Gotham Gal

Cacao Prieto Valentines Day Pop-up Shop

Valentines Day is around the corner.  Chocolates are in order. 

Cacao Prieto, a company that I am personally invested in will be opening a pop-up shop in collaboration with ER Butler at 55 Prince between Lafayette and Mulberry on February 10th.  The store will open on February 10th and remain open until February 14th (for the last minute shopper). 

The chocolates are amazing and if not for a gift then treat yourself.  Other makers at the pop-up shop will include Jewelry by Maria Beaulieu; Candlesticks by Ted Muehling; Nymphenburg Porcelain; Lobmeyr Crystal; Kiki De Montparnasse; and The Soap and Paper Factor. 

I will definitely be stocking up on Cacao Prieto.

 

Speech at WEF

For anyone who wasn't at the Womens Entrepreneur Festival, here is the speech that I gave to kick off the festival.

 

WE Festival Kickoff from ITP on Vimeo.

Elizabeth Taylor and 100 Women

I was honored to be asked to be asked by Janet Hanson, the brains behind 85 Broads, to be the guest speaker at an event that was definitely celebrating women.  After all 100 women signed up and I guarantee it wasn't to hear me speak but to get a private showing of Elizabeth Taylors collection that is currently on the auction block at Christies.  That is certainly a perfect platform to celebrate women. 

The collection is over the top.  If you get a chance it is so worth seeing.  Liz Taylor was an iconic movie star who lived life large and peeking into her closet is pretty amazing.  She certainly loved jewelry.  Starting with the 32.5 karat diamond ring that she referred to as the baby to couture clothing to Van Goghs to photo frames to Chanel bags.  It is all out there for the world to see.  Walking through the rooms and listening to the women ooh, ahh and comment was part of the fun.

After the exhibit we all went to a luncheon held at Christies.  It is always interesting to hear the conversations that take place in a room with 100 women. The majority of the women that attended this event come out of the financial world such as investment banking, assest management, professional services that run the gamut.  Impressive crew. 

I was interviewed by Kelly Easterling, a CPA out of Rothstein Kass. Rothstein Kass partnered with 85 Broads to put on this event and had collaborated on an interesting survey around Women in Alternative Investments.  Their findings weren't shocking as the information basically confirmed everything we know about women in the financial industry.  Not enough women in high level positions. That seems to be consistent across the board.

Kelly and I covered a few topics.  Women as entrepreneurs and why I support them, women-led ventures that I have been involved with and women in fundraising.  I spoke about why I am a supporter of women entrepreneurs which I have talked about many times before.  Women are amazing entrepreneurs, they get shit done.  Women led ventures and how I decide who to invest in.  It is all about the entrepreneur first and the idea second.  I obviously have to be a believer in the idea but I realize that those ideas evolve and pivot as companies grow and lastly how women raise money and from whom. 

Interesting questions from an audience that is not as familiar with the start-up community as I am or perhaps many readers of my blog.  One interesting question was do I look at the entrepreneurs and think are they going to be able to take that business to the finish line, be that an IPO or selling to another company.  I don't think about that.  When I looked at kindergarten for my kids I did not worry about what the HIgh School looked like.  That seemed to resonate. 

Then there were a few women who pointed out that having balance and getting off the track in the world they are in does not bode well.  Why can't they be the President of Goldman Sachs.  Many seem frustrated by the inability to be at the top top of their field although I guarantee most of the women in the room are sharp as a tack and have managed billions of dollars creating amazing returns on that capital that they manage.  

I said that I am not an expert by any means in the industry that any of these women are in but my reaction was why be frustrated in those companies for years on end.  Learn what you need to learn, grab four other women who are just as smart as anyone at the table and create your own companies.  Be your own President and change the marketplace.  If women want to truly change it is not going to come from being in environments that have been set in stone for years on end where men run the show, it is going to change from women walking out the door and starting up their own and proving that they can succeed at the same level.  Change needs to come from outside the box because it rarely works inside organizations that haven't changed in fifty years.  Take a look at companies who aren't nimble enough to even figure out their online presence. 

