A presentation I gave to the Spring 2016 Startup Institute NY class. A general introduction and breakdown of the NYC tech ecosystem along with advice.

1. NYC Tech 101:
From AppNexus to ZocDoc
Sumeet Shah, Brand Foundry Ventures
February 29, 2016
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2. About the Bearded Person In Front of You
• 6 years of experience in startups and private
equity
• Handles sourcing, executing, and
monitoring new opportunities for Brand
Foundry Ventures
• Ran new business strategies at Gist Digital
(mobile & app development studio)
• Handled bizdev and project work at Gotham
Consulting Partners (private equity
consulting)
• Program Manager for XRC Labs’ inaugural
Fall/Winter 2015 class (consumer accelerator)
• Current Mentor In Residence for Startup
Institute (aka your new cool uncle)
2www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds

3. • The NYC Tech Ecosystem
o Looking at some general trends in the tech industry
o Useful information about key startups, investors, and places
o How the corporate world is ge_ing involved in NYC tech
• NYC Tech Tips and Advice
o How to build the RIGHT community within NYC tech (sector-based, stage-based, etc.)
o How to enjoy this wonderful community in the most ways possible!
NOTE: I do NOT know everything about NYC tech.
MY GOAL: Build a strong 101-style overview for y’all to start on as we help nurture you from there
#WeAreFamily #IGotAllMySistersWithMe #ImSoOld
3www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
Today’s Objectives

4. • IT’S AN EXTREMELY WELCOMING WORLD.
o There have been so many communities (co-working spaces, organizations big and small,
corporations, etc.) that have opened their doors to men and women curious about the space and
with varying degrees of expertise
o Products from social media to Meetup.com meetups have been celebrating the progress of those
young and old within the spaces
o I’ve made a significant number of my closest friends in this community
• DIVERSITY. Yes, seriously.
o You’re seeing a lot of pushes in NYC for spaces for all communities wanting to get involved with
tech (race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) without ever feeling pushed away, daunted, or just
threatened
• Progress is rewarded
o That same welcoming community has the resources to help you all grow!
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Why Is NYC Tech So Awesome?
(and soooooo much be_er than Silicon Valley? J/k. Maybe.)

5. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: An Overview
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(This wonderful overview has been kindly “borrowed” from RRE Ventures’ Steve Schlafman
www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds

6. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Investment History
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Source: CB Insights
www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
New York is one of
the top markets for
tech funding in the
United States, with
local startups raising
over $20B across 3,800
deals since 2009.
Deal activity has
increased every year
since 2009, reaching
890 deals in 2014.
Funding is on track to
reach a 7-year high in
2015, with over $3.8B
in funding already
this year.

7. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Early-Stage Strengths
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Source: CB Insights
www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
Over 60% of the most
active VCs entering at the
seed or Series A stage in
New York tech since 2011
were based in New York.
While 65% of Series B and
onward investments in
New York tech are done by
non-NYC VCs, however,
the key point here is that:
NYC has a strong
investment community to
help build companies.

8. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Exit History
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Source: CB Insights
www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
That all said, exit history in
NYC tech is very strong.
While there are very few
IPOs, the number of
acquisitions within NYC
has been strong over the
past few years, reaching
171 in 2014.
This data was in July 2015
so we were on track to hit
the same numbers by the
end of the year.

9. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Exit History
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Source: CB Insights
www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
We’ve also had some
powerful exits within the
NYC tech ecosystem.
Etsy and OnDeck Capital,
the top 2 sellers, happened
since December 2014!
Two other notables:
1010data
(sold for $500MM)
Business Insider
(sold for $442MM)

10. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Breakdowns
10www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
It’s hard to break down the actual “sectors” within New York tech.
That said, here’s a good general list:
• AdTech (aka Advertising Tech)
• B2B (Business to Business, Software as a Service aka SaaS)
• Consumer (Products, E-Commerce, Retail Tech)
• Content (Media, Entertainment)
• EdTech (aka Education Tech)
• FinTech (aka Financial Tech, Payments, Bitcoin/Blockchain)
• Hardware (Internet of Things, Drones, High-Tech, Hardware + Industry X)
• HealthTech (Medical Devices, Insurance, Platforms)

11. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Unicorns?
11www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds

12. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: “Spaces”
12www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
There’s no question that co-working spaces like the one you’re siBing in
(WeWork) is a great place to meet people in the community. Other ways to find
those spaces include:
• Meetup.com Binges (with events across the city)
• Hangouts (Grey Dog, Coffee Shop, Balthazar, Think Coffee, Wichcraft,
Soho House, Neue House, Joe, Saturdays, City Bakery, the Ace Hotel,
the NoMad Hotel, Ground Support, Maison Kayser, Argo Tea)
• Other Sector-Specific Co-Working Spaces (Rise, the BF+DA, The Yard,
GRIND, The Farm, Projective Space, Fueled Collective, the NYU-Poly
Incubator, etc.)

13. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Old & New Schools
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(This wonderful overview has been kindly “borrowed” from RRE Ventures’ Steve Schlafman
“OLD” “NEW”

14. The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Other Resources
14www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
Finally, there are other key resources that can help you with startup strategy
depending on where you’re aiming to go:
• Agencies (Charming Robot, Red Antler, Big Spaceship, Worn Creative,
IDEO, Partners In Spade, R/GA, Communal Creative, etc.)
• Development Shops (Fueled, Pivotal Labs, Cyrus Innovation, Spartan
Ventures, Insignia, Gist Digital, it goes on…)
• PR Firms (Derris, Small Girls PR, Brew Media, ASTRSK PR,
Launchsquad, etc.)
• Real Estate (CBRE, Newmark, Jones Lang, Colliers, Cassidy Turley)
• Legal (Cooley, Lowenstein Sandler, Gunderson, Goodwin Procter,
Wilson Sonsini, WilmerHale, DLA Piper)

15. 15
Innovation Teams
• Intel, GE, Barclays, Unilever,
Amazon AWS, Google, and the list
goes on and on
• How can one find out about these
programs? Usually work within
your network to find them.
Accelerator/Incubator Collabs
• Whether it being a sponsor or
resource partner, many large
companies are ge_ing involved
with As and Is
• Some have even taken the time to
build their own programs (such as
R/GA and Target)
Acquirers
• From Yahoo to Facebook, from GM
and Ford to Apple, sometimes an
acquisition is the way to go.
• Obviously some deals aren’t as
helpful to the startup but many of
them are integrated into strong
systems and synergies.
With a growing powerful infrastructure in NYC, the city that has the captains of industry build
offices here has a_racted large corporate engagement into the system. But how are they ge_ing in
without really disrupting the system (for the bad)?
Acquisitions, Innovation Arms, and Accelerator/Incubator Collaborations.
www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
The NYC Tech Ecosystem: Other Resources

16. NYC Tech Tips And Advice
16www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
Sam Teller from Launchpad LA put together a “mirror” analysis:
• What am I passionate about?
• How can I make an impact?
• What environments do I thrive in?
• What part of the community best matches my passions and skills?
• How do I best hone these skills and communicate them to others?
• What companies excite me?
• Who do I admire professionally and why?

17. NYC Tech Tips And Advice: My List of DOs
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Here’s a few ways I would suggest to learn, get involved, and educate yourself for
starters:
• Event newsle_ers (www.garysguide.com is the best hands-down; others
include Startup One Stop, NYC Innovation Newsle_er, AlleyWatch, BuiltIn
NYC)
• Go on a Meetup.com binge. Seriously.
• Find various hackathons even if your coding/development experience isn’t
strong (examples include Startup Weekend StrategyHack, and Brandathon)
• Be open to test various products and apps
• NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK (with a smile)
• Use at least one form of social media to stay in touch (talk to me after you
make your choice)

18. NYC Tech Tips And Advice: My List of DON’Ts
18www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds
DON’T:
• Get discouraged – it’s a wonderful, open, welcoming community out
there. Everyone wants to help each other because we as a team can help
this sector grow to where it needs to be.
• Hesitate to offer your help – you’ll be surprised sometimes how helpful
you can be ways you didn’t think you could be. Take a look around.
You have so many backgrounds and walks of life around you!
• Assume everyone knows more than you – see second point J
• Be afraid to ask for help – Remember shool? If you don’t know, ASK.

19. NYC Tech Tips And Advice: Final Thoughts
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It’s a wonderful world in front of you.
When I started working in the VC world in March 2014, I knew NOBODY. I was
admiBedly scared, feeling like the new kid in school that nobody wanted to talk to. The
difference was, I started asking for help instead of crawling into a shell.
I have so many people in the startup and VC communities to thank because they have
helped me build what I have now as friends, colleagues, and relations. It’s why I try as
hard as I can along with many others to give back.
This community will only succeed with TEAMS, not visionaries.
Enjoy the ride!!

20. Here are some useful resources which I used in this deck:
1. Steve Schlafman: Intro to NYC Tech - http://bit.ly/SchlafNYCTech
2. CB Insights: 2015 New York Tech Data - http://bit.ly/CBINYCTech
3. CB Insights: Venture Pulse Q2 2015 - http://bit.ly/CBIVPQ22015
4. BuiltIn NYC: Unicorn Map - http://bit.ly/BINYCUnicorns
5. BuiltIn NYC: Startup Founder Advice - http://bit.ly/BINYCAdvice
6. A Founder’s Notebook: Basically all of it - http://bit.ly/FoundersNotebook
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Works Cited
www.brandfoundryvc.com // @PE_Feeds

21. Got any…
Questions?
Complaints?
Taco joint recommendations?
I’m all ears:
sumeet@brandfoundryvc.com
@PE_Feeds
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Thank You!