Many in New York Citya4ぎa4г startup ecosystem have lamented the lack of technical talent. To address this problem, a group of New York City investors and entrepreneurs are looking to lure elite technical talent from universities across North America.
The NYC Turing Fellows will bring 15 top undergraduate and graduate students to New York and get them paid internships at a New York City startup. 'Led by venture capitalists Warren Lee of Canaan Partners and Brian Hirsch of Greenhill SAVP, as well as Blip.TV co-founder Mike Hudak, the program is meant to spread word that New York City is a desirable destination for top technical talent.
a4ぎAPeople still think ita4ぎa4г a place for online ad companies,a4ぎ Lee told me. He believes the program will change that perception. &''Theya4ぎa4ll go back to their own schools and spread the word.a4ぎ
Applications are due February 7, with accepted applicants being flown to New York around mid-February. Then they will interview with a group of participating startups including Foursquare, SecondMarket, Simulmedia, ' Tumblr and Yipit. These startups were joined by a number of investors in sponsoring the program. Those investors include Ron Conway&'s SV Angel, Bessemer Venture Partners, and First Mark Capital
In addition to a job, fellows will receive mentoring and networking opportunities as well as a $5,000 scholarship upon successful completion of the program.
New Yorka4ぎa4г lack of technical talent has become a frequent topic of conversation in the citya4ぎa4г startup scene. Union Square Ventures partner Fred Wilson recently wrote in a blog post:
NYC has a tremendous workforce advantage over most any other city in the world. With one exception. There is a dearth of well educated engineers coming into the workforce every year in NYC. We have a large exisiting workforce of engineers, but they are in high demand and there are scarcities in NYC like those that exist in the bay area. Talented engineers are expensive and are always being recruited away from companies.a4ぎA
There are already program like HackNY that help students at New York City schools get summer jobs at startups, this is the first program that has explicitly imported technical talent from outside the City. While the initial class is fairly small, Lee indicated that the program will expand as they get out the kinks.
a4ぎAThis is the first year wea4ぎa4вe gonna do it, we want to make sure wea4ぎa4вe successful and make sure it runs smoothly.a4ぎ Lee said. a4ぎAThe point is to have it done every summer.a4ぎ
[image via Flickr/DoctorWho]
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Jacob is an entrepreneur and blogger living in New York City. He is the founder and CEO of Standard Start, a non-profit providing free standardized legal documents and education to startup businesses. He also serves as an advisor to Girls In Tech and Entrepreneur's Roundtable.
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