Janet Hanson followed up with the perfect story.  She was at Goldman and got off the track for a bit to have kids.  The person who reported to her ended up taking over her job and moving to a super senior level.  She couldn't back to that so she started her own business doing the exact same thing she did at Goldman.  She named herself President of her own company and the tables shifted.  People at Goldman saw her differently because she was President of her own company.  They were equals.  She eventually grew her business with over 3 billion dollars in management....and you know what, not only does she rule, she changed the ratio, she changed her life, she played in the mans league but she played by her own terms.

Janet is the exact reason why I am a big supporter of women entrepreneurs.  Don't whine about how difficult it is to be recognized, recoginize yourself and show the world that you deserve to be recognized.  In our house, in pure jest, we would say..."she's da man". 

 

 

WE Summit

This past week I was asked to speak on a panel at the WE Summit called The Art of Fundraising: Decoding the Equation.  Amy Millman, the President of Springboard Enterprises was the moderator. Amy was great and I was really glad to finally put a face with the name. 

The event is put on by the US Israel Business Council.  This years mission was to to promote high-growth women-led Israeli businesses.  There was a competition to selection three women entrepreneurs in Israel and then bring those winners to NYC to meet, greet, network and showcase their companies.  The winning companies were HDH Medical that is working on creating innovative surgical solutions, Sol-Chip an innovative solar company and Tipa-Corp that is bringing a new world of biodegradable and recycable package solutions to market.  Each using technology to create innovative products.

I sat on a panel with two women, Dorin Miller, a partner at the Cedar Fund and Michal Tsur a second time entrepreneur currently of Kaltura.  Both women are beyond impressive.  Smart, thoughtful, entrepreneurial, analytical and strategic.  I am looking forward to sitting down with each of them individually in the future because certainly the conversation was for the audience and except for shaking each others hands before and after the event we really did not get a chance to talk. 

Israel has always been an entrepreneurial hub.  It isn't so surprising that many of the ideas that come out of Israel are ripe with new technology platforms.  All Israelis serve in the military where much of that type of training takes place.  I have only had the pleasure of meeting with a few Israeli companies in the past year that have contacted me about their businesses directly and we have talked on Skype.  Each entrepreneur impressed me with their razor focus and intellectual intensity. 

After the panel ended I spoke to a few people including the group behind the conference.  It was small and intimate and I was impressed with everyone I spoke to at this event.  I love that the Israeli Government is focusing their efforts on highlighting women entrepreneurs by supporting them financially and bringing them to the US to showcase their companies globally.  Would love to see more countries to that. 

 

Web 2.0 Expo, Startup Showcase

Last spring I was asked to be one of the judges for the Startup Showcase at the Web 2.0 Expo held this past week in NYC.  They also asked me if there was anyone who I would like to do this with and my first answer was Mo Koyfman.  In completely transparency going to mid-town or even a conference is something I rarely do but I was really delighted to be asked. 

Mo and I got on stage and told a little bit about ourselves including what type of investments we were seeing or liked.  Then we went over to a large room where 23 companies each had a table, and of course their computer or iPad, to show us as well as the attendees what their company was all about.

I had done my diligence and checked out each companies website before the day.  I had zeroed in on two that really interested me prior to the event but open to being swayed in another direction as entrepreneurs had the opportunity to talk to both Mo and I for a few minutes about what they were doing.  In the end we both liked the same two, Freshocracy and Elect Next.

Here are all the companies that presented:

 

• AwayFind
• Bar & Club Stats, Inc.
• BestVendor
• BoxInTheBag.com
• Crisply
• Elect Next
• EnergyHub
• Fanfic.me
• Flirtic.com
• Freshocracy
• frestyl
• Go Go Mongo!

• InstEvent
• MLstate
• Peer Belt Inc
• Reqoop
• Shiroube
• SMAK
• Social Passport
• Subuno
• TrendSpottr
• WishGenies
• Yottaa

 

 

I was familiar already with Freshocracy and am a fan.  Christina has taken the CSA to the next level and one that certainly works in an urban area like NYC.   A subscription based model to receive 3 meals every other week to prepare at home and the ingredients come directly from the farm.  Each ingredient is proportioned out based on the recipe that is included that week.  I like this for several reasons.   I love that fresh food is delivered to your home from local farms.  I also like that their delivery comes only for a few times over the course of two weeks because NYers tend to go out more than stay home so Freshocracy is manageable.  Most CSA’s are weekly and you are given random food that is picked that week and many times people look in their bags and wonder what they are going to do with lets say four pounds of beets.  Freshocracy is promoting home cooked meals from the farm to your table and giving specific instructions that are helpful to many people who want to cook but aren’t sure how.  A win win across the board.  How big can this scale?  Not sure but even if Christina and her partner can grow to be in the boroughs of NY only they are creating a business model that works for them, in essence a lifestyle business where they can make enough money to enjoy the fruits of being an entrepreneur.

