Green Spaces Press

Denver Coworking Week: What it is and Why You Want In

Green Spaces — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:52:02 +0000

by Nicole Relyea on 05/06/2013

Today kicks off the first-ever Denver Coworking Week. The brainchild of Creative Density's Craig Baute and Greenspaces' Jennie Nevin, the goal of Denver Coworking Week is to introduce more people to the concept of coworking, and to bring the local coworking community together through free coworking days, tours, workshops, and social events.

"Denver Coworking Week got started as a way to build awareness of coworking under one voice. We realized that, as coworking spaces, our greatest competition isn't one another, but the general lack of awareness about coworking," says Baute, pictured in front of Creative Density's space below (Photo courtesy Chris Kissner of ProCntr) "We also want to know where people want future coworking communities so we can keep creating spaces for our members with their input along the way. We think of Denver Coworking Week as the start of the conversation with new members that might not be right in our current neighborhoods."

Each of Denver's coworking spaces has a unique personality and draws a different kind of crowd. By opening up the spaces this week, freelancers, remote workers, and startups have the opportunity to experience each space and find out which one is right for them.

"There are so many benefits to coworking," says Nevin. "Working from home can be lonely, coworking allows you to make friends. For anyone who’s working from home or a coffee shop – this is a great chance to try out working at different spaces, see what it’s all about, try out the cuture and the people. Go to the events to meet the community that’s part of the different spaces. See what it’s like to work at a coworking space. "

Highlighted events this week include the launch of Galaxy Unite, a service to help coworkers throughout the US find freelance gigs that best match their skills.

On Wednesday, Greenspaces will be hosting this month's edition of The Forum: Stories that Create, at which several companies from Galvanize (including Built In Denver) will be speaking.

The Desk will be hosting a Small Business and Coworking Roundtable on programs that help small businesses succeed with local, state, and national government panelists. The week wraps up with a kickball tournament on Friday.

Here's the full passport for this week's events:

For more information, visit: http://www.denvercoworks.org/denver-coworking-week/

Map of Community Workspaces in NYC

Green Spaces — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:47:24 +0000

When it comes to working from home, it’s hard to beat the relaxed dress code, the four-foot commute from your bed to your desk and, of course, having the freedom to sing the HOT POCKETS® jingle even if you are not currently eating a hot pocket. Unless it’s 99 degrees outside. In that case, it might be time to seek shelter in one of New York City’s shared (and climate-controlled) office spaces. A freelancer can have wifi access and a desk for a walk-in rate of $20 a day, while a small business might try a long-term membership with a private office and access to conference rooms and other amenities like fax machines, copiers and phones – all without signing a lease. To find a space near you, check out this map:

Thanks for including us among our peers, Media Bistro! Click here for the full blog post.

One Day @ Green Spaces Colorado

Green Spaces — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:18:09 +0000

ERIC PETERSON | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2013

The exterior of Green Spaces.

CITY BUILDING,CREATIVE SECTOR,ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION, MOVE TO DENVER,PLACEMAKING

RINO

A day in the life of Green Spaces Colorado, Denver's most sustainable coworking space. It's home to such companies as Galaxy Unite, OneSeed Expeditions andElectful.com.

This is the third in a series of features covering a workday at one of Denver's many coworking or collaborative office spaces. The first two were One Day @ Galvanize and One Day @ Battery621.

Wed. April 17, 2013, 9:15 a.m.

It's an April morning in Denver that reminds me of February in Chicago.

I trudge from the light rail stop at 25th and Welton to Green Spaces Colorado, the city's most sustainably minded coworking space, just past Larimer on 26th.

I get there a few minutes before Stephanie Vannucci, Community Manager.

"There are about 70 different businesses that are members," says Vannucci. That includes Denver Patio Ride, a movable party that Vannucci runs with her brother Nick while also working for Green Spaces.

She shows me to a desk where I leave my bag and jacket before giving me the dime tour of the place. There's a community kitchen and plenty of Solar Roast Coffee. I look around and take in the funky industrial vibe: brick walls, leafy planters that double as partitions, old lamps and splashes of bright color.

