New York is teeming with events to showcase startups, but Thursday’s NY Tech Day presented a lineup of up-and-comers who, in some cases, drew more attention than big-name exhibitors such as tumblr.
In its debut event, NY Tech Day brought out some 160 tech companies to the 69th Regiment Armory in New York’s Flatiron District. Many of the startups were there to get the word out about themselves to the more than 3,000 visitors at the all-day expo, and also to talk up potential investors, including Lerer Ventures, Spark Capital, and other firms that attended. NY Tech Day was co-founded by John Petersen and Alec Hartman, who are also the co-founders of direct mail service Mail Canvassing.
The event drew some high-profile speakers, as well. David Tisch, managing director of TechStars NYC, spoke at the closing ceremony about how the local technology scene continues to evolve. “Big companies are opening engineering offices in New York,” he said at the event. “Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Microsoft through the acquisition of GroupMe.” Such companies, he said, have more resources than startups to draw new talent to the city, which may be essential to nurturing the New York innovation market. “Over time, those engineers are going to flood down into the startup ecosystem,” Tisch said.
Charlie O’Donnell, partner at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, presented ideas for keeping the New York tech community thriving. He encouraged attendees to learn with each startup they develop, and to plan on long-term careers as entrepreneurs. However, he also cautioned against simply trying to follow the success of others. “Build what’s right for your company, not necessarily what [venture capitalist bloggers] say you should do,” he said during his keynote speech.
The exhibitors at NY Tech Day included familiar names such as Uber, Boxee, and SecondMarket, which shared the show floor with newer faces from Unroll.me, Songza, Pearescope, Social Passport, and Producteev. Companies sought new
