No place epitomizes the American experience and the American spirit more than New York City. — Mike Bloomberg
I’ve lived in New York City since 1998. I took the Buzzfeed food test, so I have my test score and proof I’m a real New Yorker. I still pinch myself after all these years that I live in New York City…really! New York is where my career has morphed, evolved and moved forward in new, unexpected ways (aka in startup language — I’ve had my pivot and now I’m embarking on my launch and growth phase). It’s a city where ambition and serendipity intersect. Navigate that terrain successfully, and who knows, you just might make it — or you’ll have well-earned battle scars and stories to share on how you tried, oh how you really really tried.
And just like many of the e-commerce startup founders featured in an Inc.com trifecta of articles I wrote this past weekend, it’s the strength of community that fuels the divide, inflicts and bathes the emotion — pushing ambitions forward and yes, slapping you back to what matters here and now.
Whatever happens, New York City is and will always be my spiritual home.
With that, some more New York wisdom, love and attitude….
- “The hard work of our peers in the startup community in NYC is exciting and inspiring. The network has a wonderful balance [of] competition and support where we push each other to innovate, grow and succeed while also being available to provide advice, attend events and test new products.”- BaubleBar co-founder,Daniella Yacobovsky
- “My passport can remain in the drawer for those now rarer than ever journeys that would bring me uptown.” — Joanne Wilson aka Gotham Gal on Barney’s returning to 17th and 7th.
- “Financial risk and reward are a critical component of investing, but they are just one component. Beyond the financial return is the personal return we seek by making choices with our money…” — Deborah Jackson, PlumAlley.co
- “I am a champion at being too tough on myself.” — Tina Roth Eisenberg @swissmiss
- “You can’t be nasty, you’ve got to be sassy.” — Jeanne Sullivan (in her TEDx Barnard talk on dealing with bullies, bozos and buffoons).
- “When I was 7, my family moved from New York City to Westport, CT. My father was the catalyst for this event. My mother could not have been less happy. To this day she will tell people that “you can still see my heel marks on exit 17 when Peter turned off the highway.” She had lived in Manhattan since birth, and the move to the suburbs was a terrible plot twist in her urbane life.” — Katie Workman, The Mom 100
- “Maybe that is the point after all? To be lost?” — Clio in The Ramblers (by New York City author, Aidan Donnelly Rowley)
- “Foursquare was started in a coffee shop in the East Village because Dennis Crowley, co-founder and executive chairman, wanted an easy way to connect and meet up with friends. It’s always made sense for the company to be a part of New York.” — Foursquare Editor-at-Large, Sarah Spagnolo
