NYConvergence ORIGINAL

A report just released by the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan-based think tank, finds that while New York City is home to several of the world’s leading scientific research institutions, these universities and research centers have not yet become powerful catalysts for entrepreneurship and local economic development the way similar institutions have in a number of other regions. The study concludes that New York has long failed to harness the full potential of its pre-eminent academic research institutions to build a meaningful innovation economy; an enormous missed opportunity given that the city desperately needs to diversify its economy and cultivate new engines of job growth.

The 48-page report, titled “Building New York City’s Innovation Economy,” cites numerous reasons for the city’s failings in this area, including the high cost of real estate and the shortage of affordable lab space. However, the study argues that the institutions themselves have been a big part of the problem. It shows that the leaders of the city’s universities and nonprofit research centers have not been particularly supportive of efforts to spin off new tech ventures, have not dedicated enough resources to engineering programs and, in many cases, have been too preoccupied with licensing the technologies from university research to existing firms located elsewhere, rather than to start-ups that have the potential to create jobs locally.

The Center’s report is accompanied by the city’s first-ever Innovation Index, a package of 49 charts and graphs that show where New York stands compared to other cities and regions on a broad range of indicators measuring both existing science and technology assets and the city's level of success at commercializing these assets.

The full report is available here and the 2009 Index of the NYC Innovation Economy is available here.

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

The New York City Council's Committee on Technology in Government hearing on the Bloomberg Administration's expansion of New York City's Enhanced 311 services offering social service referrals, which we noted previously, was the first-ever live council committee meeting webcast. 

The hearing was streamed via Livestream and is available for viewing here.  In addition, the hearing had a hashtag on Twitter, #nycctechcomm.

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

In a list of the top U.S. spammed states released today by Symantec's MessageLabs, New Jersey was ranked the third most spammed state after Idaho and Kentucky. 

Below, you'll find a graphic which was provided by e-mail showing the top-ten states which receive the most spam e-mail.

I hope that some of you can join us for a panel discussion sponsored by the Women’s Association of Venture & Equity, on Wednesday, September 30 in New York.  I’ll be discussing the results of my research on best practices in deal origination, with a focus on use of social media.  Please note this is only open to women who work in or advise the private equity/venture capital industry.

"Deal Sourcing in a Down Market"

A panel of experienced private equity investors and advisors will discuss strategies and best practices for finding deals in a tough market.

Event Chair:
Yue Guan, Palladium Equity Partners

Moderator:
Djena Graves Lennix, ICV Partners

Panel:
Robert Landis, Partner, Origination – Riverside Company
David Teten, CEO – Teten Advisors, LLC
Robert Hall, Senior Advisor - Centerview Partners
Gretchen Perkins, VP of Business Development - Huron Capital Partners

Location:

New York Marriott East Side
525 Lexington Avenue (and 49th Street)
New York, NY 10017-1226

Click here for directions

Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Time: 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Agenda:

6:00 pm to 6:30 pm – Registration
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm – Panel Discussion
7:30 pm to 8:30 pm – Reception & Networking

Cost:

$80 for WAVE members;
$95 for non-members

How to register:
The audience is limited to women in PE – GPs, LPs, intermediaries, placement agents, and advisors.  Advance registration is required. All registrations are screened.

Contact Danielle Fraser, WAVE Administrator at fraser@theacademygroup.com or call 877-928-3606.

On Thursday, September 24, at 10 AM at 250 Broadway, 14th Floor Hearing Room, the New York City Council Committee on Technology will be holding an oversight hearing on Mayor Bloomberg's expansion of NYC's 311 Customer Service Center to offer social-service referrals.  Enhanced 311, also known as 211, is a social service information and referral service offered through the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT). 

According to the press release received by NYConvergence, the hearing's goal is to gain oversight of 211's efficiency and more knowledge about 211's processes.

If you look at the pace of tech-related announcements and new programs coming out of City Hall, you know how desperate our City leadership is to introduce game-changing ideas to the startup and high-tech industry.

The problem, however, is that to-date most of these programs have widely missed the mark, in my opinion. In a City where virtually every building has a glut of un-used office space, why would we need more cheap space? In a City where tens of millions of dollars are invested by local VCs in local startups, why would we need a few million dollars extra?

Adult education programs are interesting, but without the explicit goal of taking adults and making adult companies today, our educational resources are much better spent teaching young folks the skills necessary to engineer the next great thing in New York. Just teaching adults how to understand the startup and tech world is not even close to transformational.

Over the past few years, I've come to believe that there are very things we can do on a City-wide level which would actually be transformational. One of the most creative ideas I heard came from Stu Ellman, during a meeting we had with EDC leaders: His idea was to force big companies who deal with the government, as well as the government itself, to buy software, when available, from area startups. If you're going to invest $2million, he pondered, why not use it as insurance against those startups failing, while making sure they have access to the big contracts which will help them succeed?

While politically unfeasible, Stu was thinking at the level needed to create big change here. Another idea, which is more feasible, though potentially less game-changing, is to start a significant accelerator/seed program in New York.

Yesterday, Jed Christiansen had a wonderful post outlining the successes and failures of accelerator/incubator programs like Y-Combinator, TechStars, LaunchBox Digital, and DreamIT.

This sort of data analysis is something I've wanted to do for sometime, with the goal of finding an appropriate model for New York City.

As Jed says,

• The first rule of copying Y Combinator is: Do Not copy Y Combinator.
• The second rule of copying Y Combinator is: DO NOT COPY Y COMBINATOR.

This leaves the question:
What's right for New York City? What sort of program would accelerate the pace of startups here? How could an accelerator be transformational, instead of just additive?

To answer this question, we must dive into what makes New York special. We must identify those unique characteristics of New York City which either aren't supported by the current early-stage infrastructure, or where there's too much friction.

I think part of this answer lies in the unlocked potential of the brilliant young minds we have in the big established industries here. These people are artificially restrained from creating big, disruptive businesses, because the size of NYC's Titan Industries gives them the resources to compensate some of the smartest among us to keep those Titan Industries whole, versus finding new ones.

Building a program which effectively identifies the best and brightest locked away in these industries, and providing the resources to turn their disruptive ideas into disruptive startups, is a big answer for me. As I explore the founding of a New York accelerator program, either as a part of NY Tech Meetup or outside of it, this will be a central theme.

But what are more transformational themes to pursue? Your ideas here are much appreciated.

OMMA, the online marketing and media conference, will be hosting a panel about the video distirbution space entitled "Video Ads Vs. Guerilla Syndication" on Monday, September 21st at the New York Marriot Marquis. Online video ad units have creatively and technically broken new ground giving marketers amazing new ways to present their promotions. Which strategies are most effective - distribution, syndication, in-banner? Or is a combination of media buying and content syndication the magic bullet? The panel will be hosted by Alan Schulman of U.DIG >The Digital Innovations Group and features Brendan Gahan of Mekanism, Paul Kontonis of For Your Imagination, Ian Schafer of Deep Focus, Kevin Wassong of Minyanville Media and Brett Wilson of TubeMogul.

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

Verizon just opened a FiOS Services Store in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood and will be opening one in The Bronx this Saturday according to press releases received from the telecommunications company,

The stores offer an opportunity for potential customers to ask questions about the service, place orders, and see FiOS in action.

This Saturday's opening in The Bronx at 2721 Bronxwood Avenue will feature live demonstrations, a disc jockey, a clown, giveaways, and games.