The other business we liked was Elect Next.  You go to their website, plug in your zip code and then begin answering questions pertaining to issues and what side you stand on from taxes, healthcare, foreign policy, etc.   Once enough data is provided Elect Next tells you what candidates you should be voting for including local congressman, judges, etc.  Many people react to who they are voting for based on media, advertising, etc and this poll basically steers you in the direction to vote for people who represent your beliefs.  I am not so sure that everyone votes for candidates based on that and if everyone did, I believe the results would prove to be beneficial.  The other part I like is that many times when I get into the voting booth although I know the top candidates I do not know who the judges are and I’d like to choose one based on what I stand on not just based on my party of choice particularly when there are multiple options.

Social Passport was chosen by the attendees as the winner with Freshocracy coming in at a close second.  Social Passport is an aggregation of all your social media in one tool so Four Square, Twitter, Facebook and Group-on all rolled up into one.   Merchants sign up to give the users discounts too.  I’m all for competition but not so sure I believe in the model they have created.  Time will tell.  

Best part was is seeing so many passionate entrepreneurs in one place hoping to get funding, customers and exposure.  Whether they succeed or not they have all tried to start something different with the hope that they will have created that something that scales.  That is exciting and as the technology revolution continues to grow and move forward these start-ups are creating new businesses regardless of being small or big and that is exactly what our economy needs. 

 

 

Womens Entrepreneur Festival 2012

Last years Womens Entrepreneur Festival was a big success.  I have thought a lot about what made that event so intimate and powerful so we could replicate it again.  I am a big believer in having an event and then doing it again the next year with just a few tweaks of course if the event is successful.  Our line up this year is amazing and the theme is Makers. 

So what is it that made the WEF so good?  I think there are a few things.  The audience really wanted to be there.  Every person who attended had to submit their bio and picture which went up on the website prior to the event so every attendee could read about each other before they got there.  I know that there were people I saw across the room and thought to myself, I want to meet that person after reading about them.  That created the desire for cross mentoring regardless of the age group.  All of the attendees were on a listserv prior to the event and the community met up the first night on their own and have continued to talk to each other since.  That is pretty powerful.  Last and certainly not least is the panelists.  This year there will be 5 panelists on 6 different panels, all women including a panel of women investors at the end of the day.  Each of them are entrepreneurs.  They are all approachable and although you might not know who they are or perhaps have just heard about their businesses there is something about each of their individual drive that makes every person in the audience say to themselves, "hey, I can do this."  That is exactly what this festival is about.  Supporting women to be entrepreneurs through this festival.  I also love that the event takes place at ITP where so many entrepreneurs in NYC have begun as well as pivoted their careers. 

We are taking applications now.  Hope to see you there. 

Here is the line-up. 

Schedule TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012 6pm Welcome (@ NYU Stern School of Business, Tisch Hall, Paulson Auditorium, 44 West 4th St, NYC) Nancy Hechinger, Festival Co-Chair, Faculty, ITP Keynote Address Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post Cocktail Reception @ NYU Stern following the keynote: 7-9pm WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2012 Festival Kick-off: Joanne Wilson, Festival Co-Chair, Gotham Gal KNOWLEDGE MAKERS Sara Chipps, Girl Develop It Anne Dwane, Zinch.com Pooja Nath Sankar, Piazza Sarah Elizabeth Ippel, Academy for Global Citizenship Jennifer House, Red Rock Reports Moderator: Diana Rhoten COMMUNITY MAKERS Barbara Pantuso, Hey, Neighbor! Amanda Steinberg, DailyWorth Emily McKhann, The Motherhood Allison Floam,The Fix Amanda Hesser, Food52 Moderator: Chris Tardio CHANGE MAKERS Caren Maio, Nestio Erin Newkirk, RedStamp.com Joanne Lang, About One Deborah Adler, Deborah Adler LLC Dina Kaplan, blip.tv Moderator: Jessica Harris MAKERS Ayah Bdeir, littleBits Britta Riley, Windowfarms Malene Barnett, Malene b Hilary Rosenman, Madison Harding Susy Korb, Omhu Moderator: Despina Papadopoulos TASTE MAKERS Katie Armour, Matchbook Magazine Doni Belau, Girls Guide to Paris Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, Apartment Therapy Jennifer Hyman, Rent the Runway Emily Olson, Foodzie Moderator: Rachel Sklar ART MAKERS Edwina von Gal, Azuero Foundation Kathleen Wilson, Rikaroo Jen Bekman, Jen Bekman Gallery, Hey Hot Shot! and 20×200 Lindsay Campbell, Bright Red Pixels Jane Wells, 3 Generations Moderator: Nina Darnton INVESTORS PANEL Shana Fisher, High Line Venture Partners Sarah Tavel, Bessemer Venture Partners Joy Marcus, DFJ Gotham Ventures Jenny Fielding, BBC Worldwide Moderator: Janet Hanson		Quick Jump Blog Schedule Welcome Speakers, Panelists, Moderators Festival Committee Conference Chairs: Nancy Hechinger, ITP Joanne Wilson, Gotham Gal

