New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York

by Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind”

Right now (and over the past 18 months) New York is a very exciting place to be if you are startup. The blog post by Fred Wilson provides some data which compares NYC activity vs the Bay Area.  The underlying data in the post was provided by a great site called ChubbyBrain (aka CB Insight).  The question a lot of people have is whether the level of startup activity is sustainable in NYC?  My answer (& others in NYC area) is that, it is, which is why I’m excited to be moving there.

In the past nine years, I’ve worked closely with Bay Area startups and VCs.  I’m moving to NYC to support the startup community and be part of expanding services infrastructure that is needed to have a fruitful tech community.  My role will be the same as it was in the Bay Area; find great pre-VC backed startups to work with, assist these startups with their fundraising activities, host events that bring the startup community together and support organizations that are valuable to the startup ecosystem.

Although I’ve moving to NYC, I will be flying back to the Bay Area frequently to maintain the relationships I’ve developed there and feel the pulse of the Bay Area startup environment.  Both NYC and the Bay Area are known for their amazing bridges, so I see myself strengthening the bridge between both communities.

Did you know that Silicon Valley Bank has had an office in NYC since 2001?  The focus has primarily been on established startups that are VC backed and we currently work with most of the VC backed startups in NYC.  Most of the Pre-VC backed startups are working with the traditional non-tech focused banks such as Chase and TD Bank, I will be changing that.