new-york-minute

New York VCs know their bathrooms, bars

Nicholas Carlson · 01/29/08 02:24PM

So you're after venture capital and you want to know as much as possible about your potential investors before making your pitch. You could try following them on Twitter. But you might learn more than you wanted to.

First tech hiring freeze due to mortgage mess

Nicholas Carlson · 01/18/08 01:40PM

During an internal conference call yesterday, Bloomberg LP management announced it would freeze hiring and cut costs, a source told Silicon Alley Insider. Sure, Bloomberg earns its money licensing terminals to Wall Street firms, and is therefore more directly connected to the mortgage meltdown than any Silicon Valley firms. But news that Silicon Alley's most successful tech firm is suddenly under the gun remains unpleasant. Especially considering yesterday's doom and gloom prognostications from Digitas Web-ad buyer Carl Fremont. (Photo by azrainman)

From the east, a puff of smoke

Owen Thomas · 12/20/07 11:50AM

Portfolio blogger Sam Gustin dislikes the phrase "cloud computing," a term for Web-based software whose popularity he attributes to "desperate reporters who, for the sake of the almighty scoop, are willing to publish just about any nonsense that a public relations professional shovels at them." True. But Gustin then proceeds to publish just about any nonsense shoveled at him by the PR department of Transmedia, a little nothing of a Web-software startup, which just happens to be based, like Gustin, in New York. Gustin reveals himself here as the typical journalist of New York's mostly inconsequential tech-startup scene: Entranced by proximity, out of touch with the currents of technology — as deluded, in his own way, as the reporters he critiques.

Make it in Silicon Alley and you might just land yourself a bathtub

Nicholas Carlson · 12/13/07 06:29PM

In Silicon Valley, VCs talk about building wealth for your great-grandchildren. But for Manhattan's tech entrepreneurs, success is measured by being able to immerse yourself in bubbly water at home. Connected Ventures cofounder Ricky Van Veen — yes, one of those "silly kids" in New York I cover way too much — just bought a new pad. Paul Boutin's response: "Who?" Owen's: "Wake me when you have photos of Mark Zuckerberg's new condo at the Ritz." Whatevs. Check out the hot real estate porn.

Barry Diller's shrinking startup factory

Owen Thomas · 12/12/07 03:50PM

IAC, after it spins off all its boring businesses like HSN and LendingTree, will be left with a motley collection of questionably successful startups with so-cute-you-could-pinch-them names like Vimeo and Zwinky. In an interview with the New York Observer, Diller saves special favor for Very Short List, a daily email newsletter which sells one thing a day, with just two employees. Think of it as a Woot.com, but for aging billionaires. He claims to have bought 30 items off the list. "Without Very Short List, I would be much diminished," Diller tells the Observer. But as the newspaper points out, IAC's market cap has shrunk from $22 billion in 2003, before it spun off Expedia, to $8 billion today. A bit too late for an email to stop his diminution, I think.

Silicon Alley wannabe lists 99 other nobodies

Nicholas Carlson · 12/11/07 03:59PM

Here in New York's so-called Silicon Alley, we occupy ourselves by filing stories about people setting up meetings to talk about organizing events to increase awareness of necessary preconditions for entrepreneurship. This leaves us with no time to do anything as tiring and complicated as, say, actually writing software. Bricabox founder Nate Westheimer and the Silicon Alley wantrepreneur community have their answer to the old white guys on Silicon Alley Insider's top 100. It's the Silicon Alley 100: People's Choice. Problem is, because its order was decided by nominations and votes, it's full of self-promoters you've never heard of, such as tech "activist" Dana Spiegel. Yes, he's the guy who takes the top spot. Telling that there are more people on this list than there are votes for the winner.

Silicon Alley 100 a bunch of old white guys

Nicholas Carlson · 12/06/07 05:21PM

Silicon Alley Insider decided to revive one of Jason Calacanis's oldest traditions and produce a Silicon Alley 100. In doing so, the blog run by disgraced tech stock analyst Henry Blodget just proves the thoroughgoing irrelevance of the exercise. The editors' No. 1 man in New York? Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Some other highlights among the old, the rich and the boring? AOL topper Randy Falco, IAC's Barry Diller and Jupitermedia's Alan Meckler. The closest SAI comes to someone we care about is VC blogger Fred Wilson — a moneyman, not an entrepreneur. As in Calacanis's time, New York is where ideas come to be financed, repackaged, and marketed — not invented.