Tech:NYC Digest: May 2

Tech:NYC Digest: May 2

May 02, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Monday, May 2, 2022 

Happy Monday, and as the month of Ramadan comes to an end, Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating! In today’s digest, NYC raises citywide COVID alert level, state legislature moves to remove Brian Benjamin from the ballot, and why it’s time to rethink the annual review.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 5,107        

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,971

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 4.1 percent (no change)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 90.2 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 76.9 percent 

In today’s latest:

  • NYC’s COVID alert status was elevated from “green” to “yellow” today, with the city now recording almost 2,500 new cases daily. (New York Times)

    • Under the new status, New Yorkers are strongly encouraged to wear masks indoors and higher-risk New Yorkers are advised to avoid indoor gatherings.

    • And with the booster rate at only 37 percent, city officials are renewing calls for those who are eligible to get booster doses.

  • Democrats in the state Senate last Friday introduced a bill to remove former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin from the primary ballot. The bill would allow for the removal of any candidate from the ballot if they were arrested or accused of a crime after securing the nomination. (New York Post)

    • Benjamin confirmed today that he would remove himself from the ballot if legally allowed to do so. 

  • Two new Omicron subvariants that appear to better evade antibodies and be more transmissible than even “stealth Omicron'' have arrived in the US — and they could mean a new wave is coming. (Fortune)

  • Were you awakened suddenly by that intense thunder early this morning? Blame thermal inversion.

  • And lastly, we’ll be watching the live feed of tonight’s Met Gala red carpet. It will be Mayor Eric Adams’ first time in attendance and we are very curious to see the outfit he arrives in.

In other reading:

  • How to Find a Mental Health App That Works for You (New York Times)

  • Time for a fourth COVID vaccine dose? Here’s why medical professionals are skeptical (CNBC)

  • The 20 performances coming to Bryant Park’s Picnic Performances series (Gothamist)

For many tech workers, it’s just about that time of year again: performance review season.

  • During the pandemic, Google, Twitter, and several other tech companies either revised their expectations for conducting reviews or suspended them altogether.

But a growing number of workplace experts and CEOs say annual reviews are a terrible way to evaluate employees and hope they never come back, writes the Wall Street Journal.

  • Gallup data from 2020 found 86 percent of employees don’t think their annual review is accurate, and research from productivity intelligence startup Prodoscore found roughly half of workers don’t find them helpful, either.

Pandemic-era changes may become permanent: The adoption of HR tech tools in 2021 was unprecedented, and venture capital in the space also skyrocketed.

  • Bravely, ChartHop, and Staffbase are all NYC-based startups that have raised new capital in response to growing demand in the last year. VCs funneled more than $12 billion into HR tech companies, more than triple the amount in 2020.

Workers want something different: HR employees are increasingly finding a receptive audience on TikTok, as workers frustrated with the performance review process seek advice on navigating the workplace and advancing their careers. (HR Brew) 

  • More frequent manager check-ins have proven more effective than annual or bi-annual reviews. Employers and employees alike report greater job satisfaction when reviews are personalized and linked to real-world performance, versus generic metrics that feel irrelevant.

Our takeaway: The explosion in new employee engagement and workplace management tools offers a real opportunity to redesign performance systems, and at a time when high morale is key to talent retention, every improvement is a good investment.

In other reading:

  • 5 tips on how not to run a meeting (Washington Post)

  • Virtual meetings have a creativity cost (Axios)

  • How Meta uses Meta’s workplace tools (Protocol)

  • Cogni, a NYC-based neobank focused on young adults, raised $23 million in Series A funding. Hanwha Asset Management and CaplinFo co-led the round and were joined by Solana Ventures, FTX Ventures, Ship Capital, Thirty Five Ventures, ROK Capital, Bluewatch Ventures, and Alsara Investment Group. (TechCrunch)

  • Ondo Finance, a NYC-based DeFi bank, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Founders Fund and Pantera Capital co-led the round and were joined by Coinbase Ventures, GoldenTree, Wintermute, Steel Perlot, Tiger Global, and Flow Traders. (The Block)

  • May 3: In-person: Emerging Opportunities Around Humanity in Cryptocurrency, with The Giving Block COO Ben Pousty, GoodQues co-founder Holland Martini, and Pencils of Promise CEO Kailee Scales. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. Register here.

  • May 3: Virtual: Understanding the Crypto Hype, with Haun Ventures chief policy officer Tomicah Tillemann, Circle chief strategy officer Dante Disparte, and others. Hosted by Axios. Register here.

  • May 4: Virtual: The Future of New York series, with Tech:NYC executive director Jason Myles Clark and Capalino president Travis Terry. Hosted by Capalino. Register here.

  • May 5: Virtual: Tech regulation beyond big tech, with Consumer Technology Association SVP Michael Petricone, Small Business Majority director Awesta Sarkash, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • May 10: Virtual: #newtovc: Deal Sourcing, BBG managing partner Nisha Dua, FirstMark Capital managing partner Matt Turck, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures partner Charlie O’Donnell. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here. Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.