Dedicated desks are $325 a month, while a Lounge membership that includes access to desks, chairs and couches, coffee and other amenities is $175, and part-time memberships start at $50 a month.

Stephanie Vannucci is the Community Manager of Green Spaces.Vannucci is wearing a Green Spaces Denver kickball jersey. "We just got our shirts, so we're really excited," she says. It's looking like this afternoon's game will get snowed out.

9:30 a.m.

There's a bit of activity as people arrive, have quiet conversations and cycle to the coffee in the kitchen.

10:11 a.m.

Most of the desks are occupied. There are about four people in the Lounge area.

10:20 a.m.

I briefly talk to Alex Stutt, Director of Design & Engineering at Rio Grande Solar, at the desk behind me. "It's been great," he says of his experience at Green Spaces Denver. "It's a nice open environment to work in."

10:30 a.m.

I have a phone interview. Sensing a sucker, a happy golden retriever wanders up to me for a scratch. She gets it.

The call is notably awkward. Journalism can sometimes be so hard.

11:23 a.m.

The golden retriever comes back for another scratch. There are about 10 people in the lounge area.

Jennie Nevin, Founder of Green Spaces, and her trusted accomplice Hobbes.11:32 a.m.

I meet with Jennie Nevin and her nine-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Hobbes. "He has aFacebook page," she tells me. "He has like 1,000 friends -- way more than I do. People write him messages."

Nevin opened Green Spaces Colorado in 2010 after opening Green Spaces New York in Manhattan in 2008. "It was in the middle of the country and it seemed like an up-and-coming city," she says. "We're looking for up-and-coming cities."

The old warehouse didn't even have heat before Nevin arrived, but now it's got heat as well as 100 percent solar power, a newly remodeled kitchen and plenty of reclaimed and recycled furnishings. It all adds up to a booming coworking space that's been growing at an especially nice clip in the past year, says Nevin. "It's been attracting a lot of new people."

Tenants must sign a sustainability pledge, she adds. "All of the companies in the space have socially or environmentally responsible bent. We want them to make an impact."

Nevin touts the upcoming Denver Coworking Week (May 6-10), "Every day we're featuring a different space," she says. Visitors get free day passes all week long, and the calendar climaxes with a kickball tournament. "The idea is to engage the community," says Nevin. "We're also trying to cross-pollinate our entrepreneurs" -- putting Galvanize's best tech-heads together with the sustainable and social enterprises at Green Spaces Colorado, for example.

Green Spaces Colorado hosts about six events a month that are often open to the public, and does all sorts of things -- from lunch to yoga and wine to kickball and beer -- as a group. "it's really about creating community," says Nevin. "It's fun de-stressing after running a startup all day."

12:10 p.m.

I go back to work at my desk.

12:30 p.m.

I talk with Ashley Johnson of Galaxy Unite. She's worked out of Green Spaces Denver since 2010 after a decade in freelance graphic design. "I just wanted to get to know people and have a place to work that was more community-oriented," she explains.

Now she's trying to weave together the country's coworking freelance workforce with Galaxy Unite. The site aims to be a portal for freelancers, employers and coworking spaces all over the nation.

"Now I'm basically redesigning the website," says Johnson, giving me a couple of "collector's items" -- magnets from her file cabinet bearing discarded moniker Galaxy Quotes. The site is slated for relaunch in mid-May.

12:45 p.m.

Rio Grande Solar's Alex Stutt shows me a 3D rendering of a project he's working on in northwest Denver: Aria, an apartment complex with plenty of solar panels on its roofs.

1:30 p.m.

I'm starving. Relief comes in the form of homemade turkey noodle soup and a sausage sandwich from Amerigo, the Italian deli on the flip side of the block.

2:05 p.m.

Back to work. Post-lunch coma. It's probably inappropriate to sleep on the common couch or curl up under my desk -- one drawback of coworking as opposed to the easy bed access of my home office.

2:45 p.m.

I talk with Grant Southwick of political website Electful.com, which compares every national candidate on every imaginable issue.

