A NYC tech history lesson with Eric Friedman and Sam Huleatt

In this week’s episode of NY Seed Round, host Justin Wolz sits down with two pioneers of the NY startup scene to dive deep into the history of the city, from the dot com boom to today, to better contextualize the state of the things today.

Eric Friedman of Graph Advisors and Sam Huleatt of Intangible Ventures have been a part of the tech ecosystem in New York since the late 90’s and have seen the city grow into, arguably, one of the biggest hubs in the world today for startups. 

And now, with so many founders laying roots here, it begs the question—why and why now? 

NYC then and now

For both Eric and Sam, the story starts almost 30 years ago.

Despite some notable crashes, foundational layers were set for what would become today’s thriving ecosystem. Companies like DoubleClick and GeoCities paved the way, while others like Cosmo.com took the torch and kept building on some early successes. 

But then some industry giants joined the conversation. 

And with investments like Google’s hub in the Meatpacking District, the city started to be on the radar for other tech giants who never truly considered NY to be a viable option outside of Silicon Valley.

But despite the excitement and momentum, the reality was that raising capital in New York was still no easy feat for startup founders. 

As Eric and Sam highlight, in the early 2000s, there was a notable absence of early-stage investors in the city. However, increased seed funding, successful exits, and a supportive tech community began to change this narrative. 

Funds like Primary Ventures and Notation Capital emerged, backing ambitious NYC founders and reinforcing the city’s growing startup ecosystem.

And now, with more companies expanding their investment in the city and an increasing number of founders setting up roots, NY is staking its claim as the place to be.

So now what? Where do things go from here? Tune in to the full conversation to find out what Eric and Sam think:

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