Leeap Project - NYC - The True Hustler

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.

The 17 Coolest Co-Working Spaces In America

Melissa Stanger | Jan. 8, 2013, 11:01 AM |

Gourmet cafeterias, discounted gym memberships and expensive artwork used to be luxuries afforded only by big corporate offices.

Entrepreneurs can now get the same or better amenities from a co-working space. These communal offices are an affordable solution to a private office, and offer perks that working in a solo office doesn't.

We've come up with a list of some of the coolest co-working spaces in America, from coast to coast.

Green Spaces

Google Earth

Location: Denver, Colo. and New York, N.Y.

Membership: Starts at $100/month

Green Spaces is one of the most popular co-working spaces for sustainable, green-related startups. The spaces in Denver and New York call themselves "hubs for good," and each offers a stimulating environment for "values-based companies."

Green Spaces offers some startups access to their coveted accelerator program, where entrepreneurs can talk to mentors, get peer-to-peer feedback, and other small business resources.

Members can also attend weekly networking events and fundraisers, and receive referrals for a variety of services from bookkeeping to marketing to help them run successful startups.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-17-coolest-coworking-spaces-in-america-2012-12?op=1#ixzz2Hi2O7C8b

Another day: another desk: GigaOM tests out New York's coworking spaces

Coworking spaces have become popular among startups, and they’re popping up all over the city. Our intrepid reporter spent much of the past month camping out at various coworking spaces in New York to see what the fuss is all about.

Green Spaces

The backstory: Co-founders Marissa Feinberg and Jennie Nevin opened Green Spaces to give entrepreneurs interested in social impact a home base. It opened in downtown Manhattan in 2009, after two years in Brooklyn. Green Spaces, which has a sister location in Denver, offers access to a nationwide network of social innovators and hosts regular networking and educational events for members.

What we liked: Between the recycling bins in the kitchen and the wooden pallet desk dividers, green-leaning entrepreneurs will feel right at home. And, even if you’re not especially eco-minded, it’s hard not be to charmed by the exposed brick walls and the reclaimed furniture. Members get access to special rates with a legal team and other local discounts. Green Space’s weekly “idea bounce” lunches provide an opportunity to get feedback from peers (and try some free dumplings from nearby Chinatown)...

The people: Members are either into sustainability, work at nonprofits or are entrepreneurs who just want to be in a values-driven space — from health startup My Coupon Doc to live-streaming performing arts startup VirtualArts.tv. Alums include GOOD (formerly the magazine, now the online community for social action) and staff of design firm IDEO.

Thanks for including us, Ki Mae! Click here for the full story about us and our peers.

Building Strategic Partnerships in New York

Marissa Feinberg, the founder of GreenSpacesNY and I had the opportunity to meet yesterday to lay out the framework of a partnership between her organization and SoJo. GreenSpaces fosters collaboration, linkages and a shared workspace for eco-entrepreneurs in New York. They desire delivering toolkits and resources to their members, however haven't had the time or capacity to aggregate or develop informational resources as their key strength lies in fostering physical connections in the city. We are in the process of creating something they are looking for: what a perfect fit!

Within an hour, Marissa was sold on our vision. She understood the value SoJo could provide to the GreenSpace community, was generous in connecting me to other networks in the city, offered to have me work from the space for a day to mingle with the members and get a feel of their community. Once live, SoJo will be GreenSpaces' official Online Resources Partner; we will provide their 10,000+ community access to SoJo's resources to complement their offline efforts. 

I'm halfway through my two week networking trip in New York City. A conference, some events and many meetings are being coordinated with the goal of building a network to ultimately gain access to a larger user base in the United States.  Being based in Canada, there is only so much reach we have, therefore forming strategic partnerships like this one is key to building our user base. I'm excited to announce our first local partnership in New York look forward to telling you about more partnerships as they get formed. 

Tilt: Fall Twenty Twelve

Saturday, Sep 29 12:00p

at Green Spaces, New York, NY

Age Suitability: None Specified

TAGS: social, meetings

what is tilt? 
tilt is a cross between a startup accelerator and brainstorming competition. it simulates startup life in a single afternoon. 
the event is comprised of challengers from various creative endeavors within the internet industry - just like you (developers, designers, UX, marketers and strategists). 
competitors are put them into teams that balances their skill sets. we give you a theme, establish rounds and present various challenges. you create and pitch.

click here for tickets.

Coworking in New York: Green Spaces

By Katherine Tracey | September 1, 2012 at 1:02 am | No comments | Ideas, sep 2012 - coworking | Tags: coworking, environment, green living

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The Big Apple is home to an increasingly influential movement in workspace design – coworking. Here is one of four places we’re featuring as examples of atypical office spaces that offer big opportunities for non-traditional workers.

