We Are NY Tech

Rachel Sterne Haot - Chief Digital Officer, City of New York

2013-02-28T15:00:00Z

Rachel Sterne Haot

"'Make every day count' - from the countdown clocks of the Bloomberg Administration. Today is 307 Days."

Rachel Haot is the Chief Digital Officer for the City of New York, leading NYC Digital, part of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. The mission of NYC digital is to realize Mayor Bloomberg's digital roadmap for New York City, a plan to fulfill the City's digital potential. Prior to this role, Rachel was an independent digital strategy consultant, and Founder and CEO of GroundReport, a global, crowdsourced news startup. She has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, specializing in social media and entrepreneurship.

A lifelong New Yorker, Rachel attended public schools and graduated magna cum laude from New York University with a BA in History. In 2012 she was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and serves on the digital advisory board of Women@NBCU and the NY/NJ 2013 Super Bowl Hosting Committee.

Age: 29

Title: Chief Digital Officer, City of New York

Location: Williamsburg

Contact: @rachelhaot

<h3> How does the new We Are Made in NY initiative fit in with the other resources available to help and promote tech startups in NYC?</h3> <p> <a href="http://wearemadeinny.com/">We Are Made in NY</a> is an initiative supporting tech growth in NYC that brings together a very wide array of resources and programs - and makes it easy for anyone to get more involved in tech.  Programs range from coding classes to seed funding, fiber build outs to affordable workspace, plus ways to recruit and ways to find your next job. It creates a one-stop shop for discovering a broad range of programs supporting innovation launched by Mayor Bloomberg's administration.  The launch also marked the expansion of the Made in NY symbol to digital companies for the first time. It has been enormously successful in the film and TV industry, and by expanding it to the tech sector we recognize how these sectors are evolving - and celebrate the over 900 companies that base 75% of their development here.</p> <h3> Young companies are always looking for ways to get their name out there. How doesNYC Digital decide which companies to feature or mention on its various sites and what can a recently founded company do to get on your radar?</h3> <p> To spread the word about We Are Made in NY, we thought that New York City's innovators would be the best ambassadors. We selected sixcompanies that represent a wide range of products, founder backgrounds and office locations.  But those are just six of the more than 900 Made in NY companies in NY. As a digital initiative, we invite all Made in NY companies to participate in the campaign, whether by creating  <a href="http://wearemadeinny.com/video/">a short video</a> or tweeting and tumbling with hashtag #madeinny. And any company can apply to be added to the Made in NY list and map. Of course we are constantly meeting with startups to learn about how we can support them - and companies are always welcome to reach out at <a href="mailto:digital@media.nyc.gov" target="_blank">digital@media.nyc.gov</a>.</p> <h3> If you were to start a tech company today, what would it be? Is there a specific industry you find interesting or you think could use more innovation?</h3> <p> There are so many areas where it is possible to make a significant impact.  Innovations in education, energy, and collaborative consumption are three areas of great promise and potential impact.</p> <h3> You were born in New York, you live here and most importantly, you're the mayor of 3 NYC Foursquare locations. What has kept you in this city?</h3> <p> It is the perfect city because it's always changing, and to me it is always challenging me and surprising me, even though I have been here most of my life. It is also a city that is incredibly versatile - there are infinite ways to experience New York City, so it grows with you, and you are always learning. Above all, it manages to attract and engage the most incredible people in the world - and that is what truly makes New York City great.</p>

Malcolm Ong - Co-founder of Skillshare

2013-02-13T14:00:00Z

Malcolm Ong

"What we do in life echoes in eternity."

Malcolm is the Co-founder of Skillshare, a SXSW'i Panel Liaison, a 500 Startups Mentor, and an Advisor to numerous startups.

He previously led the Product team at OMGPOP, was a Senior Technologist at Razorfish, an E-commerce Specialist for IBM Global Services, and a graduate of IBM’s Extreme Blue program where he co-filed four patents.

Malcolm holds a B.S. in Computer Science with a double major in Business Administration and minor in E-commerce from Carnegie Mellon University.

Age: 29

Title: Co-founder of Skillshare

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Contact: malcolmong.com

<h3> How do you balance you're time between running your own startup and acting as a mentor for 500 Startups and advising numerous startups?</h3> <div> Running your company is, of course, always first priority. However, I feel that it's also important to give back to the tech community and interact with other like-minded entrepreneurs. Plus, time management is an art and science that I constantly strive to improve each and every day, so I can't say I've got it nailed down yet. That said, in general, I take a rather simple mathematical / logical approach to how I spend my time. Every week, there's a rough number of hours I dedicate to holding office hours or meetings for the companies I advise / mentor. I feel that, as long as there's a healthy balance between this versus all of my other priorities in the week, then I can be confident that I've had a productive week.</div> <h3> What is your favorite thing about New York City?</h3> <div> I love how there is always something to do, a new place to eat, new people to meet, etc. The pace of life, energy, and the diversity of folks working in the city is always an inspiration for me to fulfill the work-hard-play-hard mentality.</div> <h3> Would you recommend going to SXSW for new entrepreneurs?  What do you recommend people do while there if they choose to go?</h3> <div> Yes. I think SXSW is a great event to participate in because it's one of the few times and/or places for tech entrepreneurs from all around the world to gather and share knowledge. I love being inspired by the keynotes, playing with the latest new gadget, and meeting folks I would perhaps normally not get a chance to speak to in-person. Plus, if you have an opportunity to share your own knowledge, I encourage folks to participate in a panel or give their own talk to the community.</div>

Sean Barkulis - Co-Founder, UPlanMe

2013-01-09T14:00:00Z

Sean Barkulis

"A major key to success in building your business is always partnerships!"

Sean started his career as an investment banker at Citigroup. From there he moved to the buy-side where he invested capital in numerous distressed companies across multiple industries. After investing in a number of technology and digital media companies, he decided to branch off to develop and build his own companies. His first was an online trading and information platform for hedge funds in the leveraged loan space. From there he launched UPlanMe, with his cofounder. UPlanMe, is a technology platform for brands and business to seamlessly manage and promote their events, specials and updates across the digital universe.

Age: 30

Title: Co-Founder, UPlanMe

Location: SoHo

Contact: @SeanBarkulis

<h3> Your quote mentions that the key to success is always partnerships.  Do you have any advice for new startup founders on how to secure partnerships?</h3> <p> Partnerships are a great way to gain additional distribution for your product and to grow your customer base.  I’ve found that the best ways to go about forming partnerships are through the following: 1) Identify which companies would be ideal partners.  Notice that ‘partnership’ implies a two-way streak.  Your start-up should be able to provide some strategic benefit in order for the more established company to work with you. 2) Identify the right person in the organization to reach out to. Always be networking and see if you can identify a mutual linked-in contact to make an intro.  Response rates are much higher that way.  3) TAKE EVERY MEETING! It doesn’t matter how removed an individual may be from your company, you never know who they know and how they can help.  I say this to seasoned entrepreneurs and executives, as well.  Find time to meet with people who reach out, even if you think they are “beneath you”.  We’ve had many great partnerships come about from random meetings.</p> <h3> On your Twitter profile you mention that you're knowledgable in all things B2B, tech, and small business.  What would you say you're knowledgable about that isn't work related?</h3> <p> As I’ve spent the past few years focusing on a platform that helps brands and businesses navigate online marketing, I’ve learned a ton about the space.  Before that, however, I started my career in finance where I focused on investing in distressed companies.  Finance and math have always been a huge interest of mine, so I continue to watch the market and analyze potential debt and equity investments.  While my capital is clearly tied up in my start-up, I still pay active attention to the market and create sample portfolio investments just for the fun of it!</p> <h3> Where did the idea for UPlanMe come from?  What's the plan for UPlanMe in 2013?</h3> <p> UPlanMe originally started as a consumer-facing app attempting to tackle the crowded “event space”.  We quickly realized that this was a daunting task.  In the process of building our app, though, we found that both brands and businesses were having an extremely difficult time navigating the hyper-local marketing space.  We saw that as an opportunity to pivot our product and focus on building out technology for both Small-Medium-Businesses (“SMBs”) and national brands to manage and promote their events, specials, sales and updates across the digital universe, all without leaving UPlanMe.  This is where partnerships have come in handy.  We’ve built out technology to simplify how our customers manage and promote their advertising efforts to grow their customers.  Through distribution partnerships, this technology will soon be in front of 28.0 million local businesses.  We’ve also secured partnerships to place our paying business customers’ content in front of 4.5 million consumers (and growing).  2013 is exciting year for us as we have begun charging customers and growing revenue and profitability.  We will continue to focus on building out our product and growing our customer base.</p>

Jonathan Wasserstrum - Co-Founder, TheSquareFoot

2013-01-08T14:00:00Z

Jonathan Wasserstrum

"Everything is better with a brass section or buffalo sauce."

