YKC: The Hero’s Journey
Welcome back to YKC. Fall, probably my favorite season is in the air. For all those who celebrated the Jewish high holidays, I hope it was meaningful. Now back to the grind ;)
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“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell: While I’m still on a Yuval Noah Harari kick it’s important to reference books and ideas that have influenced and shaped our society. I haven’t gotten to the classic Hero with a Thousand Faces yet, but we’ve experienced Campbell’s ideas about mythology on the big screen with modern mythology such as Star Wars. Campbell is probably the most well-known mythologist; and as we’re literally creating new mythologies daily, is someone whose work can serve as a beacon during these times.
Similar to YNH’s ideas of how Homo Sapiens were able to cooperate and construct society based on shared stories, this interview with Campbell addresses the similarity of mythology across all cultures. As much as we like to imagine our religion or culture’s traditions are uniquely special, the stories across time are strikingly similar. Since the beginning of modern time, when Homo Sapiens developed language, shared stories, and was paintings on cave walls to our ultra complex modern day has it’s own version of the Hero’s Journey.
Key Takeaways:
⚪️ We’ve always lived in a post-truth world: We love to talk about how fake news is shaping our worldview. But the reality is that stories are how we make sense of the world. Just take a second and think about all the stories that we tell ourselves and go thru our head all day, what is actually real, and what we’re imagining?
⚪ Myths give us meaning: Why is meaning so important to us? Meaning and giving context to our lives hedges against the idea that our short time on this planet is without reason. (Ex., religion was created for a reason, aside from being a basic code of ethics.) We probably need to tell ourselves stories in order to not spiral down a nihilist decent and to keep a sense of morality.
⚪ Are we at the whim of our evolutionary makeup: Do we really have control over these impulses? The idea of Homo Sapiens as a collection of algorithms is in vogue now, and the stories we tell ourselves and each other are just a part of our biology. Moreover, the need to communicate via stories might part of our evolutionary makeup.
⚪ monday.com: Experienced as an Account Manager/Sales? Up-selling/Cross-selling? Closed 100K+ deals? Come work at monday.com and take part in building their enterprise account management infrastructure! Learn more about their sales team on the Startup for Startup podcast. Job info here.
⚪ NYCEDC’s Citywide Hardware Incubator: The Futureworks Incubator is back again and accepting applications through Oct 31. The program gets startups investor-ready through expert mentorship, a series of essential workshops, and a cohort of supportive peers. Futureworks takes no equity, and there’s no cost to participate. Operated by Brooklyn’s SecondMuse, the Futureworks Incubator is accepting early-stage entrepreneurs to growth-stage startups. Apply here.
⚪ SAP.iO Foundry NY: The application for the SAP.iO Foundry NY Fall 2018 cohort is now open! They are looking for women and diverse entrepreneurs focusing on enterprise social impact, including sustainability, employee learning and employee wellness. SAP.iO Foundry offers a founder-friendly, no-equity program providing access to SAP APIs, SAP technologies, and opportunities for exposure to SAP customers. Admitted teams will have access to their workspace until the end of January in NYC and will benefit from engaging with SAP’s network of 404K+ customers across 27 industries. If you know of Seed to Series A startups that may be interested, please reach out or apply HERE!
Bestpractix: They are developing an AI-powered platform that analyzes law firms’ legal DNA and help them utilize their knowledge to improve the contract review, drafting and editing workflows. By using Bestpractix personalized drafting and editing recommendations lawyers are able to scale their contract drafting workflow, improve its quality and incorporate their knowledge and experience into all contracts with a few clicks.
They’re a funded startup company looking to connect with VC’s that are interested in the legaltech area for their next funding round and for NY based law firms to take part in our closed beta-testing before our upcoming product launch. For more info you can contact their founder Omer directly at omer@bestpractix.com
⚪ Exbo Group: They provide growth-stage companies with the critical CFO and accounting services they need to scale their businesses. Their team of experts is comprised of entrepreneurs, consultants, investors, and analysts that have extensive experience building and scaling high-growth companies. They have the capability and resources to ramp up quickly, so please don’t hesitate to contact them in order to learn more about the services they offer, including Better Bookkeeping, CFO Suite, and Market Diligence.