"The nice part of working here is if you have interns or contractors, they just come in and out and work when they please," he says. Southwick's consulting background was "very stuffy" and included a suit and tie. In comparison, working at Green Spaces "is a breath of fresh air," he says.

3:45 p.m.

It's still snowing and I still want to take a nap.

4:15 p.m.A lot of natural light comes into Green Spaces.

Molly Mazel works for the Denver office of the nonprofit Chill Foundation. Rather, she is the Denver office of the Chill Foundation, and she just started working at Green Spaces Denver a few weeks back. "We're establishing a year-round presence, so having a real business address is great," she tells me. "The price is right for lounging, and even the desks are reasonable."

4:30 p.m.

After draining the last cup of pitch black coffee from the dispenser, I have a call with Confluence writer Jamie Siebrase to discuss story ideas.

4:45 p.m.

I again meet the resident golden retriever. I learn its name is Koti, because this time I meet her owner, too: Chris Baker, Founder of OneSeed Expeditions, a social enterprise/guiding company that takes customers on mountain treks in Nepal and Chile.

The company gives back 10 percent of proceeds to both locales where it operated in the form of micro-loans to female entrepreneurs, financing everything from milk cows to eateries. "We're trying to make capital accessible to people who typically don't have access to it," says Baker.

OneSeed's 44 guides are all local to Nepal or Chile, and the company has a small crew in Denver that needs a lot of "flexibility," says Baker, making coworking spaces a perfect fit. He works out of coworking spaces in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Santiago, Chile, when he's not in Denver.

5:15 p.m.

After giving Nevin a copy of my band's EP, I pack my bag as one of Green Spaces' tenants waters the plants by my desk, under a weathered skylight.

"They get enough light from the skylight?" I ask.

"These do very well actually," comes her reply.

I bundle up and wander out into the spring snowstorm, which feels even more like midwinter in Chicago as the sun slides further and further down the Denver sky.

CITY BUILDING,CREATIVE SECTOR,ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION, MOVE TO DENVER,PLACEMAKING

RINO

Eco-Chick’s Sustainable Spring Fashion Party: Photos, Beauty, Love

Green Spaces — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:56:40 +0000

Posted by Starre Vartan × April 23, 2013 at 1:13 am

It was all about local, local, local at the first ever Eco-Chick Sustainable Spring Fashion Party at Green Spaces in Tribeca. We had a great time celebrating Earth Day a little early with local vegan food, organic libations, and a fun-loving and curious crowd who were there to see what eco fashions from seriously styling made-in-NYC designers, all of which are available in stores and online.

Eco-Chick managing editor Lindsay Brown, founder and editor Starre Vartan (in Feral Childe bookends dress) and intern Juliette Donatelli (in Feral Childe rake dress), who worked to put this event together!

Stories tell the best pictures, so follow along for what was a superfun evening sponsored byNeutrogena Naturals, Green Spaces NY, Veev, Treeline Nutcheese, and our beautiful models styled by Starre Vartan, with hair by Theadora Guzman at Yarok Hair and Kristen Arnett of the Green Beauty Team.

VeeV’s new organic VitaFrute cocktails-in-a-bottle were delicious and refreshing. Very green, very spring-y.

Eco-Chick managing editor Lindsay Brown put together the beautiful Treeline nutcheeseplates with fruit.

Model K in makeup by Kristen Arnett’s Green Beauty Team.

Makeup artist Rebecca Casciano with the Green Beauty Team works her magic.

Guests began to arrive; that’s designer of ELSA AND ME, Maja Svensson on the right, and a beautifully spring-bedecked friend on the left.

Our goody bags were filled with soaps from Mrs. Meyers, delicious perfumes from Lurk, toothpaste from PROXI, skincare from Neutrogena Naturals, adorable socks from PACT,Yarok haircare products, info from Eileen Fisher, and gift cards from Tres Belle Petite Medi-Spa in Brooklyn and sustainable clothing company Sundippers.

Hair was put up in relaxed braids and soft waves.

Starre brought fresh forsythia and small daffodils from her garden in Connecticut to bedeck the models’ hair.

Theadora Guzman and her assistant from Yarok Organic Haircare.