Born in California, raised in Texas, Emory for college, and then a handful of years in DC dodging politicos before moving to NYC for Columbia Business School. I have a background in Commercial Real Estate and love it as an industry. I always wanted to try my hand at startups so TheSquareFoot is my personal Venn diagram of happiness.

Age: 29

Title: Co-Founder, TheSquareFoot

Location: West Village

Contact: @jmwass

<h3> Starting your own company isn't easy.  Who and/or what has been your biggest resource / most helpful person while getting TheSquareFoot up and running?</h3> <p> My family and friends.  They have been extremely encouraging and supportive in innumerable ways as we have gone down the path with TheSquareFoot. </p> <h3> In your Twitter bio you call yourself a temporary New Yorker.  Why are you currently based here and when are you planning on leaving us? What are some of your favorite places to eat and hang out here in NYC?</h3> <p> I wound up in NYC when I started business school in the fall of 2010. I have no imminent plans of leaving, NYC is an awesome town...especially for startups.  It's been a tremendous environment to be a part of while working on TheSquareFoot.  <br /> <br /> Favorite places to eat is a really tough question, I almost never go to the same place twice.  Two places that I do readily go back to though are Pure Thai Cookhouse and Totto Ramen.  As far as hanging out goes, I can usually be found at any of a numer of watering holes in the West Village.</p> <h3> What's your day-to-day like?</h3> <p> It's pretty cliche in startups but there is no typical day-to-day.  I spend a lot of time working on business development initiatives and general strategy issues...and of course thinking about what's for dinner.</p>

Matt Hogan - Founder/CEO, DataCoup

2013-01-07T14:00:00Z

Matt Hogan

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. - Milton Friedman"

Boston College graduate, Wall Street graduate, Startup student

Age: 31

Title: Founder/CEO, DataCoup

Location: SoHo

Contact: @matthewphogan

<h3> What's the elevator pitch for DataCoup and what's driving you to build it?</h3> <p> DataCoup empowers consumers with their own personal data. The data we create, both socially and financially, is very valuable, and we, as consumers, should be in control of and benefit from its value and distribution.<br /> <br /> The drive to build this stemmed from the belief that our data is ours. I realized the amount of data I was giving away to all of my apps, financial institutions and others, and it was very clear to me that I can negotiate far better on my own data's behalf, then a third party service can (or a data broker for that matter). Secondarily, I'm a staunch believer in efficient markets. The market for personal data has entirely too many middlemen. The exchange should be consumers controlling access to their personal data, facing merchants who want access to their data. Mutual self interest breeds the most efficient markets, and if we give control of personal data back to consumers, we are drawing mighty close to realizing an efficient market.</p> <h3> Who is your favorite writer and why?</h3> <p> Jon Krakauer. Krakauer has an uncanny ability to dive so deep into a subject that the reader is forced to jump off the cliff with him.</p> <h3> You mention on your website that you like poker, golf, and sharks.  Favorite golf course?  Favorite shark?!</h3> <p> My favorite golf course is Waterville golf links, in County Kerry, Ireland.<br /> My favorite shark is the Bull Shark. I was snorkeling in Florida at age 13, and I picked my head up to see a 6 foot Bull cruising past me. Left an indelible mark.</p> <h3> We recently asked this question to another former Wall Street to startup founder… What lead to your decision to leave finance to start your own company?</h3> <p> I left Wall Street because I realized that I did not want to be doing what I was doing for the rest of my career. I had a great time working on Wall Street. I loved it, and I worked with great people and learned invaluable skills, but I woke up one morning and new 100% that after 7.5 years I did not want to do it anymore.</p>

Jesse Podell - Founder, tradembark

2013-01-04T14:00:00Z

Jesse Podell

"Life is for living, not just surviving."

I'm a trader returned human being, and I will stop at nothing until I help create The Great Social Investing Network. I left Wall Street after thirteen years in senior trading & business development roles at banks and hedge funds including Jefferies & Co. and Susquehanna International Group. I proudly serve as V.P. and founding board member of Hannah Banana Foundation, an NYC non-profit that helps bring smiles to patients who are seriously ill.

Age: 36

Title: Founder, tradembark

Location: SoHo

Contact: @jessepod

<h3> What lead to your decision to leave finance to work on your own startup?   </h3> <p> Wall Street trading desks were becoming an increasingly toxic place as commissions compressed over the years.  I grew tired of a phony culture where mediocre people felt like they were owed a great career just by showing up.   I deeply felt that the individual investor deserved much better access to information.  Fifty million people deserve better than talking heads on CNBC and noise.  I had an idea an for how help them connect to quality ideas and the people they trust.  So I plugged right in to the NY Tech scene and joined wework labs, started really asking people questions about their problems with investing, and won't ever look back.</p> <h3> What was your favorite memory from 2012?  </h3> <p> In May, surfing a gorgeous wave in front of Ku De Ta in Bali.  </p> <h3> You are one of the founding board members of the Hannah Banana Foundation.  Can you talk a bit more about the organization and how others can get involved?  </h3> <p> I'm really glad you asked me about it.  My former co-worker Arin and I became very close around the time her mother became terminally ill.  The two of us used to take long walks together in central park when I lived on the UES.  One day during a walk she told me she was considering starting a non-profit in her mom's honor and the rest is history.  Hannah (Banana), her mom, had the greatest attitude ever.  She was sick for most of her own adult life, but affected people deeply with her smiles, silliness, humor, and perseverance.  We're a grass roots, volunteer run NYC based organization.  We deliver smiles at sixteen NYC area hospitals by giving therapeutic gifts such as art supplies, toys, journals and activity-oriented books directly to patients while they are in care. Check out our website at www.hannahbananafoundation.org to hear more about our upcoming benefit this spring!    We have bag-packing parties to get people engaged and feel connected.  The hospital I handle for the foundation, NYU Langone Medical Center was crippled during Hurricane Sandy,  they still don't have an ER. They're going to pull themselves back up, and when they do, we're going to do something really special there.  Contact us through the forms on our site to get involved.</p> <h3> If you could have anyone in NYC as a mentor, who would you choose and why?  </h3> <p> Bloomberg, obviously.  He is the original trader returned human.  His hustle built an media empire, the most important piece of hardware in the history of capitalism,  and my favorite building in NYC!</p>

Loni Edwards - Founder, Stitch Collective

2012-12-03T14:00:00Z

Loni Edwards

"it's never too late to change direction"

Founder at Stitch Collective, a vertically integrated luxury fashion line that creates exclusive limited run pieces designed by tastemakers and emerging designers. Previously an intellectual property lawyer. Lover of travel (especially collecting unique jewelry from around the world), sky high heels, leopard print and, recently, photography.

