jon steinberg

(via soupsoup)

Some of the more interesting breeding grounds in the city are
technology incubators that nurture and mentor young companies. One
example is the new Manhattan arm of Dogpatch Labs, which is backed by
Polaris Venture Partners, an investment firm in the Boston area.

Dogpatch, which opened in January, offers start-ups a place to work,
rent-free, for several months, along with the possibility of securing
an investment down the line.

Socks, crumpled pieces of paper, scribbled-upon white boards and empty
beef jerky packages are scattered around Dogpatch’s roomy office.
“It’s been called a frat house for geeks,” says Peter Flint, a partner
at Polaris who spends several days each week in the New York office.

“There is a lot of excitement and interest budding in New York,” he
says. “And if we can help convince entrepreneurs to think about
staying in New York versus going to Silicon Valley, then that’s a huge
win.”

Currently, 13 companies are housed in the space, including Postling,
the newest spawn of the founders and early employees of Etsy. Locals
cite Etsy, an online shopping bazaar specializing in handmade crafts,
as one of New York’s shining start-up success stories, along with
DoubleClick; TheLadders, a jobs search site; and the Gilt Groupe.

“There wasn’t anything like this in New York when Etsy started,” said
Chris Maguire, a co-founder of both Postling and Etsy. “We worked out
of our apartments for the first few years.”