And the models made their debut! (From L to R) K wears an Auralis convertible jumper (soy, organic cotton, made in NYC) with Eileen Fisher tank top and Natalie Frigo triple daggers necklace; Esosa Edsomwan in a Dogwood & Hastings tank top, StudyNY shorts (made in NYC from American-made cotton/recycled poly denim), and an elongated rectangle pearl necklace by Natalie Frigo; Marissa Feinburg wears a Carrie Parry sleeveless cupro shirt andprinted silk pants.

Ariel Clay wears Natalie Frigo antler earrings and a Feral Childe Collard dress over aStudyNY blouse.

Marissa Feinburg wears a Carrie Parry sleeveless cupro shirt and printed silk pants; Maayan Laufer in a Sylvia Heisel Tyvek anorak and organic cotton shift dress.

Close on Esosa Edsomwan in a Dogwood & Hastings tank (digitally printed nature photography on silk, made in Connecticut) and an elongated rectangle pearl necklace by Natalie Frigo (made in NYC).

Adela Capova in ELSA AND ME organic cotton, made in NYC dress and a Dogwood & Hastings scarf; K wears an Auralis convertible jumper (soy, organic cotton, made in NYC) with Eileen Fisher tank top and Natalie Frigo triple daggers necklace

Brooklynski Hoodplate necklaces, worn as bracelets.

Ariel Clay wears Natalie Frigo antler earrings and a Feral Childe Collard dress over aStudyNY blouse.

Eco model, founder of Source4Style and author Summer Rayne Oakes.

Beth Fitini of Ecobeth and Allison Tray of Tres Belle Petite Medi-Spa in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

Happy guests!

Allison Tray and Kate McGregor, owner of Kaight eco boutique in Brooklyn.

Michael Schwarz, founder of vegan Treeline nutcheese, made in Kingston, NY.

Valorie Luther and her daughter.

Everyone enjoyed delicious Madecasse chocolates, fair-trade and organic, supporting Madegascar.

Eco Fashion fans and friends.

Marissa Feinberg, Summer Rayne Oakes, Lindsay Brown, Starre Vartan, Juliette Donatelli, Emma Grady.

Celebrants.

Maayan Laufer exiting the presentation; Sylvia Heisel dress and jacket, Natalie Frigo dagger and icicles necklace.

Natalie Frigo jewelry, post-party.

All images by Kate Black.

Advisers flock to incubators for clients - Professional services firms search for owners of future Facebooks.

Green Spaces — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:00:39 +0000

BY MAGGIE OVERFELT (Thanks Maggie!)

APRIL 21, 2013 5:59 A.M.

After a month of searching for an accountant, Joshua Niamehr found one where he least expected: in the elevator bank at AlleyNYC, the midtown co-working space where he rents an office for his startup, Enchanted Diamonds, which sells loose diamonds and engagement rings.

"We met with seven firms, looked at 20, but there was absolutely no authority on startup accounting who knew how to help us," said Mr. Niamehr, whose profitable year-old firm brings in more than $2 million in annual revenue.

After the initial meeting in the elevator, Mr. Niamehr was formally introduced to CBIZ, a Cleveland-based, publicly traded professional services company, and is now working with the firm. In December, CBIZ inked a deal to provide AlleyNYC's 250 members with free accounting, tax and payroll advice.

CBIZ wants to "add value to these companies in the beginning at no cost, with the hope that they become established, developed companies and retain us in the future," said Ted Chasanoff, managing director and technology services practice leader in CBIZ's New York office.

"If I get in a company that ends up to be one-tenth the size of Facebook, I would be happy," he added.

CBIZ, which has on-site office hours at AlleyNYC, isn't alone in donating billable hours to make connections in the city's surging startup market. Many others have realized that local incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces can be ideal places to find clients that are on their way up.

Future acquisition targets

“I'm a big believer of what Wayne Gretzky said: 'You have to go where the puck is going, not where it is,' “ said Jordan Waxman, a New York-based partner and adviser at HighTower Advisors, which provides financial planning and investment advice to a growing pool of startups.

