New York Tech Week: Learnings and Highlights

October in New York is special. The weather is perfect. The leaves are changing. There’s fresh energy in the air. And of course, it’s New York Tech Week.

For the second consecutive year, the city dedicated an entire week to host more than 400 events, each focusing on tech innovation and advancement. 

Presented by a16z, New York Tech Week is more than just a series of tech-related events. It’s a celebration of community, where people from all industries come together to share, collaborate and shape the future of technology. 

New York Tech Week offers a combination of workshops, panel discussions and networking happy hours that cater to tech professionals, entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world. It’s a confluence where industry trends are dissected, ideas are shared, and the collective heartbeat of the tech world is felt.

For Innovatemap, New York Tech Week isn’t just another event on the calendar. It’s an opportunity.

An opportunity to:

• Meet founders to learn about the problems they’re solving. 
• Reconnect with partners to hear how they’re growing their companies.
• Engage with tech leaders to reaffirm our commitment to driving innovation in the city.

How did we celebrate?

We kicked off the week by partnering with Tech:NYC to join their second Founder House. The event featured nearly 50 founders from various industries at various stages. With insights from Innovatemap experts Meghan Pfeifer Corsello, Jon Moore, Ashley King and Katie Noble, the founders shared their pains and gained real-time feedback.

“Working closely with such a diverse group of founders at the Founder House event was inspiring,” said Meghan. “Every founder’s journey is unique, yet they all share a relentless passion to solve real problems. It’s a privilege to collaborate, offer feedback and be part of their journeys.”

In addition to Founder House, our team scoured the city attending events to make new connections, discuss market trends and support the tech ecosystem.

A few of our of favorite events from the week:

• Founder House After Party with Tech:NYC and WeWork.
• The State of B2B Advertising, hosted by LinkedIn and Right Percent
• AI, GTM and Sales Happy Hour, presented by Bearworks and Parameter Ventures

“Tech Week is so unique because you can walk into any room and there are founders, CMOs and developers from every industry, building vastly different products,” said Ashley. “But that’s a reflection of New York. Because the city is so diverse — you are surrounded by different ideas, all trying to solve unique problems.

What did we learn?

While the free drinks and festive swag were nice perks (thanks for the hats, Tech:NYC), the actual wins were the insights we gained directly from founders and product leaders.

Founders know what they need.
We spent hours whiteboarding, evaluating product screens and exploring site messaging during Founder House. 

“Each founder we worked with knew where their gaps were. They just needed help validating and prioritizing,” said Meghan.

Keep it simple. 
More is not always better. To speak to the right audience, you might need to simplify your product features and messaging so it’s hyper-tailored to your end users and buyers.

“You cannot be everything to everyone,” emphasized Ashley.

Your UX shouldn’t be what sets you apart. 
You should stand out because of your differentiator in market. Using unfamiliar UX won’t keep users around for long.

“Implement typical UX patterns so your users can easily navigate your product. They’ll stick around for longer,” explained Jon.

What comes next?

Our work doesn’t end with Tech Week. 

For our team, it wasn’t just about attending events — it was about connecting, understanding, and growing. Sure, it’s exciting to bounce from one rooftop happy hour to the next. But it’s so much more fulfilling to create genuine connections.