Josh Baer of Capital Factory organized a forum at General Assembly in New York on the evening of November 9 to showcase on Broadway a group of 14 promising startups from Austin.   Yours truly was not able to attend, but Kyle Cox of the ATI reported a packed house in the 4^th floor open workspace area of GA. 

The Austin Chamber’s Susan Davenport announced initiatives including the UT-Austin Medical School, Austin Live (a planned space to be announced at SXSWi), Austin as Texas’ first city participating in Startup America, and a special event in conjunction with Austin City Limits Live to kick off the 2012 SXSWi.  This is all very positive news for Austin’s tech scene.  It was also a strong reminder to make your plans now to attend SXSWi in March.

As an aside, the timing of this event spared the attendees last night’s Republican debate in which several of the candidates seemed to have memory lapses.

Here follows an on-the-scene dispatch from Jesse Dyer, CEO of NightRaft, a presenter, and an occasional stringer for TechDrawl:

General Assembly is a Y Combinator with New York style:  sprawling sofas, group work areas, thought cubes, coconut water and spontaneous collaboration packed into a hip downtown loft.  This was my second visit, and it's every bit as happening here as it was back in July.  The New York scene is vibrant.  

Josh Baer (sartorially splendid in one of his trademark T-shirts as always) corralled a big group of New Yorkers to soak in fourteen 5-minute pitches from Austin's start-ups, headlined by his Capital Factory grads.   The setting was fittingly informal and loosely structured: no keynote speakers, suits, display booths, roaming accountants, lawyers, or press.    A great range of Austin companies presented:  OwnLocal probably is the most established, and I'll be the first to confess my start-up NightRaft is definitely the baby of the group (all listed below). 

I think overall Team Austin made a good impression on a tough crowd.  As you know, New York is not a nurturing place.   In total contrast to the friendly atmosphere but formal confines of the recent Venture Atlanta, the fun setting at General Assembly was filled with a typical no-BS New York crowd.   But, thanks to the free beer on hand, things seemed to lighten up as the evening progressed.   I'm sure the majority of the Austinites who made the trip were happy they did.  Many CEOs were still bending the ears of potential investors long after the last presentation.  

How much New York cash actually makes it down to Austin will be interesting to watch over the coming months.  Given the talent and high level of competitiveness in the big city, I imagine the investors on hand came salivating over the potential to snap up deals on the cheap down South.   But, Austin’s own investors are pretty competitive too.   There's not a Foursquare languishing in Austin due to lack of funding.  There are, however, dozens of great start-ups now that deserve capital and will deliver returns.  For New Yorkers who want to invest in Texas I believe those in the room saw some great opportunities:

•   Storymix Media 

•   Groupcharger  

•   Forecast  

•   RecycleMatch 

•   OwnLocal 

•   Greenling 

•   Volunteerspot

•   Ricochet Labs 

•   Rockify 

•   Apptive 

•   Hoot.me 

•   Umbel 

•   Nightraft 

•   Loku

Editor’s Note:  I recall when in about 2003 the ATDC in Atlanta organized a similar mission to the Valley, which I attended.  The net result was the loss of one company to that area, and no one has been interested in testing that idea again.  That is always a risk with these road shows.  Every early stage NY investor I’ve talked with recently wants startups to be close at hand, and that’s understandable.  But, whether a mission like this results in immediate term sheets, it can have many other benefits.  You never know when someone in the crowd will make a connection between your pitch and a potential customer or partner.  Or, in this case, you may find someone who plans to attend SXSWi and now has you on the RADAR.  And, if you were one of the presenters and worked all your connections in NYC around this event, your time was probably quite productive.

<photo above by Jesse Dyer>

<photo below suggested for this post by Jesse Dyer, “Are You Entertained” scene from Gladiator>