Founders: Jennie Nevin and Marissa Feinberg

Jennie and I once co-created a networking group for leaders in sustainability together called Green Leaders Global. It consisted of more than 1,000 leaders across every industry: media, retail, design, education, real estate, health, technology, politics, science and more. When we gathered for intimate events, incredible collaborations sparked.

From it, we thought, “Imagine what would happen if we worked from the same space every day!”

Green Spaces

So that’s how Green Spaces started, and we designed it for collaboration.

The environment is totally open, except for two conference rooms. Therefore, people organically engage with one another, as opposed to separate offices. We also share everything: kitchen, printer, lounge, mailbox, conference rooms, wifi, networking resources, and more.

We’re a great example of the hot, collaborative consumption movement. It is more efficient and economical to pool resources than to purchase them just for your own business.

Green Spaces

We exist for environmental and social entrepreneurs. The majority of our 100+ member organizations are focused on making the world better. We have companies in cleantech, sustainable food, green real estate, good wood, nonprofit, eco fashion, and more.

Our design is as environmental as possible, with furniture that has all been recycled and repurposed, as well as vendors that are conscious. From our fair-trade coffee to our printer with inks made of food, we have mother Earth in mind.

Green Spaces

We also have a Community Manager, Eva Navon. She has played a great role in making sure everyone is happy, and that has been crucial to our success. She also gets to know our members so when they join an office that is shared by others they feel welcome and can instantly have a new friend. Comfort is key. Therefore, a seamless infrastructure and inviting team are crucial.

Green Spaces

Since working at Green Spaces is working in a physical network, our members are very savvy and influential people. They are constantly circulating with new startup companies and up on the latest industry trends, and they are on the pulse of social networks and have strong followings.

Our members are also community minded. To share, people need to be considerate of others and open to caring about the people and world around them.

Founder – Marissa Feinberg

GREEN SPACES NEW YORK (TriBeCa)

394 Broadway, 5th floor

New York, NY

 

GREEN SPACES COLORADO

1368 26th Street

Denver, CO

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katherine Tracey is Workspace Design Magazine's marketing and advertising director. She is intrigued by the combination of design & business in the A/E/C industry. When she is not working on the magazine you can find her out sailing on the bay, skiing down a snowy slope or exploring new places.

NY Is Co-Working Mecca

With more professionals today working as collaborators or freelancers, NY has become the co-working capital of the world. Companies such as New Work City, Green Spaces, or Bitmap Creative Labs are making “rent-a-desk” locations a profitable business. According to Crains New York, these businesses provide a place to work and the opportunity to share ideas, expertise or gossip with fellow freelancers and startups.

Currently the bulk of revenue for most co-working sites come from membership fees, usually tiered and allowing different levels of access. This could mean the number of days or desks available to an individual or company, or desk-free memberships that allow people to participate in workshops or other community activities. Additional profits come from hosting frequent events for members and nonmembers, film screenings, discussions, or classes.

Crains 

Startup Tech Companies with Revolutionary Idea

There are a lot of startups being built today and many of those have ideas that aren’t found in any companies before. A lot of these also rely heavily on technologies to get things done and if you are interested in knowing some of them, you better read on because we have quite a few startup tech companies with revolutionary ideas.

Green Spaces 

If you live in New York or Denver or are planning to set up an office in any of these locations, then consider checking out Green Spaces for your needs. This is because one of the aims of Green Space is to provide coworking office space for social technopreneurs. The good thing about Green Space is its environment itself. You will be surrounded with a community of people who are willing to do networking and work together with you. Read more: Green Spaces: Entrepreneurial Space in NY & Colorado

Green Product Marketing in Entertainment Media Event at Green Spaces NYC

by Lindsay E. Brown · 07/10/12

Daddy Van’s, one of the many brands Green Product Placement works with.

Green products — as healthy and wondrous as they are — often do not have the mainstream appeal to take them to the next level.

That’s changing.

Beth Bell, founder of Green Product Placement, will host a dynamic presentation July 12, from 7-9, that will cover topics on multi-faceted marketing in entertainment media for green products, including social media, experiential and traditional marketing, and product placement. Believe it or not, attending won’t cost you a dime.

RSVP for this free event at Green Spaces NYC here. 

If you’re a natural product (or service) business owner, marketer or employee, take advantage of this event — at coworking hotspot Green Spaces NYC’s awesome Tribeca location — that will help you appeal to a broader customer base, affecting real change in sustainable consumer habits.

Green Spaces NYC, coworking space by day, sustainable event venue by night.

