Aspiring Techie

Over the past week I was able to attend two insightful, innovative, thought-provoking and informative conferences/showcases. Last Thursday, May 19, I attended NY Tech Day at the  Lexington Armory. The showcase boasted more than 150 NYC startups. Some were established, such as AppNexus or Meetup and some were smaller companies looking to continue to build momentum, such as my friend’s startup, SocialBlendr. The great thing about NY Tech Day is that it shed light on how fast NYC’s tech scene is really growing. We hear stuff all the time about NYC’s burgeoning tech environment, but seeing all those companies in such a huge space showcasing their ideas really put it in perspective. 

The second event that I attended was NY Creative Intern’s Finding Your Passion conference. Ny Creative Interns was created by my friend and former co-worker, Emily Meithner. Their message focuses on informing young professionals about the importance of interning as well as providing resources for young creatives to succeed in the “real world.” I still remember a couple of years ago when Emily pitched the NY Creative Interns idea to me while at lunch and it is very inspiring to see how it has cultivated over the last year or so. The conference itself was pretty inspiring, boasting speakers from BBDO, Meetup, KickStarter, LinkedIn and more. I’m sure you could check the NY Creative Interns website soon for a recap, or search #findpassion on twitter to see archived tweets referring to the conference. 

Anyway….Here are three of the most pertinent things I took away from this weekend:

• Business cards are still in: As a business student I should know this, but I just never liked carrying around business cards. I also assumed that digital connections would overtake the business card exchange, wrong (somewhat).
• Don’t be afraid to share your idea: This one is a little tricky because there are some ideas that you shouldn’t share, but generally speaking, talking to people about your idea can open your eyes to new possibilities. It is also a good way of pitch practicing on a rudimentary level. 
• Remember people’s names: One of the most successful businessperson I know told me that his best attribute is the ability to remember people’s names. Aside from being embarrassing, forgetting someone’s name can destroy a future business opportunity with that person.

As a business student, the fact that I haven’t acted on my startup idea is pretty blasphemous. I like to think that I have an entrepreneurial spirit, but thats getting hard to proclaim without actions. At 24, I think the time is now or never. Not necessarily to succeed, but to try things out. See what works and what doesn’t. Take some risks. I’ve been working on this idea here and there for about a year now. I like to surround myself around people who “make things happen” and that may be where this epiphany derives from. Consequently, this post sort of accentuates the notion of all talk no action so…I’ll be back with an update later this week