Age: 28

Title: Founder, Stitch Collective

Location: Gramercy

Contact: @LonisTweets

<h3> What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome thus far with Stitch Collective?  How did you go about overcoming it?</h3> <p> We're constantly trying to find ways to operate more efficiently. We're bootstrapped and have been trying to keep non-manufacturing costs as close to zero as possible.<br />  <br /> It's driven me to acquire a handful of new skills.  I quickly learned how to use a DSLR camera so I could start doing our photo shoots at no cost.  And lately I've been spending my "free time" watching Photoshop tutorials on YouTube and teaching myself how to update the code on our site.</p> <h3> What are your favorite places to travel? </h3> <p> Anywhere I can practice my languages.<br />  <br /> I love languages.  Spanish was my first, I studied French for about 6 years, German for two and even took a semester of Japanese.</p> <h3> How did the idea for Stitch Collective come about?</h3> <p> Stitch Collective was born out of a desire to create luxury accessories at a more affordable price point while simultaneously lowering barriers for talented emerging designers and helping their work reach a wider audience.<br />  <br /> With affordability being a key part of Stitch Collective, we launched the brand as a vertically integrated luxury fashion line.  By vertically integrating and selling online, we're able to significantly reduce our operating costs while still delivering high quality products at a more accessible price point.</p>

Myles Recny - Cyborg from the Future @ ShelbyTV

2012-10-15T13:00:00Z

Myles Recny

"Girl, look at that <body>"

Officially an Australian, I was adopted from the East London ghetto at a young age, and cast into a life of multi-national citizenship and bacchanalia. I've grown up in London, Sydney, the US and have spent a good year living in China. I attended Duke where I studied Philosophy of Science, Chinese, CS and the finer points of many a gutter.

After graduating I went to work as an engineer for a social gaming company (Klicknation) in Northern California, selling virtual capes of invisibility to virtual superheroes. Later, I was talked into becoming a hackstar for Techstars NYC, which is where I met the boys of Shelby (then Homefield) and became the first Shelby employee. At Shelby I've been actively involved in development at every level of the stack (node is my forte) and sometimes I successfully paddle a small white ball over a net.

I've recently become a part-time grad student at NYU's Gallatin program. Gallatin allows me to create my own course of study, from any class in NYU. I'm interested in studying complexity theory, with the end-goal of impressing people at cocktail parties.

I'm also legally blind, so don't be offended when I ignore as we pass on the street.

Age: 24

Title: Cyborg from the Future @ ShelbyTV

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Contact: @recborg

<h3> So Shelby is going through some major changes right now and you guys have rebuilt the code from the ground up. Why such a major change? What prompted Shelby to start again from scratch? What aspect of the new Shelby are you most excited about?</h3> <p> Shelby v1 was a beautiful way to aggregate online video content. However it didn't put any creative tools in the hands of the user. In v2 every user is not only a consumer, but a curator of video - your Shelby 'roll' is where you express yourself. We realized that our v1 data model was tied so closely to an aggregation-only system, that refactoring would probably take longer than rebuilding from the ground up. I think it was a brilliant decision, and one that will ultimately change the way we watch TV. What am I most excited about? That'd be 'Shelby Genius', who you'll get to know very soon.</p> <h3> London, Sydney, China...what made you lay down your roots in New York?</h3> <p> Because of my eyesight (I have optic neuropathy), driving is not an option. That limits me to cities that have a formidable public transit system. New York is one such city, and a fantastically debauched place. That said, I don't like the idea of laying down roots anywhere. I look forward to taking advantage of my multi-citizenship via more international adventures soon.</p> <h3> Gallatin is the "make your own major" school at NYU. Do you like the freedom of creating your own course of study? What are you hoping to focus on?</h3> <p> I'm using Gallatin as the 'skeleton-key' to NYU. Whatever interests me right now is what I'll enroll in...hopefully I can find a way to tie it all together into a thesis at some point. This semester I'm taking two courses from ITP, 'DIY Health' and 'Intro to Biohacking'.<br /> <br /> If there's a common thread that runs through my studies, it's a search for complex behaving systems and finding ways to make computational models of things in academia that have yet to be modeled in that way.</p>

Micah Spear - creative director, service designer, innovation consultant.

2012-09-27T13:00:00Z

Micah Spear

"Do what you love so you can love what you do."

I am an inventor, service designer and creative director at Playtime LLC (weareplaytime.com), an agency I began while a student at Parsons in 2010. Playfulness and improvisation are vital organs in the body of my design process. I love creating winning products, and because some of the most remarkable inventions were “accidents” it excites me to experiment with my ideas. Growing up in the country (northwestern connecticut), I climbed trees and played in the woods. From a young age, glass blowing, painting canvases, shooting travel photography, and building things from scratch were common pursuits. Putting these passions to work at Art School, Design School, and Business School led to focusing on Service Design and Environmental Studies.

Experimenting with different strategies of identifying and realizing scalable and high impact products, I approach projects with an open, inquisitive attitude. I’ve worked on my own as well as collaborating closely with others consulting for Louis Vuitton on luxury marketing strategy and service design, Memorial Sloan Kettering on Health Service Innovation for chemotherapy patients and First Niagara Bank on Gen-Y strategy. More recently, I consulted with MTV and was a panelist invited by WHATIF for a case study on young entrepreneurs and innovators. I am well traveled throughout many different parts of the world (my passport is almost full), I’m a pro at Where’s Waldo and I can be very competitive on the foose-ball table!

I don’t think we really need more “stuff” -- any more chairs to sit on, shoes to wear or bags to carry; I am more interested in developing and challenging existing ways we live and interact with important, daily practices that include our health, lifestyle needs, relationship with the environment and each other.

Age: 24

Title: creative director, service designer, innovation consultant.

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Contact: @micahspear

<h3> With such a strong background in art and design school, what prompted you to attend business school? Do you think more designers should follow your path and attend business school?</h3> <p> I actually never had any interest in going to B-School.. seemed like a waste of time. I was at Parsons being courted by one professor who was running a Columbia x Parsons collaborative semester. Columbia was planning on inviting about 8 students from Parsons and putting them in the classes with MBA’s studying Luxury Marketing and working with real clients - fostering some type of collab. It was what it was, I learned more about myself there than I did about business, really. More specifically my values and luxury brands values are very different when it comes to a global responsibility.<br /> <br /> Design school should be responsible for educating their students on start up culture or how to pursue their passions. I do not think more designers should attend B-School though. I see more designers or MFA’s starting successful startups than MBA’s. I see more startups that don’t even follow the principles of basic business and then they sell for 100‘s millions all because they disrupt a space in a special way. That is something I don’t think you learn at B-School. I was only there a semester though so maybe I missed that part ;).</p> <h3> Coming from the country do you ever feel trapped in the city? Seeing as how your passport is almost full, where is the most exciting place you've traveled to?</h3> <p> It’s hard to leave this city. I feel like it was designed that way really. Traveling through Indonesia is really special - Java specifically. You are not going to see many tourists if you go the right place. I like being immersed in a truly foreign place to be an outsider and open my eyes. </p> <h3> You where a number of different hats and have worked on projects in extremely different fields. We noticed you said you're interested in challenging the existing ways we live and interact with important daily practices. What has been your most revolutionary work so far and why?</h3> <p> At the moment, Playtime is my most revolutionary work - and it’s in a constant evolutionary growth. The studio is excelling at approaching each project with empathy, perspective, - capturing valuable insights and and accelerating our creativity.  The machine churns out innovation and transformative thinking quickly and that’s thanks to our way of approaching projects - which result in challenging user experience and behaviors. We have a couple Playtime products in the works that will blow your mind (one day) - working with neurofeedback and electromagnets and sensors etc, but currently keeping up with the demand of our work is our main focus.</p>

Janelle Tiulentino - Co-Founder, CTO at CrowdJewel

2012-09-17T13:09:00Z

Janelle Tiulentino

"You can go further, both within and without, and don't waste a minute!"

A native Northern Californian, Janelle is new to the NYC tech scene and excited to become a part of it (though still missing the avocados and dry summer heat back at home). She's a recent Stanford CS grad, and is co-founder/CTO of CrowdJewel.

