Jenny Fielding, MD of Techstars & Founder of The Fund, on doubling down with the NYC tech community
Jenny Fielding makes a compelling case for building outside Silicon Valley, sharing how she defied conventional wisdom to create a thriving tech company in New York when everyone told her to move west. As MD of Techstars and founder of The Fund, she reveals an innovative community-powered investment model that's completed 28 deals in 11 months using nothing but a Slack channel and 50 New York founders.
Key takeaways
- •Community-powered deal flow can replace traditional outbound sourcing—The Fund runs entirely through a Slack channel where 50 founders share deals and discuss investments.
- •Geographic contrarianism can be a competitive advantage when building outside established tech hubs, despite initial isolation and skepticism.
- •Start diversity initiatives at the student level rather than waiting until the founder stage—intervention needs to happen much earlier in the pipeline.
- •Passion and conviction can override traditional career DNA when pursuing entrepreneurship, even if starting a company wasn't originally part of your expected path.
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