Kickoff features .NYC domain names — Silicon NYC
[Editor’s note: Silicon NYC hosted its launch event the prior week and .NYC was a big focus. SayHello was on hand to give free .nyc domain names to attendees. Art Malkov filed this note.]
Silicon NYC hosted its kickoff party the prior week hosted by Ebay Fresh York in the firm’s incubator space. The event featured speakers from every part of the NYC tech scene: Angel Investors, Venture Capitalists, Startup Founders and Digital Space Trailblazers.
Silicon NYC is focused on bringing the insider look into NYC tech with in-depth journalistic articles, VC and Angel investors’ unique insights into the tech field plus the latest tech and startup news.
eBay NYC is a brand fresh office located in Chelsea. The firm is building a community interested in solving challenging technology problems and is passionate regarding helping the NYC tech community grow. It is holding speaker series, eBay Tech Talks, and has a no-strings-attached incubator program, Friends of eBay.
Julia Neznanova – Friends of Ebay
As the Director of Friends of Ebay (friends.ebay.nyc), Julia aims to support budding NYC tech startups by providing free office space, mentorship, and networking opportunities. She believes Fresh York City is quickly becoming the next great technological center and seeks to encourage and be part of that growth at every step.
She Covered
Friends of eBay and how it works. The next batch of application opens soon. She spoke to the workings of Friends of eBay and its aim to support the next wave of NYC tech by offering free office space, mentorship, access to a network of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors, along with the chance to work alongside some of the brightest minds in the field. The program focuses on startups in e-commerce and fresh tech space.
She spoke to the history of Friends of Ebay, how it came out to the buyout of Hunch by Ebay in November 2011. Chris Dixon, the cofounder of Hunch, spearheaded the initiative to create an incubator within Ebay’s NYC offices to spur and support startup with a heavy focus on e-commerce.
Digital.nyc’s Chief Editor – Marcos Dinnerstein
Digital.NYC is the official online hub of the Fresh York City startup and technology ecosystem. It is the result of a unique public/private partnership between the Office of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Fresh York City Economic Development Corporation, IBM, Gust, and over a dozen leading NYC-based technology and media firms.
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How tech within Fresh York City is becoming a sizable and blossoming community. He also spoke regarding how everything is becoming a tech business, meaning that retailers are no longer just brick and mortar but also e-commerce. And how e-commerce is now opening retail stores. It’s blending all industries into one [subse]tech, i.e., AdTech, EdTech, FinTech, FemTech, HealthTech, etc.
Anthony Gellert, AB, MBA ’97. Treasurer, HBS Alumni Angels
Anthony is the President and Founder of Livingston Capital Management, an investment partnership based in Fresh York City. Ahead of founding Livingston Capital, he covered healthcare services and industrial services at Cobalt Capital Management and ahead of that was an analyst at Kingdon Capital Management.
He Covered
Anthony gave advice to startups from an angel’s perspective regarding how to pitch, like avoiding buzzwords, and not being too technical. His main advice: give a short and exciting pitch that states what it’s for and who it’s for with as few words as possible. Anthony went on to give advice on raising money in NYC, and where the current ecosystem of startups is at. He ended with how notable networking is to building a startup and succeeding.
Meghan Cross, Managing Director, Red Bear Angels
As Managing Director, Meghan joined Red Bear Angels with nearly a decade of operating experience launching and growing media and software firms in Fresh York and Silicon Valley. As an early Director at StyleCaster Inc., Meghan led the digital media conglomerate’s marketing team through the business’ exit to She Knows Media.
She Covered
Meghan talked regarding her experiences launching fresh startup platforms and what it takes to gain traction and investors. She drew on her past as examples of how it can be done, sharing her PR experiences with Skype and Foursquare, and how they became household names. Meghan clearly illustrated the power of gathering investors with her venture experience from working with Bowery Capital, Foundation Capital, Metamorphic Ventures, and StarVest Partners.
Max Ringelheim – Influencer Marketer
As a consultant, Max’s most popular accomplishment was being responsible for co-launching the recently acclaimed “Hoverboard Movement” which generated over seven figures in sales revenues in less than eight weeks and established dozens of partnerships with celebrities. Max is now an active blogger, public speaker, and is in the process of writing a book regarding the story behind the Hoverboard and its viral rise to the top and sudden fall in a fresh series of posts on Silicon NYC called When Going Viral Sucks!
He Covered
Max spoke regarding his experience leading marketing at the firm who brought the Hoverboard to America. From getting the hoverboard into Kendall Jenners’ hands all the way to being the #1 holiday season product of 2015, and how they were overrun with manufacturing issues, credit card fraud, and finally, UPS & FedEx refusing to ship the product due to concerns regarding the devices catching fire.
