New York tech community gets feature profile in Crain's

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Friends,

You may have seen Tech:NYC — and by connection all of you — got a big highlight in

Crain’s New York Business

this week, all about the growth of the sector and what makes our community here unique. We break down the feature below, but we hope you’ll read (and share!) the stories — a great proof point of the work our community continues to put in toward New York’s recovery!

The Tech:NYC team, including Director of Being a Good Girl, Bonnie. Photo: Buck Ennis.

What defines New York’s tech sector, how is it different from what it was five years ago, and what might it look like in the years to come? These are questions we are constantly thinking about at Tech:NYC, and they’re also the theme of a new feature from Crain’s New York Business. 

The article, together with an op-ed by our own Julie Samuels and an editorial from the Crain’s masthead, is a look inside Tech:NYC’s work in its first five years — and more importantly, a showcase of what makes New York’s tech community great. Here are just some of the takeaways:

We’re New Yorkers first. People in tech here are not on their own island, they’re a part of the fabric of the city and committed to New York’s success.

• Julie Samuels: “Time and time again, our Tech:NYC members have come to us looking to engage on non-tech-specific issues concerning the future of our city. Our members have mobilized to defend Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, worked to increase voter registration and census participation, and hosted candidate forums to hear from our next city and state leaders. Our surveys of tech workers show they care deeply about quality of life and view the diversity and culture of New York as top reasons to live and work here,” wrote Julie Samuels.

Tech benefits all New Yorkers. From the actual products to career opportunities, workforce development, and computer science programs, tech’s footprint in the city is a force for good in all five boroughs.

• From the Crain’s editors: “City officials announced the pandemic-related cancellation of the Summer Youth Employment Program, which provided career exploration and paid work for people ages 14 to 24. Tech:NYC members stepped up to fill the vacuum, creating remote, project-based summer learning for 35,000 participants. … Well done, Tech:NYC. As teachers well know, however, there's a new batch of learners arriving every year. Programs such as Tech:NYC's summer enterprise need to be formalized. And computing education should be incorporated into classrooms at all levels, from kindergarten through college and beyond.”

There’s never been a better time to enter the sector. Whether for founders or job seekers, there are more venture capital investors, more employers, and overall more opportunities in New York tech than ever before.

• Kevin Ryan recalled that when he started one of his earliest ventures, DoubleClick, there was no one to raise money from in New York City and almost no startups, let alone an advocacy organization: “It's hard to imagine we have come from that point, in 1996, to being on a path to become the leading city in tech development in the country.”

Tech is optimistic about New York’s future. Tech companies big and small are expanding in the city, a sign of bullishness on the recovery, the incoming administration, and the longevity of New York as a center of commerce, culture, and innovation.

• Samuels: “My successor will have the opportunity to grow Tech:NYC in a way that reflects growth in the industry. The challenge will be to work with the city and state to diversify the tech sector consistent with the diversity of the city.”

Thank you all for what you do to keep New York moving forward. We hope to see you all soon.

Team Tech:NYC 🗽