⚪ Mondo.NYC 2018 MUSIC FESTIVAL & GLOBAL MUSIC/TECH BUSINESS CONFERENCE: Mondo.NYC is the first music festival and global business conference focusing on the intersection of emerging music discovery and blockchain, cryptocurrency and how these emerging technologies and economies will significantly impact the business of music. Emerging artists, innovators and industry insiders will connect and collaborate with fans in a mission to advance human creativity in an ever-changing world. Tue, Oct 2, 3:00 PM — Fri, Oct 5. The Williamsburg Hotel 96 Wythe Ave. Brooklyn. Ticket here.
⚪ Authors at Company: Elad Gil: Elad Gil is an entrepreneur, operating executive, and investor or advisor to private companies such as Airbnb, Coinbase, Checkr, Gusto, Instacart, and others, where he helped grow these small companies into global brands. Across all of these break-out companies, a set of common patterns has evolved into a repeatable playbook that Gil has codified in High Growth Handbook. Ticket includes a copy of his book and delicious cocktails inspired by Elad’s ideas, compliments of Pernod Ricard. Company HQ. 335 Madison Ave. October 3, 6:00pm. Tickets here.
⚪ IAC DOR CHADASH AFTER SUKKOT COCKTAIL PARTY: Join IAC Dor Chadash for an exclusive post-Sukkot Soiree. Open bar, hors-d’oeuvres, live jazz music. Whether you are a recent arrival to the NYC scene or have lived here for many years — if you are looking to expand your professional network, to grow professionally and personally and to make friends while doing so, they invite you to join IAC Dor Chadash and make it the place for you! Wednesday, October 3, 7:00 PM. Interface NYC 140 West 30th St. Tickets here.
⚪ Breakfast with an Investor: Lindsay Freeman Avigliano, Senior Associate, Prolog Ventures: Lindsay is a Senior Associate at Prolog Ventures, where she invests in early-stage consumer products companies in the health and wellness space. Prior to joining Prolog, Lindsay was Director of the New York State Innovation Venture Capital Fund, a venture fund sponsored by New York State, where she helped develop the fund’s investment thesis and build its initial portfolio of 18 companies. Thu, October 4, 8:30 AM. KettleSpace @DistilledNY, 211 West Broadway. Tickets here.
⚪ Breakfast with an Investor: Sallie Jian, Program Manager at SAP.iO (SAP Corporate VC): Sallie Jian manages SAP.iO Foundry in New York, which is the corporate VC arm of SAP, a publicly traded enterprise tech company. Prior to SAP, Sallie led the VC team at SeedInvest and served as CFO and Head of Business Development at Savile Row Society. Fri, October 5, 8:30 AM. KettleSpace @DistilledN, 211 West Broadway. Tickets here.
⚪ Authors @ Company: Brené Brown: Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston. She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of four #1 New York Times bestsellers including her new book, Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Brené’s TED talk — The Power of Vulnerability — is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 35 million views. Company HQ. 335 Madison Ave. October 10. 12:00pm. Tickets here. I love Brené Brown’s work on vulnerability, definitely interested in checking this out.
⚪ Live from Tomorrow: “New York City In 2118.” An episode imagining the future of the city that never sleeps. Live! From Tomorrow is the first variety show dedicated to innovation in technology and business. LFT is also the only variety show that invites you, the audience, to invest in tomorrow’s top innovators. Fri, October 19, 7:00 PM, SAP Leonardo Cente, 10 Hudson Yards. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
⚪ All Tech is Human: A Summit on Ethical Tech: Join them for this exciting, thought-provoking event produced by All Tech Is Human (a not-for-profit organization dedicated to facilitating discussion on the responsible and ethical implementation of technologies across society) that will gather some of the leading influencers in technology, social science and business to discuss co-creating “a more thoughtful future towards technology.” Tech 2025 is a proud partner of this event. 9:00 am, Saturday, October 20. Thoughtworks, 99 Madison Ave. Tickets here.
⚪ NYC ArtTech + Blockchain Connect: Innovative technologies, such as blockchain, AI, machine learning and others are widely discussed in the news but there is still no consensus on what they really mean for the art world. This event brings together art market specialists, collectors, technologists and financial analysts for a full day of discussions and talks on the crossover of art with blockchain, AI and other innovative technologies. Wednesday, October 24, 9:00 AM, NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, The Grand Hall, 5th Floor. Tickets here.
