundamental change in how businesses are founded, built and scaled. As we know- unstable times create incredible opportunities.

    As @Gabe suggested re: wiki- for entrepreneurship to become the powerful force it can be in driving the NYC economy, we need to break down barriers and build platforms which connect us. We need to support each other, help build each other’s visions, and leverage our collective strengths

    There are many great organizations with visionary missions achieving great things in the entrepreneurship space. However, one main challenge is that each of these organizations is micro-focused on execution of their own individual mission. As a result, organizations become increasingly more disparate, further pushed into their own silos and the entrepreneur suffers greatly.

    There’s no doubt that entrepreneurship innovates, changes and grows business. But if we keep doing what we did before, we’re going to get what we always got here in NYC – a fragmented and dysfunctional ecosystem. Instead, we need to collaborate.

    If there’s one message we should all have loud and clear by now, it’s that we are all accountable for the landscape here in NYC.

  • http://poptech.org Kristen Taylor

    Michael, thanks for including PopTech here (I’m their Digital Community/Content Manager). It’s really fun to be part of the energy in DUMBO right now, and very exciting to see social entrepreneurship continue to help define the current NY startup scene. Here’s to 2010–

  • http://mandarine.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/links-for-2009-12-22/ links for 2009-12-22 « Mandarine

    [...] New York Startup Movement | Michael Karnjanaprakorn (tags: business nyc toread list) [...]

  • http://separatepiece.com/2009/12/22/nyc/ NYC: a winning culture and the start-up | Separate Piece

    [...] Karnjanaprakorn wrote a great piece on the NYC start-up scene and included a list (growing through the comments) of all the great things happening in the city [...]

  • http://www.pehub.com/59056/pehub-first-read-525/ peHUB » peHUB First Read

    [...] Michael Karnjanaprakorn: A 50k foot view of the New York startup scene, whose emergence is one of the main entrepreneurial storylines of [...]

  • http://hiphop94.wordpress.com HIPHOP

    I appreciate the NY startup scene that you lead to show. Go on beru.. we there to put hands!!

  • http://muzaki.net/2009/daily-digest-for-december-24th9251166.html Daily Digest for December 24th | Reading Muzaki

    [...] New York Startup Movement [...]

  • http://www.fanfeedr.com Ty Ahmad-Taylor

    Please add the following if you edit the list:

    FanFeedr: real-time personalized sports aggregation.

    Kind regards, Ty

  • http://isthisarg.org/?p=70 is this ARG? » Blog Archive » isthisarg.org Social Media Digest for December 26th

    [...] Lance Weiler shared New York Startup Movement. [...]

  • http://twitter.com/PhilipHotchkiss Philip Hotchkiss

    Great post. Day was starting off a bit slow after the holidays-until I read this! Now, fully energized.

  • http://www.centernetworks.com centernetworks

    I will add:
    CloudContacts (my startup) – http://www.cloudcontacts.com
    CenterNetworks (startup coverage focused on NYC) – http://www.centernetworks.com

  • http://phil.ashlock.us Philip Ashlock
  • http://phil.ashlock.us Philip Ashlock

    I should also add that the NY State Senate CIO office has been one of the best “start-ups” in the open gov scene this year: http://www.nysenate.gov/department/cio

  • http://phil.ashlock.us Philip Ashlock

    oh, and http://appify.com/ too :)

  • scottballum

    For co-working spaces, it's hard to beat Common Spaces (http://www.commonspaces.org) in Downtown Brooklyn, a member-run coop with an open floor plan and amazing views.

  • http://www.everydayux.com/2009/12/29/everydayux-morsels-december-28th-december-29th/ EverydayUX morsels (December 28th – December 29th)

    [...] New York Startup Movement | Michael KarnjanaprakornGreat post about how New York has become such an energetic center of innovation. East Coast represent! [...]

  • http://unhub.com/michaelmuse/ MichaelMuse

    dont forget http://buzzd.com

  • http://www.cognation.net deancollins

    I'm not sure if you wanted us to add additional NY based startups but;

    http://www.LiveChatConcepts.com – Changing the way you interact with live events forever.

  • http://www.centrl.com/ Murat Aktihanoglu

    We started a free mentorship program at Entrepreneurs Roundtable:
    http://www.eroundtable.net/mentoring-program/

  • http://www.techstartups.com/2010/01/23/list-of-start-up-companies-in-nyc/ » Blog Archive

    [...] Michael Karnjanaprakorn listed the major start-ups in New York. While he named nearly a hundred, but I listed 10 that stuck out at me. [...]

  • http://aditya.sublucid.com/2010/01/26/what-nyc-really-needs-a-support-group-for-founders/ What NYC really needs: A support group for founders – Meanderings of Aditya’s mind – Thoughts by Aditya Chadha

    [...] needs: A support group for founders Posted January 26, 2010 Comments(0) A lot has been written recently about why NYC is the best or the worst place (depending on who you read) to start a [...]