Hammers and Claws

Between the ages of 10 - 17 I lived in Potomac, MD.  The funny thing about it is that even though I spent seven years of my life growing up there I do not feel like I am from Maryland at all.  Maybe I came out of the womb as NYer but happened to land in Los Angeles slowly having to make my way east until I found my destination.  I think there are a variety of reasons while I don't feel connected to the area. Probably being an unhappy participant watching the demise of my parents marriage is number one on the list.  Regardless, I do have a few fond memories and one of them is an annual crabfest.

Josh Morgan put on an event at the Tunnel In Chelsea called Hammer & Claws Blue Crab Festival this weekend.  Just the smell of Old Bay seasoning when I walked into the room sent me back to my youth.  Sailing on the Chesapeake and stopping somewhere for a bushel of crabs one evening. The event had multiple seatings and for one price you could basically eat as many crabs as you want, drink as much beer, get some cole slaw, corn and a few desserts and listen to music on long communal tables.  People were really having a great time.

There are a few things about a crabfest.  You need a bib and you need wet-ones.  That wasn't provided so I'd keep that in mind for next year.  If you have never done the crab thing keep this in mind too, lots of effort for very little food but it sure is fun. 

Womens Entrepreneur Festival has a reunion

This past week, we threw a cocktail party/reunion for the Womens Entrepreneur Festival we had this past January.  What is pretty amazing about the people that came to the event and the cocktail party is the community that has been created around this event.  People meet-up regularly and the listserv is still very active.  Pretty impressive. 

What we did this evening is had 10 people present the companies they were launching.  We had quite a few people who wanted to present and narrowing it down was not easy.  I was impressed with each of these women and what they are doing.  It was really great to hear about each of them and then hearing everyone speak about each company afterward is probably the best part.

Here are the companies that presented in order:

Tereza Nemessanyi, Honestly Now.  Honestly Now takes a womans "personal panel" to her handheld asking the questions to her community about "should I?"

Susan Sandler, Care Trek.  An essential tool for organizing and managing the care of an aging parent.  This is definitely an area where a lot of new ideas are cropping up.  Susan and her team are on to something here.

Ellie Bastani and Christine Nguyen, Revival Retail.  A series of projects on how retail stores can revamp and revitalize through technology.  If you get your make-up redone, you generally go home with this piece of paper telling you how you can do it yourself.  Ends up, you can't.  How about if you could take home a small video to see how the make-up artist did your make-up and then you can play it on your handheld at home and eventually just reorder the make-up too.  This was a very smart idea.  It will be interesting to see where they take it.

Chery Heller, CommonWise.  A generative infrastructure that integrates working capital and aggregated purchasing services for worker owned businesses and social entrepreneurs.  The idea is to create a completely different model in this economy.  I am not doing a great job of describing this but this concept has worked tremendously well overseas.  Not so sure this model works in a country of capitalists. 

Christina Arnold, Prevent Human Trafficking.  Using the power of technology to thwart human trafficking which is one of the largest businesses in the world.  Very smart, very saavy.

Barbara Pantuso, Hey Neighbor.  A platform for local collaboration and consumption.  Think Facebook meets Craigslist, locally.  Smart idea. 

