I visited NYC for the first time in a few years. I blogged about NYC 6 years ago.
- NYC still has the best pizza in the world. I ate two slices every day. Not kidding.
- NYC has the best bagels in the world, too. I was a mule and brought a dozen back for my family.
- Some of the best health companies in the world will come from NYC. If history is a guide, Flatiron Health will have 10x the impact of DoubleClick, Tumblr, Warby Parker, Buzzfeed and its other predecessors who paved the way for a generation of founders.
- The founder and startup ecosystem in crypto/blockchain/Bitcoin/Ethereum has a very different energy too. Very technical but somehow more self-aware than others. Maybe I’m projecting.
- But communities are a function of environment, and it’s hard not to be self-aware when there are world-class people in different industries and communities around you every day (e.g., fashion, global finance, startups in different areas, art, etc.)
- NYC subway is still my favorite way to commute. Maybe it’s nostalgia. And I know I sound like Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate. Without the profanity.
- Brooklyn is now a full-blown urban Palo Alto – in a good way. So incredible to see the progress over a 25 year period (my sister lived there in the ‘90s).
- New Yorkers don’t give a f*ck. They will bump you on the street without saying sorry, give you surly service without blinking an eye, never smile unless they know you. I forgot that. And I love that. No phoniness.
- I live in LA and it has the best weather in the country year-long. But nothing beats NYC in May (even though it rained a ton).
- Three of our most recent (and most promising) investments are based in NYC or Brooklyn. Excited to use this as a catalyst to visit more.