Found NYC
My first angel investment was in a company called UPOC, started by Gordon Gould, who happens to be one of my closest friends. Gordon and I met at Silicon Alley Reporter when he put some cash in and joined the team that was Jason Calacanis and me. UPOC was essentially Twitter but way too early to the game.
UPOC was a one-off investment where I sat on the board, but not that long after, I became obsessed with Curbed and Eater. I approached Lockhart Steele and made my second angel investment, then another 150 more. Through that, I met some people who, lucky for me, have become a part of my life; Ben Leventhal, Mo Koyfman, Brad Inman (with whom I have had the pleasure of sitting on two boards and now a third), Josh Albertson, and of course Lock.
Fast forward, Lock and Josh just launched FoundNY. Found is on substack, as it should be. A lot has changed since Curbed Media began, from where the platform sits to how we connect with media. This is the third company where I get the honor of being on the board with Brad, Lock, and Josh. Mo and Ben are also investors.
Fred and I read about Thirteen Water this past week in Founds newsletter. A sushi bar with sixteen seats that does five seatings a night. Each seating is an hour, and they have it down to a science. There are so many things I love about this restaurant. Fancy omakase is expensive, and the majority of the good Japanese spots are not returning to a la carte, so a new generation is entering the space. Omakase is $75, in and out in an hour, you can order more if you want to, and there is a solid sake and beer program with great customer service and excellent sushi.
Businesses evolve into the next generation based on the economic climate. Thirteen Water defines that, and so does Found. We all crave information about food, real estate, arts, theater, movies, etc., and Found is just that with community involvement, aka a nod to Web 3.0, but in the media space.
The last two companies, Curbed and Inman, were a hit out of the ballpark because they understood that your audience doesn’t have to be about garnering eyeballs for advertisers but providing the right content for the right consumer, so do yourself a favor, join Found today and start finding the latest gems in the city.