New York is a veritable Silicon Valley rival. I stumbled upon this great list of about 600 NY-based startups. To get a feel for what’s happening in my new home I clicked through all of their websites. Herewith some of the tabs I kept open.
Finance
Kapitall is a venture that attempts to break down the barriers to investing. It uses simple and intuitive interfaces that make investing in the stock market accessible to those normally left out. Its mission is simple, it aims to cut out the complexity (e.g. make investing as simple as drag and drop) while still allowing for intelligent investing. In the end, there’s a clear business case as well – Kapitall has an attached brokerage.
SumZero is a collaborative research platform focusing on investment ideas from buyside professionals. It’s a bit like a filesharing platform – you need to contribute original research yourself in order to harness the power of the network. Their info video is quite cool and as a former buyside analyst myself I can see the idea’s appeal of cutting out the sellside.
New crowdfunding laws in the US have allowed startups to sell equity to a large and dispersed pool of investors. While Kickstarter has ruled out the use of its platform to this end, other websites have sprung up. One of them is NY-based Gust. Startups can also benefit from having access to standardised legal agreements without the jargon and expensive lawyer fees. Docracy attempts to do just that.
Freelance life
Some curated co-working spaces that may be interesting to check out when looking for a space beyond one’s isolated desk: Projective Space with two Manhattan locations, and New Work City, are just two of the many Hub-like offices catering to the modern freelancers.
General Assembly equips those wishing to make a career transition with tangible skills in all sorts of things from business strategy to web development, all along with interesting case studies and events around the world. Freelancers Union is the one-stop-shop for all legal/insurance related issues that independent workers may have.
New York life
I will take up running again when in town next week, and will possibly try Yog, an app that lets you find running buddies that can motivate you and vice versa. I haven’t signed up to Sidetour but am curious to see whether there are any urban discovery tours behind the gates.
Interesting, yet not specifically a NY-only project, is Public Stuff, a website that lets you report damages, nuisances, etc. in public spaces. With a bit of luck you’ll be heard by the authorities and the stuff gets fixed.
Randoms
There are two companies on the list producing 3D-printers. You can shop the affordable Solidoodle 2nd generation for $499, while the more versatile MakerBot is yours for just under $3,000.
When looking through these startup sites, I came across dozens of image films. One company making these professionally caught my attention and it’s called Mindbug Studios.
Lastly, of the myriad digital design agencies, this one had the most appealing website / product and is thus the only one whose tab I kept open.
