What do
WeWork, Betterment, Warby Parker, Rent the Runway, Casper, Blue Apron, Compass,
Cadre, and Peloton have in common?
Not only do
they represent the next wave of technology disruption to traditional economies,
but they were all born in New York City — the nerve center for the next business
revolution.
But isn't
Silicon Valley still the place for tech entrepreneurs to prove their chops? As
a tech-company CEO who believes technology is the cornerstone of opportunity, I
have felt the gravitational pull of Silicon Valley. Everything important in
tech comes from there, right? HP, Intel, Apple, Facebook, Google, Salesforce
and on and on. Where else would you rather be?
New York
City. That's where.
The business
revolution of the next several decades will move beyond the early tech plays —
faster, smaller chips or connecting people and information virtually. It will
be about transforming large industries that no longer meet their customers'
demands into something more efficient and personal.
That can
happen only where those industries are. So although Silicon Valley dominated
the first wave of technology disruption, the advantage has shifted to New York,
with its vastly greater diversity of businesses.
The city is
the undisputed global leader in industries, from finance and advertising to fashion
and the arts. To be part of the financial technology revolution, you join
Betterment, LearnVest, Bond Street, and other startups in New York.
Just as
Bloomberg LP benefited from knowing the nuances of financial services, so will
New York's fintech disruptors. The same applies to Rent the Runway, Bonobos,
Outdoor Voices and other New York–based, fashion-focused tech startups changing
the way apparel is marketed and procured.
Similarly,
WeWork and Compass, which are revolutionizing commercial workplaces and
residential real estate, respectively, grew out of the densest real estate
landscape in the country. Cadre, another city startup, benefits from our
community's understanding of the financial and real estate worlds.
Do you want
your national food delivery based out of the Valley or the culinary capital of
the world? Enter Blue Apron. And the most innovative and successful company in
local food delivery — a hallmark of New York — is Bronx-based FreshDirect.
There are
less obvious examples that benefit from New York's size and diversity. It makes
sense that Etsy, a marketplace for artisans, is headquartered in Brooklyn,
where many of them hone and share their craft.
Of course,
the most important and relevant tech-enabled digital-only media companies are
here in the world's media capital: Vice Media, BuzzFeed, Quartz, theSkimm,
Refinery29, MLB Advanced Media and others. The New York Times and The Wall
Street Journal are themselves becoming tech companies as they try to survive
the decline of their print business. All benefit from the city's unique
positioning, diversity of thought and access to information.
Unlike
Silicon Valley, New York has embraced businesses that marry technology and
consumer goods, including my own company, Peloton. Our business could not have
been born anywhere else. Peloton sells a high-end indoor bike with a touch
screen to which we stream fitness classes from our New York studio to riders at
home.
We learn
from the likes of SoulCycle, Flywheel, Barry's Bootcamp, Equinox and other
fitness companies that have built national brands out of New York. And as an
aspiring global lifestyle brand, we benefit from our proximity to Fifth and
Madison avenues, with its understanding of consumer sensibilities, retail,
fashion, advertising, and branding.
As
technology disruption moves into traditional industries, requiring deeper and
more nuanced understanding, New York is poised to leverage its diversity of industry.
True, the
next Instagram might still come out of Silicon Valley; some of the smartest and
most ambitious tech entrepreneurs remain there. But the Valley's days as the
undisputed leader in all things tech are numbered. There are just too many trends
that an engineering-focused entrepreneur won't see if not in New York.
This has
always been the city for multifaceted professionals who love diversity or
aspire to learn across many different spectrums. Now it also is the place for
those wishing to be part of the next generation of technology disruption.
(Business
Insider)
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