1. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY 1
INTRODUCTION TO
THE NEW YORK
STARTUP
COMMUNITY
Kevin Shiiba
Product Manager
General Assembly

2. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY 2
NYC STARTUPS
TECH + GA

3. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I HOW IT IS DEFINED 3
WHAT DEFINES AN ECOSYSTEM?
• Startups
• Investors
• Talent
• Mentors
• Partners
• Service Providers

4. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I WHO THEY ARE 4
NOTABLE NYC STARTUPS
• Art.sy • Gilt Group • SeatGeek
• Bit.ly • GroupMe • SecondMarket
• Blip.tv • HowAboutWe • Shelby.tv
• Chartbeat • Kickstarter • Tumblr
• Codeacademy • Livestream • Vimeo
• Etsy • Lot18 • Warby Parker
• Fab • MakerBot • Yipit
• Foursquare • OKCupid • ZocDoc

5. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I WHO THEY ARE 5
NOTABLE NYC VENTURE FIRMS
• AOL Ventures • Founder Collective • RRE Ventures
• Bain Capital • Greycroft Partners • Spark Capital
• Bessemer Venture Partners • High Peaks Venture Partners • Thrive Capital
• DFJ Gotham • IA Ventures • Union Square Ventures
• First Round Capital • Lerer Ventures
• FirstMark Capital • Raptor Group

6. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I WHAT YOU THINK 6
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
FOUNDiNG A
COMPANY iS THE ENTREPRENEURSHiP
BEST WAY TO GET iS TOO RiSKY OF
ONlY
iNVOlVED. TOO HARD TO A CAREER PATH.
GET “iN” OR DEVElOPERS
CAN GET A
GOOD JOB AT
STARTUPS.
SiliCON VAllY iS All NDAs
THAT MATTERS! “PEOPlE JUST NEED
A CODER TO
BUilD MY
Will STEAl
THE lOUDEST
PEOPlE
ARE THE
MY iDEA” WRiTE A BUSiNESS
SMARTEST! PlAN = GET FUNDiNG

7. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I WHAT YOU COULD DO 7
COMMON ROLES
• Front-End Developer (CSS,HTML) • Business Development (Sales, • Sales (Willingness to find and
• Back-End Developer (Ruby, Partnerships) follow leads)
Python, Java, PHP) • Marketing/User Acquisition (Email • Community Management (Social
• UX/UI Designer (inDesign, Marketing, Social Media, SEO, Data Media)
Photoshop) Analytics) • Operations (Customer Services,
• Product Manager (Light Front-End • Data Scientist (Hadoop, Matlab, Office Management)
Developer, Design) SQL) • Other roles depending on vertical
education

8. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I WHAT YOU SHOULD DO 8
DO.
• Learn the lexicon and how to best position your skillset
• Think long and hard about what kinds of environments best suit
you and seek out those
• Roll up your sleeves and learn new skills
• Remain humble and figure out ways to give back to the community
even when you’re a giant success
• Don’t be afraid to meet new folks and be open-minded

9. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO 9
DON’T.
• Think everyone knows something you don’t
• Listen to the people who tell you no
• Be afraid to ask for help, guidance, and introductions
• Hesitate to offer whatever it is that YOU do best
• Miss out on hackathons, panels, and demo days
• Get discouraged

10. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I FIRST STEPS 10
HOW DO I GET STARTED? ASK YOURSELF:
• What am I passionate about?
• What types of environments suit me?
• What is my risk tolerance?
• What am I good at?
• What part of the tech community best matches up to
my passions and skills? What role?
• How do I best hone these skills necessary to function
in this role?
• Who should I talk to get insight about a company /
role?

11. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I FURTHER STEPS 11
THE BEST WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
• Sign up for events newsletters
• Attend meet ups, happy hours, panels, and classes
• Learn how to code / design
• Go to hackathons and Startup Weekends
• Take interesting people you meet out for coffee
• Be useful – make introductions, give feedback, help
people you meet, keep an open mind
• Blog about our experiences and adventures
• Engage on Social Media
• Hustle

12. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY 12
THANK YOU.
Questions?
Kevin Shiiba
@kevinshiiba
@GA

13. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I APPENDIX 13
BLOGS TO READ
Chris Dixon — http://cdixon.org
Fred Wilson (A VC) — http://avc.com
BetaBeat — http://betabeat.com
SAI — http://businessinsider.com/sai
Paul Graham’s Essays — http://paulgraham.com
Hacker News — http://news.ycombinator.com
TechCrunch — http://techcrunch.com
General Assembly — http://generalassemb.ly/blog

14. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I APPENDIX 14
NEWSLETTERS
Startup Digest — http://startupdigest.com
Charlie O’Donnell — http://thingsgoingtobebig.com/nycevents
Gary’s Guide — http://garysguide.com
General Assembly — http://generalassemb.ly

15. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I APPENDIX 15
NOTABLE ORGS
New York Tech Meetup — http://nytm.org
Hack NY — http://hackny.org
Techies Give Back — http://techiesgiveback.org
NY Hacker / Hacker Union — http://nyhacker.org
We Are NY Tech — http://wearenytech.com
Internet Week — http://internetweekny.com
Social Media Week — http://socialmediaweek.org
NYC EDC — http://nycedc.com
NYC Digital — http://nyc.gov/digital

16. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I APPENDIX 16
COWORKING SPACES
WeWork Labs— http://wework.com
New Work City — http://nwc.co
3rd Ward— http://3rdward.com
Grind — http://grindspaces.com
The Yard — http://workattheyard.com
Hive @ 55 — http://hiveat55.com
Projective Space — http://projective.co
Green Desk — http://green-desk.com
Dogpatch Labs— http://dogpatchlabs.com

17. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW YORK STARTUP COMMUNITY I APPENDIX 17
ACCELERATORS
TechStars — http://techstars.com
DreamIt Ventures — http://dreamitventures.com
ER Accelerator — http://eraccelerator.com
NYC Seed — http://www.nycseed.com