Sachin Shah

2019 Annual letter from the President

Dear New York TiE Community,

Almost two years ago, we set out with an updated growth strategy for TiE New York, rooted in the pillars and values of TiE, overlaid with a sense of giving and helping others. With the support of so many members, volunteers and general contributors, I am proud to say that we are well on our way and have many significant accomplishments to point to. 

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ~ Martin Luther King

Let me first share some easy metrics to help you understand our progress. In 2018, we hosted more than 30 events and 28 speakers including successful founders, leaders of accelerator programs and investors.  Our Spring standout event was TiE New York’s Women’s month that brought together conscious investing thought leaders, fashion icons and female tech entrepreneurs.  This event helped us bolster our diversity of role models ~ out of our 28 curated speakers last year, 43% were female founders. Our Fall standout event was the 2018 Pitch Competition drawing over 210 registrations including 50 investors.  

With these programs and monthly events, what has been most exciting, and rewarding is the formation of our TiE New York platform that strategically brings together our efforts and provides a sound foundation for all of us to lean on and expand from.  We now have a path for early stage entrepreneurs to present their companies at open mic, receive formal/informal mentoring, participate in pitch competitions and meet their professional objectives.  As an illustration, Vectorly, who came out of the MIT lab, pitched at our Startup Open Mic Night, participated in TiE Mentorship, entered the Pitch Competition and came in first place voted on by top VC and Google executives.  This continuum is what gets me most excited as to what we have built and where we can go from here.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the evolution of our community leadership in 2018. In August, we elected a total of nine directors, seven of whom are new. Each director with their backgrounds in startups and investing, has taken on a specific role in the organization and is helping to expand our network to make things happen.  I am personally grateful for their hard work, time commitment and enthusiasm. 

Looking forward to 2019, we will build upon this momentum. You can expect to see recurring events such as the Charter Member dinners and Startup Open Mic, both with select speakers and themes. You will also see a renewed focus from the board and our members to improve our Mentorship program.  We experimented with a small group approach last year, but feedback from mentees was that they wanted more one-on-one attention.  Therefore, this year mentees will be meeting potential mentors and matched based on their preferences and feedback.  We will run quarterly programs with progress reporting and time commitments from mentors. In my view, this is the most tangible way we all can participate in TiE so I encourage you to jump right in as either a mentor, a mentee or even both!  In addition, we are hosting the 2nd annual TiE New York Women’s Month this Spring with some star-studded speakers and of course, the Pitch Competition in June. 

We are pleased to be fulfilling our mission, providing a platform where community members can help each other be better entrepreneurs. Individually, I encourage all of you to deepen your relationships and increase the number of high-quality interactions you have with each other.  At the end of the day, this is all that we will remember.

Yours truly,

Sachin

Sachin Shah
President, TiE New York

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