  • http://www.taylordavidson.com/writing/2010/01/26/new-orleans-startup-ecosystem-movement/ 58 Companies, Organizations and Programs Driving the New Orleans Startup Movement | Taylor Davidson (@tdavidson)

    [...] by Michael Karnjanaprakorn’s detailed post outlining the New York Startup Movement and David Crow’s post about the Canadian tech scene, Chris Schultz and I decided to outline [...]

  • http://www.jauntsetter.com dorothy_mcgivney

    http://www.jauntsetter.com – a travel site and e-newsletter for New Yorkers.

    Also, hosting a breakfast for startups this Friday at Enid's in Brooklyn. We're hoping it will be a monthly event – hope you can join us!

    http://www.meetup.com/North-Brooklyn-Breakfast-…

  • http://danielk.org/blog/2010/02/08/startups-inf/ d a n i e l k . o r g » Blog Archive » Startup Info

    [...] I highly recommend reading this blog entry, it gives a ton of information on startups in NYC [...]

  • http://twitter.com/cmccann7 Chris McCann

    We also have a [Startup Digest] issue in NYC! http://www.thestartupdigest.com

    NYC was our second issue after Silicon Valley and its our strongest issues out of all 22 cities we cover outside of the valley. Go NYC!

  • http://www.korallenkacke.com/never-mind-the-valley-heres-new-york-city/ Never Mind the Valley: Heres New York City – www.Korallenkacke.com

    [...] Fred Wilson’s 2008 keynote at the Web 2.0 expo, as well as Michael Karnjanaprakorn’s extensive list of companies, VCs, events and organizations from New [...]

  • http://www.adventurista.com/ Sarah Tavel

    Mike – Great list, though would love if you included Bessemer (http://www.bvp.com) amongst the NYC VC's. We're investors in a bunch of NYC companies including Yodle, Hunch, OMGPOP, Knewton, OLX and several others.

  • http://www.tylerdoshier.com/blog/2010/02/the-nyc-startup-scene-featuring-postabon-and-meetup/ The NYC startup scene (featuring Postabon and Meetup) / TYLER DOSHIER / blog

    [...] NYC entrepreneur Michael Karnjanaprakorn really gets to the heart of the NY startup scene with the following quote: “New York attracts the most creative, ambitious, and hard-working people into one extremely [...]

  • http://www.nerdwallet.com/ Tim Chen

    Mike – That's quite an extensive list!

    I'd appreciate it if you could add NerdWallet (http://www.nerdwallet.com) to your list as well. We're a newly-launched free web app to help users find the most rewarding credit card for their spending habits, and we're the _only_ unbiased credit card search site on the web.

    We're also NYC-based and 100% bootstrapped.

  • brianhirsch

    Mike – Great article. Would be great to include our fund, Greenhill SAVP (http://www.gsavp.com) as one of the NYC venture funds. We've backed many NYC companies very ealry on including LivePerson, Traffiq, UGO, Pontiflex, Critical Media, Knovel, Medidata Solutions, Mobile Commons, Altruik, YellowJacket, Partsearch and others.

  • http://blog.serenastyle.com/in-which-i-rant-about-my-future-again-because-im-21-and-out-of-school-and-out-of-work/ In which I rant about my future again because I’m 21 and out of school and out of work

    [...] other days, I dream of moving to Brooklyn, NY or downtown SoHo where I’d probably fit in a little better with an artsier crowd, away from the cookie-cutter [...]

  • http://www.teten.com/blog/2010/03/17/entrepreneurial-education-programs-in-new-yorkinvitation-to-founder-institute-investor-session/ Entrepreneurial Education Programs in New York/Invitation to Founder Institute Investor Session | Investment Banking, Research, Due Diligence, Operating Executives, and Recruiting for Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds

    [...] and aggressive personalities (finance, consulting, etc.) Michael Karnjanaprakorn posted a detailed list of resources and players in the local [...]

  • http://www.kungpowthinking.com/2010/04/18/product-management-in-nyc/ Product Management in NYC

    [...] There are some amazing startups coming out of NY right now with more up and coming every day. Startups like Meetup, Foursquare, Tumblr, Solvate, Hot Potato, MeetMoi, Bit.ly, Chartbeat, PinchMedia (now Flurry), Medialets, Gilt Group, Ideeli, Outside.in, Nabewise, Kidmondo, Market.io, Simple.pr, Drop.io, and the list goes on – for more check out Mike K’s post about the NY tech scene here. [...]

  • http://helpastartupout.com/2010/05/10/the-new-york-startup-movement/ The New York Startup Movement | Help a Startup Out

    [...] in case you didn’t get the memo, the New York startup scene is taking off: http://www.mikekarnj.com/blog/2009/12/21/new-york-startup-movement/ var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="The New York Startup Movement"; [...]

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