Sharleen Smith, Eggzy.net  A marketplace for home and community food producers.  Linked in meet Etsy for food producers.  There is a lot happening in this space as more of us are concerned about the carbon foot print and what we are eating.

Deidre Lord, the Megawatt Hour.  Subscription service for consumers to buy elecricty through them and actually be able to monitor their usage online.  Way ahead of the curve in this industry.

Krista Sande-Kerback and Meghan Doherty, 85 Broads.  85 Broads is an incredible network of women started by Janet Hanson years ago.  A global network of women worth looking into as they start to pivot into another bigger model.

All and all, great presentations, interesting business models.  A few to watch over the near year.

 

Smorgasburg, the ever expanding Brooklyn Flea

I was fortunate enough to sit next to John Butler who is the brains and man behind Brownstoner at an event we both judged for ITP.  Not only did he start Brownstoner, John teamed up with Eric Demby and they are co-founders of the Brooklyn Flea.  An umbrella of the weekly market places around Brooklyn and they just added another addition to their every growing empire called Smorgasburg (nice play on the word).  As Brooklyn continues to be the coolest borough in New York they have curated a variety of communal low-key events for people to congregate at while eating and making a few purchases at every weekend.  They have also helped the economies of many food vendors by giving them a further weekly reach into the mouths of people.  A win win for everyone including Brooklyn. It is a re-do of the town square.

We started our day this past Saturday at Smorgasburg.  The first of this event.  Located in Williamsburg, on the waterfront, which is absolutely beautiful.  The good news for this area which is continuing to transform is that there will be a ferry service to the mainland (per se) starting this week.  For all those living the life in Brooklyn but have to make their way into Manhattan daily to work, this is a life changer.  The population has grown tremendously but the transportation has not made that leap.  This will be huge. 

After circling the event we did try a few things.  There are some areas that got seriously log-jammed and it would be worth making a shift next weekend on where each vendor resides.  Putting the high traffic savory booths next to some of the product driven booths will make for better flow and probably more purchases. 

Here is the sausage stand.  I would love to get one of these grills for my house.  Serious line here.

I love that Kickstarter has a booth.

What's a food fair without Porchetta?

Thrilled to see Hot Bread Kitchen there.

Of course elated to see Ricks Picks too.  The schtickle is a big win at this event.

Nice area for sitting. 

Lobster roll and Maine root beer from the Red Hook Lobster truck.  Really good.  Nice toasted hot dog bun.

I am a huge fan of the frozen banana dipped in chocolate.  Remember them as a kid on Catalina Island in California.  We had one dipped in chocolate and covered with sea salt and crushed almonds.  Yum.

Worth getting out there on a Saturday or any of the weekly events that the Brooklyn Flea puts on. 

 

 

The Highline

Monday night was the annual Highline event where funds and glasses are raised to toast the transformation of resurrected piece of the city.  Walking the second half which runs from 23-30th Street is jaw dropping.  What is more amazing is when you walk from Gansevoort all the way to 30th Street on the street vs the Highline, you realize how far that walk is.  Not only has the Highline changed the West Side of lower Manhattan but it has changed traffic patterns.  You can walk through an extrarordinary park from the West Village up to 30th Street seeing beauty and greenery everywhere.  That in itself is spectactular.  NYC, an ever evolving city displayed so prominently by the transfiguration of a set of train tracks. 

One of my favorite parts of the evening besides seeing over 900 people gather under a tent, all dressed up, to celebrate the Highline was meeting Bill Cunningham.  If you have not seen the documentary on Bill Cunningham, go and see it.  A captivating movie about a unique man who has been living behind the lens and taking pictures for the New York TImes as far back as I can remember.  His eye for detail and fashion vs who and what is one of the things that really struck me while watching the film.  Cunningham has an archive on design in his brain as well as his endless filing cabinets in his apartment like no other.  He is a brilliant man and so absolutely adorable and charming.  Driving his bike around the city from event to event every evening as well as the constant standing on a street just waiting to take in the trend he sees of the moment is pretty amazing.  An incredible man. 

He took a picture of us last night and I got to meet him, ever so briefly, and it was exactly like the film.  His warmth and goofy grin is endearing but he just laughs and does his thing and moves on.  You can connect but you don't. 

Things to do:  Go walk the entire Highline when it opens at the beginning of June and go see the Bill Cunningham documentary.  Both are winners.