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10 Questions for Brooklyn's Innovation Community

This is going to be BIG.

From 2005 to 2009, I was fortunate enough to be part of a small group of New York City innovation community leaders that sowed some of the seeds of the thriving tech hub we have today. Honestly, it was a fair bit of hand waving and maybe a little smoke and mirrors--saying in 2005 that we had a ton of startup-ready tech talent.

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Why Has Seed Investing Declined? And What Does this Mean for the Future?

Both Sides of the Table

Between 1999–2005 the costs went down by 90% and between 2005–2010 they went down a further 90%. million and my A Round in 2005 was only $500,000 (and that’s all I ever raised). The reality is that as a result of two major trends the costs of starting a technology startup went down massively.

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How to Create a Healthy Local Startup and Tech Community

This is going to be BIG.

I built a 3,000 person tech networking organization in NYC back in 2006 and was one of the first 100 members of the NY Tech Meetup back in 2005 so I’ve participated in a lot of these conversations. In 2005, it was a risky bet to join Union Square Ventures and plant my VC career here in NYC.

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Understanding Changes in the Software & Venture Capital Industries

Both Sides of the Table

These two trends had a major impact on the computing industry from 2000-2005 but the effects weren’t yet felt by the VC industry. Every startup I knew in 2005 (when I started my second company) was using this. The Emergence of “Open Cloud&# Infrastructure.

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How the Seed-Stage VC Trend Began, The Downsides of Unicorns & Much More

Both Sides of the Table

Let me take you back just 10 years ago to 2005 in Silicon Valley where I returned after 11 years of living in Europe. But back in 2005 there were a few people who spotted the trend before others and one of the true pioneers was (and continues to be) Jeff Clavier who founded SoftTech VC. It is, of course, a very recent phenomenon.

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How to Avoid a Common Product Mistake Many Teams Make

Both Sides of the Table

We built our product at Koral in 2005 with this design philosophy in mind. Do actual usability testing and make sure to include users not from your ordinary circle of friends or similar cohort. What you assumed was “novice functionality” will likely be too hard.

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What Everyone Should Take Away from Twitter’s 8% Staff Reductions

Both Sides of the Table

We have an entire generation of startup founders who don’t have muscle memory from getting their burn rates back into shape from 2008/09 or 2001-2005. Some companies have to go first. Others will follow. But many of us have been there. It’s not fun. But it’s necessary.

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