Age: 23

Title: Co-Founder, CTO at CrowdJewel

Location: West Village

Contact: facebook

<h3> CrowdJewel uses crowdsourcing to decide which jewelry designs to produce. What drove you to create CrowdJewel? What sparked your interest in the jewelry industry? Who are your favorite independent jewelry designers?</h3> <p> As a CS student who was fortunate enough to find herself in the heart of Silicon Valley, I watched all kinds of trends emerge in startup world throughout my undergrad years. I was most interested in the emergence of crowdsourcing platforms on the web. And as a female, I had always been a jewelry aficionado.<br /> <br /> I hadn't thought of connecting those two together, though, until I met my co-founder Courtney. She had been toying with the idea of crowdsourcing jewelry design for some time before then. Courtney and I were introduced by one of my CS mentors earlier this year; I asked him if he knew of anyone working within the jewelry space, and he instantly knew who to send me to. The rest is history!<br /> <br /> I can't remember a time when I was never interested in jewelry. As a kid, I loved draping myself with colorful, chunky necklaces, and stringing sparkly beads together to make new bracelets. I think it runs in my blood, too. The women in my family have kept and passed along heirloom pieces across generations; for example, a set of rings designed by my great-grandmother. I think there is a sort of universal language across jewelry designs around the world. They're more than just accessories; they are tradition, they are means of expression, they tell stories.<br /> <br /> My favorite independent jewelry designers right now: Dana Lorenz, Nat Mauro and Cole Morrall.</p> <h3> Although New York might have humid summer heat and a lack of cheap and delicious avocados, it definitely has its benefits. What are two things about New York that you'd miss if you had to leave?</h3> <p> - The pace. As crazy as things can get in the city, I'm never, ever bored.<br /> - The diversity. There are people in NYC from all over the place, with all kinds of experiences and interests. And because of that, NYC has become a place where everyone can find their niche.</p> <h3> As an entrepreneur, what is your biggest fear?</h3> <p> - The potential failure of Plan C, D, E... all the way up to Z. :-)</p>

Nahema Mehta - Founder, Art Remba

2012-09-05T13:00:00Z

Nahema Mehta

"Alone, we go faster. Together, we go further. - African proverb "

A Swiss-born, Belgian native, Nahema migrated to New York to attend Columbia University and never left. She followed her love of art to the Sotheby's Institute where she graduated valedictorian with a Masters in Art Business. By day she's an associate portfolio manager at an art fund, but by most-other-waking-moments she is the founder of Art Remba, an online collectors' community offering New Yorkers exclusive monthly access to fine art from recognized artists and galleries.

Age: 26

Title: Founder, Art Remba

Location: SoHo

Contact: @artremba

<h3> Art Remba has been featured on the NY Times and is a great way for people who want to display art, but don't know the ins and outs of the art world to find quality pieces. Have you found that artists and galleries are eager to show their pieces through Art Remba? Was it difficult to establish Art Remba in the art community in New York?</h3> <p> This generation of art collectors want it all: the ease of online access and the pleasure of in-person experience. Most online art ventures focus on the online-access part of the equation, offering wonderful tools to purchase art online, sight-unseen. Since we believe that viewing an artwork in person is as important as having access to it online, the Art Remba model focuses on both the online and offline experience: our Members discover artworks on our site and subscribe to the works in their homes/offices on a monthly basis at accessible rates.<br /> <br /> Galleries and artists have been very responsive to this “online + offline” approach as a means to engage new clients. Our emphasis on creating a safe, members-only platform that promises the security, curation, and professional delivery that their artworks deserve, has also proved appealing since galleries and artists are, understandably, very protective of their artworks. </p> <h3> When did you know you wanted to be involved in the art world? What kind of art do you prefer? Do you have your eye on any local artists or galleries?</h3> <p> Art has always held a special place in my heart. I grew up in Antwerp, which has a wonderful art scene, and was fortunate enough to then migrate to Columbia University for college where I was given all the resources necessary (free museum passes galore!) to navigate the New York art world.<br /> <br /> My mom always taught me to look, look, look, and to use art criticism as a bolster to enhance my own perspective instead of a crutch on which to blindly rely. I love emerging market art (art from India, China, Russia…), and I gravitate towards artists that have something important to say and a distinct way of expressing it. Currently, I have my eye on Tianjin-born but New York based photographer, Quentin Shih. His tension-filled photographs contrasting Western affluence with Chinese industrialism are exquisite.</p> <h3> So far Art Remba is only available if you live in the city. We see that Art Remba is planning on expanding. As you expand, do you plan on finding local artists and galleries for each city or do you plan on making any art on Art Remba available on a national level?</h3> <p> We are currently 100% focused on New York, but we aren’t opposed to expanding to other art-centric cities around the world in the future. The benefit of partnering with galleries is that even though the gallery is based in New York, their inventory is sourced from all over the world, which means that our Members get access not only to New York artists, but also to the best talent in India, China, and other booming art sectors. Therefore, despite our programming being local, our offerings are truly global. If we do choose to expand, we'll focus on building micro-communities like the one we're building in New York, where - through our subscription-based model, gallery tours, visits to artist studios, and VIP passes to nearby fairs such as ArtMRKT Hamptons - we give our Members the access needed to participate meaningfully in their city's fine art scene.</p>

Rie Yano - Co-founder, Material Wrld

2012-08-30T13:00:00Z

Rie Yano

"Next month and next year were other times. No need to mix them up with the present. - Zora Neale Hurston"

I'm the co-founder of Material Wrld, an exclusive and curated online fashion community for shoppable personal closets. I have a thing for street style, street art, and street dancing.

Born in Japan and raised in Mexico, Canada and the US, I've moved around the globe more than 20 times and am now happy to be back in the city that sparks my inspiration most. I began my career in Tokyo as the Spokesperson for Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan's largest trading and investing company, and led the company’s Global PR Team after working out of their New York headquarters as an expatriate. While I attended Harvard Business School, I launched a design crowd-sourcing site in Tokyo to promote Japanese artists & designers work online. Most recently I worked as a Web Project Manager in the Digital Media Marketing Department of Coach in NY, managing the digital content production for the brand's web, mobile, tablet and social media platforms in North America and Japan with the Creative team. I left Coach this May to co-found Material Wrld with Jie Zheng, my good friend and classmate from business school. We bonded over our obsession for fashion, dance, and businesses that do good. Since I'm from Japan and Jie is from China, we founded Material Wrld with a global vision to disrupt the fashion consignment industry and create the most personalized and fun shopping experience tor fashion enthusiasts from around the "wrld".

When I'm not working, you can find me dancing tango with high heels or street dancing with sneakers in NY, Tokyo, or Buenos Aires.