HighTower recently started mentoring young companies in a Manhattan business accelerator, which it declined to name. “Small, nimble companies are being acquired at very early stages,” said Mr. Waxman. “The [founders] are going from having nothing to quickly becoming millionaires, needing all of our services.”

Of course, many startups never get acquired—and plenty fail. For that reason, the rigorous application process at many accelerators can be helpful in vetting potential clients, advisers say.

“Accelerators are doing their own selection process, and we view those [startups] as being endorsed,” said Chip Korn, a partner in the New York office of multinational law firm Dentons, which provides weekly office hours and startup-geared seminars to the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator in Manhattan.

Mr. Korn estimates that of the 10 companies in session in the accelerator, he retains less than half of them as clients. “At the very least, working with these companies keeps us engaged in the market we want to know,” he said.

To build relationships with startups, Marla Guttman, a lawyer with six-employee Whitehouse Law, which has an office in Manhattan, structures classes around legal issues affecting the entrepreneurs at Green Spaces, a New York co-working spot. She came to Green Spaces last year to build her online retail business, Marlandia, which sells Fair Trade footwear, but soon noticed that other residents needed legal advice.

“I wanted to help people at the same time as drumming up business for Whitehouse Law,” said Ms. Guttman. It has worked: Whitehouse has landed one client at Green Spaces and is in talks to retain two more.

Sacred Economics workshop will help local business owners think about a deeper purpose

Green Spaces — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:35:55 +0000

By Bree Davies Mon., Apr. 15 2013 at 11:28 AM

Sacred Economics: Money, Gift & Society in the Age of Transition author, Charles Eisenstein.

Tonight at Green Spaces Colorado, Mile High Business Alliance will host "The Deeper Purpose of Your Business," an evening with author Charles Eisenstein aimed at bringing global consciousness to the world of small business. Local business owners, entrepreneurs and anyone working in Denver's business community are invited to the event, which will discuss how to integrate the ideas of Eisenstein's book, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift & Society in the Age of Transition.

Put on by the Mile High Business Alliance and the Queen Ann Bed & Breakfast Inn, the evening will revolve around bringing local business back to the basics, asking entrepreneurs and owners to look at why they run or desire to run a business in the first place. According to Mickki Langston, Mile High Business Alliance executive director, the ninety-minute session with Eisenstein will be more of a discussion than a lecture, using his book as a touchstone and resource.

"Our intention with this particular conversation is for small businesses who are doing work in the community to get reconnected to the underlying passions that their businesses are actually an expression of," says Langston. "That is usually not a conversation that small business owners get to have -- because we are doing all of the work it takes to run a small business."

With Denver's ever-growing, local business-based economy, the city is in the right place at the right time for this conversation. "You can be a businessperson who is making plenty of money selling widgets or providing a service, and you're still someone who is completely connected to what it means to be a person living in Denver at this time," Langston adds. "If you're providing professional services, where you're spending your money as a businessperson is helping to invest in the kind of community where we live.

"As people recognize that economic power, my hope is that it can bring us closer together as people who recognize, we care about living in a city that looks like 'X' and how do we build that city? How do we do it together? The point is, we're disconnected from the impact of the way we run our business. The way I'm operating my business and where I'm coming from is an important expression in the kind of community I want to live in."

"The Deeper Purpose of your Business," an evening with Charles Eisenstein, begins at 7 p.m. tonight at Green Spaces Colorado, 1368 26th Street in Denver. Registration is $15 to $25 and can be done by calling 303-872-5646 or e-mailing info@milehighbiz.org. For more information on the workshop, visit the Mile High Business Alliance's website.

Green Coworking: How Ecofriendly Coworking Spaces Can Look

Green Spaces — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:09:31 +0000

ARTICLE BY LAILA COLA WEEKS

Keeping it Green on all Levels

Marissa Feinberg and Jennie Nevin are the co-founders of Green Spaces. Feinberg works in the Manhattan location and Nevin is based in Denver. Green Spaces opened in Brooklyn, NY, in 2008 and was conceived as a coworking space for the green community. In 2009 they moved out of their old space and into the current locations. In the beginning, Green Spaces called itself a “Workspace for Green Entrepreneurs,” and it was this self-description that led to a lot of environmentally friendly focused startups to call Green Spaces their home base.