The presentation will be approximately 45 minutes, followed by a Q&A session with Bell, and networking to follow.

Bell is a movie /TV industry and marketing professional who has worked on such films as “Game Change,” “Runaway Bride,” “Twelve Monkeys,” and “Contact.” She and her business partner, Lisa Dietrich, have 35 plus years combined in the industry, and have assembled a team at Green Product Placement that is poised to put green products center stage in TV and movies in 2012.

Beth Bell and Lisa Dietrich of Green Product Placement at a Green Spaces event.

Green Product Placement has placements in the new HBO series, “VEEP,” Showcase Canada’s “King,” pilots for Fox and the CW, HBO’s “Enlightened,” Netflix’s “House of Cards,” Indie Film “Better Living Through Chemistry,” TNT’s “Leverage,” and feature film “The Internship” with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson for 20th Century Fox.

The company also has relationships with USA Network’s “Suits,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Good Wife,” “Single Ladies,” “Blue Bloods,” and “Mike and Molly.”

Network, learn from Bell’s expertise, and enjoy a fun-filled evening at Green Spaces this Thursday!

 Photo Credit: Green Product Placement; Image of Green Spaces courtesy of Green Spaces

 coworking, green businesses, green marketing, Green Spaces,marketing, natural brands, natural products, product placement

Lindsay E. Brown is the managing editor of Eco-Chick, co-author of "Don't Hook Up," and a contributing writer at LauraTurnerSeydel.com, Eco-Age.com, Ecover US and GatherGreen.com. She's written for publications including Cottages & Gardens and Edible, and pens the wildly popular series "Heroines for the Planet" on Eco Chick. Lindsay is pursuing her M.S. in broadcast at Columbia Journalism School.Like her work? Follow Lindsay on Twitter: @LindsEBrown. Know a trailblazing woman you'd like to recommend for #HeroinesforthePlanet? Email Lindsay@Eco-Chick.com.

What's coworking? And why is it so awesome?

For entrepreneurs and other independent workers, coworking offices like Green Spaces are an ideal alternative to working at home.

With the economy in a long, slow recovery, with many people still looking for work, some have created their own jobs. Others have found that working for someone else is frustrating, unfulfilling, or just doesn't fit their personalities (I'm a part of the latter group). For whatever reason, more people than ever before are working for themselves. About a year and a half ago, I chose to join the growing group of American workers who are independent workers, and while it has been a tough climb to financial stability (and I still don't have health insurance), I'm making it work — and I love it. 

The advantages are numerous; working for yourself means you set your own hours and work when it suits you best — I like to meditate and work out in the mornings, and then eat a big, homemade breakfast, so I don't get to my desk until 11 a.m., but I work until 7 or 8 most evenings. This schedule takes advantage of the time that I'm most productive. Other advantages include being able to work while traveling, and taking weekdays off when I feel like it (and working on a Sunday instead). And yes, sometimes I work in my pajamas, and in any case, am always wearing something comfortable and in a relaxed, healthy environment with lots of fresh air and quiet (no water cooler chit-chat or random pointless conversations with coworkers to distract me — one of the things that drove me really insane working in an office). 

 

But if you work at home, you know the cons. Sometimes it can feel isolating, or a bit lonely. Receiving all your business mail at your home means you are giving your home address out to anyone who asks, and separating work from home life is a challenge.

 

Enter coworking offices. I have recently begun working at one part-time in NYC called Green Spaces (the same owners have a similar office in Denver, too). It is lively and dynamic, but not loud or distracting, filled with other eco- and socially involved entrepreneurs and independent workers. While I'm working in an environment that's definitely not lonely or isolating, there are other advantages, too. It is inherently more economically sustainable, and shared resources means that it's more eco-friendly. Green Spaces is even greener by providing compost and recycling, a dishwasher for reusing dishes and glassware, as well as recycled paper in the shared printer, and other healthy aspects, including the use of green cleaners (so I can literally breathe easier). I can also take advantage of conference rooms to do interviews or conduct meetings and network at weekly lunches to crowdsource opinions, ideas and feedback about my work from people who do different, but related types of work. 

 

As a part-time coworker at Green Spaces, I just bring my laptop and set up in the laptop lounge, which is so much better than fighting for space at a coffee shop and feeling the need to leave after a couple of hours. But if you are in need of a real desk, a dedicated phone line, and storage space, Green Spaces offers that as well. Check out the company's virtual tour for more details. 

 

Coworking is growing in popularity across the U.S. and Europe, and I think it's the future of how we work — near, but not always in our homes, coworking offices like Green Spaces allow us to get out and about without the distractions of a typical office. And it gives us independent workers a place to go and an excuse to get out of our pajamas every day.