Age: 30

Title: Co-founder, Material Wrld

Location: Chelsea

Contact: @rieglobe

<h3> How did you and your coworker, Jie Zheng, come up with the concept for <a href="https://www.materialwrld.com">Material Wrld</a>? Was it difficult for you and Jie to leave your last jobs to pull all your effort into Material Wrld? What about Material Wrld gave you the confidence to leave your job at Coach?</h3> <p> We met back in business school 4 years ago and hit it off immediately for our obsession with fashion, dance, and businesses that do good. At school we kept on bumping into each other at the same meetings and conferences. Outside of school we often bumped into each other on the dance floor :)<br /> <br /> After graduation, we moved to NY together to work in fashion e-commerce and realized that while the fashion obsessed are flocking to Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and blogs to showcase their style, no platform exists for them to leverage their beautiful content and social networks to facilitate the sale of items they no longer wear. With our own tiny NY closets full of items we wanted to refresh, we realized that so many style mavens are currently keeping expensive fashions that aren’t being worn in closets, donating, or getting ripped off by consignment stores and thrift stores. We decided to solve this problem together as users of our own service.<br /> <br /> Jie and I were committed to working together since last fall, and we were confident that we’d be great as co-founders since we know each other so well and bring different skill sets to the table. Leaving Coach was difficult but my boss and co-workers in the digital team were so awesome and supported me with the startup even after I left.</p> <h3> You've traveled quite a lot! What about New York "sparks your inspiration most"? If not New York, where would you chose to live right now?</h3> <p> Since my entire life has been about adjusting to new culture, languages, and ways of thinking as “the new kid in school”, it’s actually difficult to imagine settling down in one place. New York inspires me because people here are not settled at all. There is so much diversity, creativity, ambitious talent, and a mix of culture that makes everyone very energetic and progressive.  <br /> <br /> If not New York, I’d love to live in Sao Paolo or Shanghai. Tokyo is always my soft spot at heart though.</p> <h3> What best describes your own sense of style? What inspires it? Who are your personal fashion icons? What's your favorite item in your closet?</h3> <p> I’d describe my sense of style as a mix of street chic & classic. I like to surprise myself when opposites actually work well together. Some days I want to be like Holly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Other days I want to be like Carrie in Sex And the City. Fashion serves my desire to act the character I want to be depending on my mood, so my personal fashion icon changes as quickly as the weather.<br /> <br /> My favorite item in my closet today is my DANNIJO necklace - very excited to raid the DANNIJO sisters’ closets on Material Wrld!</p>

Allen Miller - Portfolio Analyst (The Fund for Public Schools), Social Entrepreneur (Young Changers), Startup Junkie (Prendismo, WonderHowTo)

2012-08-28T13:00:00Z

Allen Miller

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try' - Yoda"

I am currently a Summer Analyst at The Fund for Public Schools through the LEE Program.

I have worked for a variety of internet start-ups including Prendismo (formerly eClips) and WonderHowto. While with these start-ups, I was one of the first employees and played a number of different roles at each. Specifically, I was involved with product development, user interface design, business planning and investor relations.

I am also an active social entrepreneur with a deep commitment to education. I am the founder and executive director of Young Changers. I previously had leadership roles at IthaQatar Ambassadors and Sri Lankan Aid. I strongly believe that the single most important thing you can do to help a kid is to provide him or her with a solid education. At the heart of education are the teachers building our future leaders, which is why I have devoted some time to Teach For America.

Before landing in NYC a year ago, I attended Cornell University as an Economics and Government major with a minor in Information Science. While at Cornell, I was actively involved in the start-up scene and served as President of the Cornell Technology Initiative. I was also President of Cornell’s Interfraternity Council and a Big Brother Mentor at the Ithaca Youth Bureau.

I was born in Baltimore and grew up in Los Angeles, CA. I have always loved technology and am the first to try out something new. I enjoy learning about new startups, particuarly in the mobile, EdTech, sustainability, digital media and enterprise spaces. I am also proficient in a range of web-tech languages and enjoy coding something new from time to time. Since moving to NYC I have immersed myself in the awesome culture that is Brooklyn, the never ending work of an educator and the vibrant and growing start-up scene that is already rivaling SV.

I’m always up for meeting someone new or learning about a new start-up. So please reach out if you want to connect.

Age: 23

Title: Portfolio Analyst (The Fund for Public Schools), Social Entrepreneur (Young Changers), Startup Junkie (Prendismo, WonderHowTo)

Location: Brooklyn

Contact: @MrAllenMiller

<h3> Noticed on your blog that you wrote a post about five things to do to become an entrepreneur. One of the things you wrote was to "figure out exactly why you want to be an entrepreneur." So I turn the question to you- why do you want to be an entrepreneur? Your last note was to "be persistent and take risks." What was the biggest risk you've ever taken? Did the risk pay off? </h3> <p> Being an entrepreneur has excited me for a variety of reasons. There is certainly an element of pride that many entrepreneurs have in pioneering innovation and being the first to do something new. Other entrepreneurs enjoy being a part of a challenging and unconventional work environment. For me, the greatest drive is that feeling of contributing something new and of value to society - whether the startup is for profit or nonprofit. As for risks, I've taken a few pretty big risks over the years, but the one that stands out at the moment is when I turned down a great summer internship in consulting to work on a startup with a few classmates at Cornell. The startup ended up failing, but the lessons learned that summer led to a number of highly successful initiatives since then.</p> <h3> You were involved with the Teach for America program amongst other nonprofits. As a social entrepreneur who started an education nonprofit, what are your opinions on the state of education in America and how do you think we can improve the education system?</h3> <p> Now that's the million dollar question, isn't it? I think there is much to be said about education in the U.S. and not enough time to even hit the tip of the iceberg. I certainly do believe that the work being done by organizations like Teach For America is creating a positive change in some of our highest need urban public schools. There is also quite a bit being done at the moment around the common core, alternative instruction, education technology and private funding in experimental pilot programs. The biggest thing we can do, in my opinion, is to focus as many resources as possible on building and maintaining great teachers. Some of the best education systems in the world, such as Finland's system, have such great programs because of the amount of money and time spent on teacher effectiveness. An increase in the number of highly effective and committed teachers, won't by itself eliminate the achievement gap, but it can certainly help narrow the disparity in education achievement that currently exists.  </p> <h3> As a social entrepreneur who is a "start up junkie," what are some of your favorite companies combining tech and social good?</h3> <p> In terms of learning systems, Edmodo and Verbling are building out some pretty robust platforms. For classroom management, Class Dojo has a great toolkit. For video learning, you can't beat Khan Academy and TED Talks. For marketing, grant writing and volunteering, Media Cause is an exciting resource. And of course, one can't have a conversation about tech and social good without bringing up Indiegogo!</p>

Dave Zwieback - Head of Systems at Knewton; CTO at Lotus Outreach

2012-08-23T13:00:00Z

Dave Zwieback

"When you are not afraid [to] be breaking some rules [or not be] fulfilling someone's expectations, what more enlightenment do you want? - Khyentse Norbu"

Born in Europe, raised all over. Father of two boys, husband of one amazing woman. Occasionally get a chance to sit and do nothing. The rest of the time, appear to be running large-scale infrastructure at Knewton, or small-scale infrastructure at Lotus Outreach (a non-profit that helps at-risk and exploited women and children in the developing world). Like technology, but love technologists. Learned all about management by being in a rock band. Have been known to complain that yoga is 99% practice, 1% theory. Recreational tomato plant assassin.