Green Spaces New York is based in Tribeca in Manhattan. Feinberg told Deskmag that the companies working out this particular space typically fall into one of three categories: environmental, non-profit, and social entrepreneur. In the environmental category, cleantech companies like Highview Creations, which builds vertical gardens, IPP Solar, and the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice all work out of Green Spaces New York. But accommodating these environmental companies is only the first step towards environmental friendliness that the coworking space exemplifies.

The next step is creating strong relationships with environmentally friendly businesses that exist independently from Green Spaces. For example, if a member is looking for catering, Feinberg will refer them to a local, organic service. Or if someone is looking for printing, she can refer them to a green printer. These are all businesses with which Feinberg has developed relationships via events held at Green Spaces. She wants to “encourage [a] local economy of businesses sending business to one another … that’s how we all grow stronger together.”

Thirdly, Feinberg spoke of the inherent eco-friendliness found in the coworking model. “We have designed a whole system around a sharing economy,” she said. Consider Feinberg’s paper cutter example: “100 companies would have 100 paper cutters. At Green Spaces, 100 companies have one paper cutter. That makes so much more sense in terms of using resources wisely. We don’t need another 100 paper cutters out there.” She says that coworking intrinsically possesses, “sustainable values of sharing … not just sharing all the tangible resources like the real estate and the electric bills, but also sharing ideas and caring about one another and [working] in a collaborative spirit.”

The Denver Green Spaces is located in River North, an up and coming area next to the downtown area. It is also home to many green startups, including several green architects, an advocacy group focused on climate change, and GreenLeaf. The events at the Denver space are primarily focused on being environmentally conscious. And while not all of the startups working out of the space are green per se, all new members fill out a green mission statement as a part of their new member orientation.

And the coworking space itself also practices what it preaches. Green Spaces is 100% solar powered, owning one of the largest arrays of solar panels in downtown Denver. Nevin also says that they use some innovative green technology like light tubes. When remodeling their building, they used all reclaimed materials, including barn wood and recycled granite. They also source their materials consciously and do composting and recycling.

Not only are the people inside of these coworking spaces creating a more eco-friendly world with their companies, but the physical space is also purporting those same ideals all the while, and so allowing environmental sustainability to be integrated into all facets of the operation.

Eco-Chick’s Sustainable Spring Eco Fashion Party

Green Spaces — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 23:56:24 +0000

What: A fashion presentation and party for Eco-Chick.com friends and eco fashion lovers, featuring spring styles by our favorite local NYC designers. Complimentary organic libations, vegan food, and some seriously awesome goody bags.

Where: Green Spaces NYC at 394 Broadway New York, NY 10013

When: Thursday, April 18th, 7-9:30pm

Why: Because it’s spring! And we wanted to get a head-start on celebrating Earth Day.

RSVP: Email ecochickparty@gmail.com with your name and the number of guests you intend to bring

Featured Designers include: Feral Childe Ambika Study New York Auralis Carrie Parry Sylvia Heisel Natalie Frigo Jewelry

and more to come

Click here to see the original post on Eco-Chick.com.

SUSTAINABLE RETAIL COMPANY LAUNCHES WORKING SHOWROOM FOR INNOVATORS

Green Spaces — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:55:08 +0000

The Green Palette Supports Green Spaces Workspace, Events and Entrepreneurial Innovation

New Paltz, NY- March 4th, 2013 - The Green Palette, a furniture retail company that promotes sustainable living, has launched a working showroom at Green Spaces NYC, a hub for the social entrepreneurship community. Marc Anthony, Owner of The Green Palette, now showcases eco-friendly lounge furnishings at Green Spaces, adding more ethical style and flare to stomping grounds for Green Spaces EcoPreneurs. In addition, pallet installations enclose conference room spaces to ensure environments that are soundproof and private. Green Spaces, now serves as the Green Palette’s working showroom, supporting its working membership and events for innovation.

This partnership offers inspiring environmental accents to the conscious startups at Green Spaces. In addition, the Green Palette will broaden its presence in New York and exhibit its collection to a larger range of clients.

