Wrapping up NY Tech Week
and personal reflections from my first nytw!
Wrapping up NY Tech Week (my first time working on it!) has been such a learning curve. I went in with certain expectations, but it completely exceeded them. There's something about NYC that reminds you that while everyone talks about SF being the center of everything, what's being built here is just as transformative. And this year, everything aligned perfectly.
The weather was perfect, which meant rooftop events actually worked and were a huge hit as an event format. But at the end of the day, it was the people and the conversations that made it worth it for me.
My background is in product marketing, where I spent years focusing deeply on user insights. Coming into Tech Week felt like stepping directly into a stream of live, real-time founder insights. Unfiltered and immediate. With 1000+ events on the calendar and 10+ product launches (that I could count), I got to witness founders building & sharing in real time, and it changed how I think about creation, careers, and what happens when different worlds bump into each other.
The energy to build in NYC is palpable
If you're building something, this was your place to be. And I learnt building doesn't just mean launching a startup. You can also create your brand, refine your craft, or expand your influence. I met a student from India who attended NY Tech Week last year, and the experience was so compelling that he decided he HAD to be back. Not just to visit, but to move to NYC entirely.
We also had a ton of products that launched during tech week - from the world’s first UGC model (!!!) to products emerging from stealth to global fintech reports that every analyst is bookmarking for this year.
my personal highlight was filming a series called "Founder Confidential" where we got founders away from their usual talking points, and the insights were quite incredible (and spicy might i add). We’re launching them through this month so keep an eye out!
also, creators are building like founders
At the speedrun new media dinner, I ended up sitting with two TikTokers with millions of followers each. Turns out they're both recent grads who moved away from a traditional career to build their audiences full-time. They weren't talking like influencers. They were talking like startup founders.
This conversation fundamentally changed how I think about marketing. We're still trying to reach younger audiences through traditional channels while they're building entirely new career paths we don't even understand yet. They don't see social media as a platform, it's their entire business model.
and now, NYC's real advantage: sector breadth
Here's my biggest takeaway from the week: Sector breadth is NYC's real flex. Unlike SF's pure tech focus, NYC builders are solving problems at the intersection of multiple industries. I witnessed founders building AI for fashion, consumer events, fintech for healthcare, and media companies thinking and launching AI-first products. The depth of domain expertise across finance, media, healthcare, fashion, and enterprise creates a unique advantage. You're building for tech people AND you're building for the actual industries that will use your product. Policy tailwinds are also momentum, and you could feel it in many conversations.
Despite 1000+ events feeling overwhelming, people found exactly what they needed -students connecting with mentors, entrepreneurs gaining tactical insights, investors discovering new sectors. Intentionality transformed overwhelming choices into precise, valuable experiences.
And of course, nothing beat coming home to my son, who wouldn't let go of my hand. The perfect end to an incredible week.
Until next time (and the next Tech week),
Shrikala