Age: 38

Title: Head of Systems at Knewton; CTO at Lotus Outreach

Location: Union Square

Contact: @davezwieback

<h3> Knewton is working to revolutionize the education system by personalized content for every student. How has the reaction been to Knewton from the academic community? Do you plan on expanding into other subjects besides SAT/GMAT test prep and math?</h3> <p> Knewton's test prep products enabled us to bootstrap our adaptive learning platform, but our focus has always been on mainstream education, both in higher education and in K12. In 2011 we launched three courses with Arizona State University: College Mathematics, College Algebra, and our Math Readiness course. We have also have partnered with some of the largest education institutions in the US, including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Penn State University (PSU), Mount St. Mary’s University, and Washington State University (WSU).<br /> <br /> This year, in partnership with Pearson, we are launching a very large number of Knewton-powered courses on Pearson's MyLabs/Mastering platform, which had 9 million student registrations in 2011. These courses cover reading, writing, mathematics, several sciences, economics, and other disciplines.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.knewton.com/asu/">This video</a> has a good flavor of some of the feedback we've received from ASU faculty and others for our adaptive learning platform. As far as concrete data on its effectiveness, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2012/02/22/knewton-is-building-the-worlds-smartest-tutor/">according to ASU</a>, compared to non-Knewton courses "the portion of students withdrawing from the [Knewton] courses fell from 13% to 6%, and pass rates rose from 66% to 75%". That's rather amazing, given that we've only been at this for 4 years!</p> <h3> You claim you "learned all about management by being in a rock band." When was this and please let us in on the secrets of management from rock band-ing.</h3> <p> Software engineers and musicians are sensitive, creative, opinionated, and often obsessively detail-oritened. Both coders and musicians will often fight to the death about the "right" way to do something--whether it's a choice of programming language, tool, or OS, or the exact EQ setting.  Most engineers and musicians wildly underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete their projects--recording an album often requires untold hours in the studio, just like releasing any sizable software project. Some engineers behave much like rock stars, and have entourages, groupies, and often unreasonable demands (and still some companies go out of the way to hire these "rock star hackers").  And yet, even the most accomplished software engineers and musicians live with the knowledge--and the basic insecurity--that despite all their efforts, their work remains imperfect and impermanent.<br /> <br /> The key to managing both rock band members and members of your tech team is to understand the many obvious and secret things that drive each person.</p> <h3> There has been a lot of interest in the "broken" education system. What are you personal feelings about the educations system and how else do you think tech can help the education system improve?</h3> <p> Education is the gateway problem of our time--your level of education strongly correlates with your lifetime earning potential (you will make about twice as much if you have a college degree vs a high school diploma), your overall health (e.g., the more educated you are, the less likely you are to smoke or be obese), social engagement (better educated people are more likely to vote and participate in community/non-profit activities), and so on. In rural Cambodia, simply being in school is often what will prevent you from being <a href="http://lotusoutreach.org/smart/">trafficked out to Thailand for sex work or domestic slavery</a>.<br /> <br /> There are numerous ways in which the current education system is broken on a global scale: the unsustainable high cost that is threatening to make quality education a luxury; the limited access to high quality educational content for those that need it most; the assembly-line one-size-fits-all education that leaves the most creative and capable students unengaged, and the most vulnerable students at a huge disadvantage. Addressing these many problems is perhaps the defining challenge of our times, and obviously technology will have a huge part to play in this.</p>

Chelsey Bingham - Founder, Wiseling

2012-08-20T13:00:00Z

Chelsey Bingham

"Life shrinks and expands in proportion to one's courage - Anais Nin"

I'm the founder of Wiseling, a marketplace for vintage and preowned fashion based in NYC. Wiseling is based on the Dutch word for change and transformation. We aim to change the way the world views and wears clothing by making it easier to share and rewear. I'm a fashion and tech enthusiast interested in creating ideas, products, and connecting people.

Age: 27

Title: Founder, Wiseling

Location: SoHo

Contact: @chelsbingham

<h3> What makes Wiseling different from established sellers like Ebay and Etsy? How do you plan on drawing the crowd of vintage sellers and buyers away from the established marketplaces?</h3> <p> Wiseling is a niche marketplace. Being focused fashion means that everything from the look and feel of the site to the usability and search experience feels very modern and stylish. Product listings are organized by fashion-specific categories like size and style that are related to item type so the process of discovery becomes more direct and relevant.<br /> <br /> Being a passionate vintage-lover, I grew up frequenting consignment stores, thrift shops and flea markets searching for one-of-a-kind pieces. I always imagined an online space that would provide access to all of that, especially the unwanted fashion pieces hidden in closets and attics around the world. eBay brought that concept to life online, but it never really appealed to my personal sensibilities. Being such a vast marketplace, searching felt a lot like digging and interactions felt cold. Etsy has done a really good job at creating a community-minded marketplace that encourages collaboration and engagement. You can find some really cool vintage pieces tucked alongside interesting handmade items which really take the spotlight.<br /> <br /> Being all-inclusive of vintage as well as used contemporary clothing, Wiseling takes fashion to center-stage. We want to emulate the same sort of vibrant community of like-minded people but in our case let them gather around their interest in style and sartorial expression. We spend a lot of time talking to buyers and shoppers both online and offline. People are really excited about what we have to offer. Our main focus is to continue tuning in to what they feel is lacking in current marketplaces and let that shape what we build.</p> <h3> I noticed that you're a "super host" on Airbnb. How did you get started hosting on Airbnb? Who was your most interesting guest?</h3> <p> I started hosting on Airbnb a couple of years ago. I had an extra bedroom at the apartment where I lived in Brooklyn that I thought would be useful for projects and personal guests, but it sat unoccupied most of the time. It felt very frivolous. A friend told me about Airbnb, and it just made a lot of sense to make my extra space available to travelers, earn a little bit of money, and make some friends along the way. It's been extremely rewarding. I've had a world-renowned composer from Spain, a novelist from Germany, musicians from Canada, photographers and filmmakers from Chicago, San Francisco and Australia, developers from Iceland and Brazil. It's made for countless fascinating conversations over morning coffee.</p> <h3> You've featured interesting artists on your blog like Masaya Kushino and Stephen Eichhorn along with songs of the day and movie reviews. Although Wiseling is a site dedicated to selling vintage and used clothing, you guys are definitely cultivating a certain identity through the songs, movies and artists you feature on your blog. How did you develop the Wiseling voice?</h3> <p> We launched the blog long before we launched our site in private beta. It was created as a place for us to start engaging with our potential users and create a community based around broader subjects. We wanted to establish the culture of our company by sharing what we are listening to and doing in the office and at the same time provide interesting content that sparks a dialogue. Art, music and fashion have been influencing each other for centuries so it seems appropriate to explore their relationship on the blog. We try to make connections between the industries so we talk to artists about what they were wearing when they were teenagers, musicians about shopping in thrift stores, and fashion stylists about their favorite album. Fashion is about expression, and our blog shines light on that.</p>

Travis Alber - Founder, ReadSocial

2012-08-14T13:00:00Z

Travis Alber

"There is opportunity in chaos."

Travis is Co-Founder of ReadSocial, a startup that layers paragraph-level conversations on top of websites, iPad apps, ebooks, and just about anything else digital. It uses hashtags to group people, and with it she hopes to be properly disruptive to outdated commenting models. She began learning about computers from her dad, an old school videotex expert (google it) in the heady days before the real internet was born.

Her past lives include being the Creative Director at a rich media firm in LA, running creative for an interactive R&D department at Cisco (much cooler than it sounds), and filling the role of interactive designer with a decent number of startups during Internet Boom 1.0, out in San Francisco. Before that she was toiling away for a MA in Interactive Media. Travis’ previous startup was BookGlutton.com, a place where people could read ebooks in a browser and chat inside chapters - it was a trial by fire within the publishing industry, and also pretty cool.

She has a superhuman memory (except for people’s names...what’s up with that?), and will someday write a great science fiction book.

Age:

Title: Founder, ReadSocial

Location: SoHo, Upper East Side

Contact: @screenkapture

<h3> What drew you to try to connect publishing with the tech industry? How has the reaction to ReadSocial been?</h3> <p> Publishing is undergoing a tremendous shift. Combine that with a lack of technical knowledge, and you get a huge opportunity to build something transformative. The reaction to ReadSocial has been very positive. We offer an easy way to add contextual conversations inside books and websites, at the paragraph-level. Most of the industry is interested in embedding social, but they won't build something that extensive or scalable - especially something that can cross reading systems. It's a good fit.</p> <h3> Can you give us any hints as to what your great science fiction book is going to be about? What are you reading at the moment?</h3> <p> I'd be lying if I didn't tell you most of my reading is limited to startup stuff, but I did pick up Chain of Chance by Stanislaw Lem for my recent visit to Buenos Aires (astronauts! chaos theory!). Mine is a thriller set in the near future that deals with how technology insinuates itself into our everyday lives and mixes advertising, art, freedom, and privacy concerns. It takes place in NYC.</p> <h3> The publishing industry is facing quite a shakeup with the advent of ebooks and ereaders. What do you see for the future of the publishing industry and how do you plan on being a part of it? I noticed you said that your first startup, BookGlutton, was a "trial by fire within the publishing industry." Can you elaborate a little more about that? What did you learn that you'll take with you to your next venture?</h3> <p> Publishing is going to be mobile, social and DRM-free. All paths lead to the web, and it will take on the same characteristics that embody web content. The more you understand the interplay between content, social sharing, and the web, the closer you are to a successful publishing startup.<br /> <br /> Our last startup, BookGlutton, was way too early. We built a web-based reading system with group  features in 2007, and we couldn't get publishers to give us content. They were very forceful about DRM and territorial rights, but there was also an odd concern that publishing might not go digital any time soon (seriously). Amazon changed all that by making the Kindle successful, and like Tim O'Reilly says, a rising tide raises all boats. We talk about it in a chapter we wrote for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Book-Futurists-Manifesto-Collection-Publishing/dp/1449305601">Books: A Futurist Manifesto</a>.<br /> <br /> With our new startup, <a href="http://www.readsocial.net">ReadSocial</a>, we enable a key piece of the puzzle for publishers. It can be integrated with their content, but it's simple and doesn't require they hand anything over to us, distribute through us, or even give us their users. We just provide the one piece that would be really difficult for them to build: a sustainable social system that is granular enough to talk about the finer points, one that flows across systems to follow content. That key piece has inherent value for publishers, but is something they're unlikely to produce in-house. That seems like a good position to be in.</p>

Bjorn Roche - Independent consultant and President of XO Audio

2012-08-13T13:00:00Z

Bjorn Roche

"Rock star is my backup plan."

