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The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
- MediaSquirrel 17y agoThis dude is awesome. He's a genuine force for good in NYC and has access to one of the scarcest resources in the city: high quality technical talent.
- samratjp 17y agoHe has a good frame of reference: “I see this as an opportunity for academics in New York to contribute to start-up culture,” says Wiggins, referring to the pivotal role that Stanford’s dean of engineering, Frederick Terman, played in the rise of Silicon Valley. Stanford is what it is today thanks to Terman's meddling and the army (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo). If Wiggins is NYC's Terman, what's NYC's army equivalent?
- MediaSquirrel 17y agoHmm. Perhaps the army is...FourSquare?
- samratjp 17y agoWell, I suppose the army was like a wave and the initial startups surfed that wave. FourSquare is surfing alright, but which wave?
- MediaSquirrel 17y agoMaybe the army is the shrinking of the financial services bubble?
- ffhix 17y agoIn 1939, when Terman encouraged Hewlett and Packard to start a company, Stanford was a farm. Right now, thanks to an 8-year Madoff economy, NYC is one of the most $-rich cities on the planet. I don't think finding an army equivalent will be a hurdle.
- evankorth 17y agoIts not clear an "Army equivalent" is needed. For one, its much less expensive to start a company today than it was in Terman's time. Does contemporary NYC have certain assets that were unavailable to Terman in his day? Does NYC really need a single centralized funding source in 2010 or might funds come from a variety of public and private sources?
- helwr 17y agoloved the original title, i'm trying to get off "the Street" myself
- Rod 17y agoIs "the Street" like Hotel California: "you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave"? If not, you have no one to blame but yourself for not following your dreams. You may find pity here on HN, but that will hardly advance your goals, right?
- weeksie 17y agoHow idealistic. The problem is that when you start working in a very high paying job, as finance jobs tend to be, there is a catch. All of that money. By the time you have a mortgage, a care, and a vacation home, it's very hard to get away and you get stuck on the treadmill. The other side of it is that you could live frugally and save up a massive war chest to fund a startup but most people don't go that route. It's not weakness, it's human nature.
- Rod 17y agoNo one forces you to live lavishly. You can rent a small apartment instead of buying a house and having to pay a mortgage, you can travel on a modest budget instead of buying a Summer house you'll use only 2 weeks per year. You don't need a trophy wife if you have some game. You have no one to blame but yourself for your weaknesses. Yes, because living to impress others is weakness. A couple of friends did what you mentioned. Lived frugally, saved a lot of money, then started their own companies. They're both millionaires now. The guys who were too weak to pull that off are still in "the Street", they lead comfortable lives, but they are miserable... they are slaves to their vanity and to their trophy wives who have a lot to gain from divorce. This has nothing to do with idealism. It has to do with willpower. Most people lack the will to improve themselves simply because it's too much work and effort...
- zackattack 17y ago