“I want my collection to function in a space that serves a purpose.” said Anthony. “People will experience firsthand what our furniture is really meant to do; offer comfort and support for good, and often meaningful, work .”

“We are happy to work with local, sustainable organizations as people who are suppliers, vendors and customers, providing triple bottom line products and services for us, and our membership.” says Marissa Feinberg, cofounder of Green Spaces.

The Green Palette’s working showroom at Green Spaces is open weekdays 9:30am-6pm and located at its Tribeca location, 394 Broadway, 5th floor; New York, NY 10013.

About Green Spaces
Green Spaces is a hub for the social entrepreneurship community, offering work and events for innovation. The organization has a following of 25,000 people nationwide and has been home to more than 1,000 game-changing startups and organizations. Currently, it hosts more than 200 companies in New York and Colorado. The term "Green Spaces" has come to embody: a global culture, a society for change makers, a recognizable term for movers and shakers, a mecca for people who think big and do good, and a local place with a global impact. Visit GreenSpacesHome.com to learn more or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Green Palette
Located in New Paltz, NY, The Green Palette promotes sustainable living, fostering an organic relationship with one’s natural surroundings. Behind every design is a cultivation of eco-consciousness and not merely a purchase. We showcase pieces that are sustainable and inspired by nature without sacrificing any of the beauty our customers desire in their home, work, or play space. Visit www.the-green-palette.com to learn more and follow us on Facebook, Tumblr or Pinterest.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT Maria Pianelli, 917-748-5636, mpianelli93@gmail.com

Leeap Project - NYC - The True Hustler

Green Spaces — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 06:24:08 +0000

New York (or ‘Silicon Alley’ as it’s known within the startup community) breeds a special kind of entrepreneur – the true hustler. The level of competition here is staggering, however there is such a dense and supportive community to help give you a real fighting chance – watch out Palo Alto! But be warned, the cost of living here is extreme so prepare to familarise yourself with Ramen Noodles, fast.

The startup community in NYC is growing at astronomical rates with groups like Tech Meetup’s 28,000 members regularly gathering in swarms of 800+ every month. Every vertical you can image has a thriving community, even the most ‘niece’ industry or sector will have a meetup or gathering organisation of some form. From distributed information systems, to secondhand clothing, to nanotechnology – whatever the industry, you’ll find a group of people in NYC who share you passion. Being immersed in a highly dense environment by driven and like-mined people is what makes the allure and opportunity of New York so appealing.

Considering that Manhattan accounts for almost 10% of national GDP, it’s not hard to understand that capital and personal wealth is in abundance here. Venture capital firms in most cases are looking for strong business models as well as other partnering firms that would be able to add value to a potential round of capital raising.

One of the most first criteria that a VC will grade a potential deal on is how the opportunity got in front of them in the first place. As Andrew Mitchell (Managing Partner at ZIG Capital) told me – “How did this deal get on my desk?” Although cold calling/emailing can *sometimes* work, how the VC game is played in NYC is all about connections – so if you’re willing to take the plunge, prepare to build a network and take the time to understand the community (and investors) before reaching out for money.

A rising trend towards promoting and fostering more socially impactful, clean tech and non-profit startups is especially abundant in a place like NYC and has driven the creation of dedicated co-working spaces like Green Spaces as “playgrounds” for innovation and socially conscious entrepreneurs wanting to make a difference. Very impressed with this space, and those inside of it!

The popularity of co-working spaces over the last 2 years has grown exponentially around the world, however no single entity has arguably been as successful than NYC-born General Assembly. In under 3 years Adam Pritzker, Matthew O.Brimer and Brad Hargreaves have expanded GA campus’ and educational services across the nation and recently opened up offices internationally. If you decide that NYC is in your sights, make sure GA is one of the first places you land.

There is an indescribable buzz and energy about the city that’s completely intoxicating and infectious. Although you’re a tiny fish in a seemingly endless ocean, the osmosis effect of the city pushes your harder, makes you work smarter, and places you in an environment where you have the capacity to truly excel on the world stage.

If you can make it here, everyone will pay attention.