Bjorn Roche grew up trying to decide between being a rock star and mad scientist. Today, he's sort of like a mad scientist for rock musicians: by designing software for the music industry, his software inventions have been used by the likes of Linkin Park, Weezer, and other rock stars to move their music around the 'net, and share their music with fans. He's also written tools for musicians to collaborate online, including the first audio editor that allowed recording, mixing, editing and real-time effects in a web browser, Mantis.

As one of the leading experts in web, internet and collaborative audio, Bjorn has developed software for startups like Indaba Music, Sterling Sound, one of the top mastering studios in the world, Z-Systems audio engineering, a manufacturer of high-end digital routers and signal processing, and helped put together DVDs for several major publications, including Rolling Stone. Currently, he's working on a not-so-top secret project called Xonami, which will, for the first time, allow musicians and music producers to collaborate on projects from anywhere on the globe in real-time.

In his copious spare time, he plays upright bass in the band Molly Does Not Approve.

Age: 32

Title: Independent consultant and President of XO Audio

Location: Washington Heights

Contact: bjornroche.com

<h3> How has the reaction been to Xonami from the music community?</h3> <p> So far the response has been very positive. People are excited and really looking for ways to collaborate and manage their own projects more efficiently, as well as collaborate and not worry about tedium like backups. I've also had a lot of interest from other companies making DAWs, so there is definitely going to be some integration with tools people are already using.<br /> <br /> As an independent consultant and your own boss, do you find it difficult to manage your time?<br /> <br /> Most of the time it's just a matter of prioritizing. For example, my clients always come first, and then my own projects.</p> <h3> Any upcoming shows for Molly Does Not Approve?</h3> <p> Unfortunately for the band, Molly just had a kid, so we don't have anything booked right now. You can sign up for our mailing list to get info about upcoming gigs, or you can like us on facebook.<br /> <br /> Who are your favorite musicians?<br /> <br /> I grew up on 80's british new wave like The Cure and Depeche Mode. I also liked Siouxsie and the Banshees and even dressed all Goth for a while! In college I listened to a lot of trip hop, like Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead, and Morcheeba. Nowadays I've finally started listening to some American music, like Neko Case, The Books, and Cat Power, but there's so much great music out there!</p> <h3> With so many tools available for amateur musicians to create studio quality music, how do you think the music industry is going to change?</h3> <p> Since the 90s, home studio technology started making music production cheaper, and now even distribution and promotion is becoming cheaper thanks to the Internet. I've also noticed a recent trend toward gathering and analyzing more marketing information. Of course, technologies like Xonami are taking advantage of the Internet to make production easier, too.<br /> <br /> A major theme throughout these changes has been people speculating about the downfall of the major labels. It makes a great narrative because nobody likes the idea of big evil companies profiting off of art, and music is one of the few areas where actual artists can make a living freely expressing themselves. Despite their recent contraction, though, the majors still have an iron grip on recorded music -- they sell around 80% of it worldwide. Most aspiring professional musicians still want to be signed to labels, because labels have money, and it still costs money to get your music career started. Until someone finds a way for musicians to get their career going for free or much less money, I don't see anticipate a big change happening in the way money moves around in the music industry. In the meantime, there have been some real changes: the majors have given some ground to independent labels, they've learned to adapt to a world with piracy, and they've accepted that music distribution may have to happen in ways that they do not completely control or did not foresee. In the short term, I definitely see more innovation in distribution, as well as metrics and analytics.<br /> <br /> It's also clear that lots of great ideas are coming out around getting more people involved in music, whether it's online DJing and remixing, networking for musicians, or Beck's new "Album" released only as sheet music. I don't know if this has to do with new technology or it's simply a reaction to the homogeneity of popular music, but it's an interesting trend that could lead to some big changes.<br /> <br /> (Indaba Music, and Club Create, two companies I've consulted for, work in these areas)</p>

Ed Wolf - Product Manager / Business Analyst, Time Inc.

2012-08-03T13:00:00Z

Ed Wolf

"Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window. - Woz"

Ed is a Product Manager / Business Analyst at Time Inc. and works with brands such as People, Time and Sports Illustrated to create new mobile experiences that engage readers beyond print magazines. He is a native New Yorker and has a passion for creating technology and products that people love. A lifelong geek, he graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Computer Engineering and founded iTheater, an open source media center project. When not bridging the gap between technical and non-technical teams, Ed enjoys hiking, traveling and playing racquetball.

Age: 26

Title: Product Manager / Business Analyst, Time Inc.

Location: Midtown

Contact: @EdWolfNYC

<h3> What was your motivation behind creating iTheater? Is it difficult to find time to maintain iTheater while working as a Product Manager at Time?</h3> <p> I was motivated to create iTheater immediately after the Mac Mini was introduced in 2005. Its small form factor was perfect for sitting next to a TV so that individuals could watch and listen to their digital media. At the time, there were no media center front ends for the Mac. We set out to solve that problem and give users an intuitive way to interact with their movies, music and photos. Today, we are no longer developing iTheater as there are alternative media center applications on the market. It was a fun college project, and I'm happy that we were able to fill the gap until XBMC and others became mature on the Mac platform.</p> <h3> Have you been watching the Olympics? As a racquetball player, do you wish racquetball was an official Olympic sport?</h3> <p> Absolutely! This past weekend I had 5 live streams going all at once. For 2 weeks every 2 years, my life is basically watching the Olympics. It would be really cool if racquetball was an official sport, but I enjoy watching some of the lesser-known sports such as Archery, Sailing, Badminton and my personal favorite, Canoeing/Kayaking.</p> <h3> You have a steady job and a cool side project. Do you have any regrets? What do you regard as your best decision?</h3> <p> I have no regrets; things happen for a reason and I'm content with that. I've been fortune to have amazing opportunities come my way unexpectedly. Honestly, how many people get to spend an entire day with Woz? My best decision has been transitioning into a role that allows me to bridge the gap between engineering and business. There are not too many people that can speak both of these languages, and being that liaison has allowed me to create better products and personal relationships.</p>

justin j. moses - write, code; speak" opine.

2012-07-30T13:00:00Z

justin j. moses

"fighting an uphill battle against capitalization. "

1998: finish high school in sydney. i like computers and being in control, figure i'll make a good programmer.

1999-02: working hard, computing science. find a cool startup; disrupt. finish study. burn out.

2002: buy a bicycle and ride to perth. play more guitar, start piano, learn to read music.

2003-05: study again, classical guitar and composition.

2005: creating more satisfying than performing. dabbling back in web in my spare time.

2006: feeling the need to travel. back in web, earning my keep. tinkering with .net.

2007: live in japan, freelancing web. leave to travel the world.

2008: back in sydney, decide to hunker down. dabble in dark powers - specialize in flash.

