Start-Up Diaries: TableCrowd goes to NYC [video]

Kate Jackson is Founder of TableCrowd, a social dining network. We think she lives on a Lear Jet, circling the globe like the twitchy billionaire in Contact. 

Monday. Joined Chinwag’s Digital Mission direct from San Francisco. Booked in fundraising and partnership meetings around the hectic DM and Social Media Week schedule. Met my fellow travellers over informal drinks in Manhattan.

Tuesday. Master class from attorneys at Venable LLP on how foreign companies can operate/raise money in the US. Attended first SMW event: roundtable discussion from published social media authors where, bang on trend, there were prizes for the most prolific event tweeters!

Wednesday. Visited Google on 9^th Street, the second largest office in New York, with a $1.7bn price tag. So what to expect if you land a job here? Scooters, micro kitchens stocked with freebies, full-service restaurants with guest chefs, and tech stops where engineers resolve your tech issues. Q&A with a Creative Labs employee, which seemed the dream job. No clients. No limit on creativity. No tight budgets. She introduced Glass - I was mesmerised by the intro video. 

Thursday. Breakfast at the British Consulate for one-on-one time with large US businesses, UKTI, real estate and branding experts. Useful information on financial grants for market research and trade shows. Over to Spark Lab for Q&A on fundraising. In the evening, Chinwag hosted the Great British Pub Quiz at Ogilvy & Mather and when the action was over, we got an after hours tour of the offices and rooftop garden.

Friday. Headed over to Brooklyn to visit Huge. It is a great space, which matches their client list. They have grown into their once ironic name from a team of 7 to 600+. Interesting that bagging a big client in New York generates 10x revenues per annum than a comparable client win in the UK. Took in one last SMW session before heading to a converted Synagogue for the closing party. Cracking end to an action-packed week. 

Photo (cc). Chinwag.
Watch the video here.