Community Leverage
The New York City innovation community has bootstrapped itself through community. In 2005, the New York Tech Meetup was 30 people at Meetup's offices stuffed around a conference room table--and that was the only event you could attend to meet other people building startups. Little by little, that Meetup grew while others splintered off to facilitate better knowledge sharing and focus on particular industries. Investors became more visible online and offline, becoming connectors with an active stake in the viability and health of the community.
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures will look to leverage communities of technoligists, designers, entrepreneurs to help the companies that it invests in. It aims to help build up an innovation ecosystem in Brooklyn and foster that of the city at large as a participant, facilitator and a platform for others to connect and grow their ideas, as well as join others in progress with shared visions.