2009: live the dream, start a company. love the control. miss my life.

2010: dream dies a slow death. contracting again. life resumes. follow a lead and end up consulting in new york.

2011: working hard. playing hard. new york city. (flash dies, web is back.)

2012: want to meet more creatives. work with friend on tilt; simulating a live market and with game elements. turning the startup life into a one day sojourn.

2013: wondering through the future. writing everything down. (nfc touchdown. qr codes die by the way side. dwolla takes off. apple television fails to arrive.)

Age: 31

Title: write, code; speak" opine.

Location: West Village

Contact: @justinjmoses

<h3> Are most people that sign up for tilt events people who are already involved in startups or in the corporate sector?  What are some of the most interesting idea that's come out of tilt?</h3> <p> it's about 60 / 40 - those in the corporate sector interesting in trying their hand at a startup, and those already in the scene, looking for more exposure to angels, VCs and other creatives.<br /> <br /> at our last event, we tilted on the nyc rental market. one team queried us on whether or not "rentals" were limited to domiciles. they then proceeded to create a concept that was essentially an Airbnb for musical equipment. while they didn't win the day, as a musician with some useful gear lying dormant, i definitely saw the value-add of their proposal.  <br /> <br /> my other favourite was at one of our dry-run events. a team took the theme of an interactive learning product and applied it to corporate on-boarding processes - with gamification thrown it. </p> <h3> I know you wrote that creating was more interesting than performing, but do you still play the guitar or the piano? Who are your favorite musicians?</h3> <p> i've brought a couple of guitars to america with me, though i confess i don't play as much as i'd like - finding time (and a place) to play music in this city is no mean feat. as for favorite musicians, i tend to be most fascinated by those who are both performers and composers, rather than the virtuosos. my favourite classical guitarist, composer and arranger is Roland Dyens (he's a bit scary-looking but truly talented - http://www.rolanddyens.com). other than that, i admire singer/songwriters such as Jeff Magnum and Neil Finn. and i'm also a die-hard post-rock fan.    </p> <h3> Let's talk about the future you predicted for 2013. In this world where QR codes die by the way side and Dwolla takes off, where do you see tilt? Do you think tilt can go worldwide and help burgeoning tech scenes grow faster?</h3> <p> like most startups, tilt has shifted a lot from where we first began. originally, it began as a way to better mix our networks of creatives. since then, it has grown into a full blown startup simulation, complete with a virtual market and investment. it's hard to say where it will be next year, but i daresay that it will catch on in growing tech scenes, particularly as it gives every participant a chance to show what they can do. marketers, strategists and designers have enjoyed it in particular because it puts them on an even keel with developers, allowing them to demonstrate what they bring to a startup. developers on the other hard, are able to share their understanding of product without having to focus on the actual code all night long.<br /> <br /> tilt is very nyc-centric. it appeals in particular to characters from this colorful city of individuals. i suspect that the challenges of immediately working with a team of strangers, creating under pressure and pitching concepts to seasoned investors are those that new yorkers would relish over others. time will tell where 2013 sees us, but hopefully by open sourcing our virtual market app, and continuing our social events, we'll grow this budding community into a network of solid creative talent with strong ties and imaginative product blueprints. </p>

Seth Porges - Co-Founder of Cloth for iOS, freelance writer

2012-07-25T13:00:00Z

Seth Porges

"Scientists are saying the future is going to be far more futuristic than they originally predicted."

I'm a longtime tech writer and television commentator, who recently decided to start my own venture adventure. Previously, I worked as senior editor at Maxim, as a tech editor and columnist for Popular Mechanics, and as a tech columnist for Bloomberg News. I've also written (mostly about tech) for dozens of publications, including Popular Mechanics, Maxim, Men's Health, Men's Journal, Gizmodo, Mashable, The Next Web, Fast Company, Forbes, InStyle, PC Magazine, Popular Science, and BusinessWeek.

In December 2011, I launched the iOS app Cloth, which makes it easy to save, categorize, and share your favorite wardrobes. In June 2012, Cloth partnered with wunderground.com to use real-time location-based weather data to pick the best outfits from your wardrobe for current conditions. The app also teamed with Aviary to incorporate advanced photo editing tools. Cloth has been featured in The New York Times, TechCrunch, Mashable, Gizmodo, The Next Web, and Wired; and been featured on the iTunes homepage three times. Cloth was entirely funded off of income earned using Airbnb.

I also do a lot of TV stuff. Sometimes on cable news and the morning shows (MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC), but also some other stuff. I'm currently appearing in a multipart series of History Channel specials, competed on the game shows Cash Cab and Chain Reaction, and taped an episode of American Ninja Warrior.

In my free time, I give lectures about the history of pinball, and plan recovery dives for sunken treasures.

Age: 28

Title: Co-Founder of Cloth for iOS, freelance writer

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Contact: @sethporges

<h3> With the all of fashion startups, where do you think you fit into the scene? You've had quite a lot of experience writing about tech; what gave you the conviction to not only write about tech, but to become involved in the scene with your own startup?</h3> <p> There are a number of really great companies out there. Cloth started as a simple closet management utility that was designed to be as clean and easy-to-use as possible. The idea is to use that as a starting point, and build on more and better features—such as our use of real-time weather data to pick your best outfits for current conditions—that slowly expand the scope of the product. We've got some really great ideas going forward that will do some more things nobody else has done, so stay tuned.</p> <p> <br /> Tech writers have a bird's-eye view of the space. We see, demo, play with, have access to, and follow so many start-ups, so many products, and so many people that, at least I hope, it's possible to develop a sense of what works and what doesn't. Being a tech writer also makes things seem accessible, and really knocks down the psychological barrier to entry. I think there are a lot of people with great ideas who just have no idea where to start. Following tech as a journalist and seeing people just like me do great things just makes connecting the dots seem so possible.</p> <h3> Your interests are unique. Do you give your history of pinball lessons at somewhere semi-official like the Brooklyn Brainery or casually to anyone who'll listen at the local arcade? As for the recovery dives, how long have you been planning them?</h3> <p> I've given a few talks on the history of pinball at Galapagos in Dumbo and at the 92nd St Y in Tribeca. I hope I'm more than just a whacko on a soapbox. For me, the interest is less about the game itself, and more about the people and places and historical figures involved with it. Pinball was illegal for more than 30 years in much of America--including New York. And the celebrities, politicians, and groups involved with it are incredible. Folks like Mayor La Guardia, RFK—the Supreme Court even ruled on pinball in the 50s. And there were these crazy pinball mobs involved as well. The NYPD even had a dedicated "pinball squad" dedicated to smashing the machines—Elliot Ness and the Untouchables-style. It was this huge swath of American history that almost nobody knows about. THAT'S why it's interesting to me.<br /> I first had the idea for my pinball dive about three years ago, but it's an extremely slow process. Fortunately, I have all the pieces and people together, and we're going to go get them pretty soon. For me, recovery and treasure dives in general are a source of great interest. I did a fun story for Maxim where I tagged along with some divers who uncovered a gun that may be the long-lost second murder weapon from the Amityville murders in the 70s, and I just got back from a dive in Panama with archaeologists who were uncovering a shipwreck that may have belonged to the pirate Captain Morgan. The best part about being a journalist is that this is work.</p> <h3> To fund your entire startup using the profits from Airbnb is impressive. We checked out your place on Airbnb and from the pictures it looks like an amazing place. When you decided to start Cloth, did you<br /> immediately decide that you were going to fund it yourself?  </h3> <p> I wouldn't want to start a project that I didn't believe in enough to put my own money behind. I'm of the belief that the longer you can incubate something yourself, the better. It also allows us to be extremely nimble and forces us to do a lot with a little. Having too much funding is just as fatal to a start-up as having too much, and I hope that we can continue to be a lean, efficient machine. There may be a point where Cloth outgrows this funding model, but I'm extremely proud of our ability to do it ourselves so far.</p>