Betting on New York as a serious technology hub once seemed contrarian because Silicon Valley had engineers, venture capital, ambition, and a shared belief in building the future. New York had finance, fashion, and media, and conventional wisdom said technology companies needed a city that saw itself as tech. Builders connected through proximity and shared work rather than formal planning, during a period when people debated whether Silicon Alley was dead. Resy and Thrive Capital helped anchor New York’s venture community. Skepticism toward Google and Facebook opening NYC offices was met with disagreement that proved correct. New York later produced many unicorns and raised substantial venture capital. A similar structural convergence of talent, capital, and company-building is now emerging in South Florida.
"Twenty years ago, betting on New York as a serious technology hub felt contrarian to the point of naivety. Silicon Valley had the engineers, the venture capital, the density of ambition, and most importantly, the shared belief that this was where the future was being built. New York had finance, fashion, and media. The conventional wisdom was that you couldn't build the next great technology company from a city that didn't think of itself as a technology city."
"We met the way builders in New York tend to find each other: less by design and more because we were both doing interesting things in the same small room. This was a moment when people were openly debating whether Silicon Alley was dead. We built anyway. Matt was incubating and backing businesses like Resy, betting that New York's density and culture were features, not bugs. Patrick was creating new companies at Thrive."
"Thrive Capital went on to become one of the anchors of New York's venture community. When Google and Facebook announced NYC offices, the reaction from the tech establishment was skepticism. We disagreed. That disagreement turned out to be the thesis. We all know how the New York story turned out. Today, New York City is home to more than 50 unicorns and has produced some of the most industry-defining companies of the last two decades: Oscar Health, MongoDB, Ramp, Wiz, Etsy."
"The city's startup ecosystem raised over $16 billion in venture capital in 2024 alone, ranking it consistently as the second-largest technology hub in the United States and among the top five in the world. The founders who took a chance on New York created companies that couldn't have been built anywhere else. After building, financing, and operating startups in what became Silicon Alley, we're seeing a similar confluence of talent, capital, and company-building emerge - but this time it's happening in South Florida."
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