At a press conference with Mayor Bloomberg to celebrate the opening of Twitter’s New York City offices, co-founder Jack Dorsey gave the Big Apple his endorsement as a startup capital. “New York will have a thriving tech community and we will help build that,” he says.
Twitter already employs 30 to 40 people in New York City and its new office can accomodate 100 people. At Twitter’s current rate of hiring in the New York City, that should hold it for at least a year. Dorsey points out that New York City has more Twitter users than any other city and the state has the second largest number of Twitter developers.
Twitter’s increased presence in the city will contribute to the budding startup culture. Dorsey notes the importance of mentorship and support networks to building a startup ecosystem. “With every new tech startup, the desire to get together and talk about the challenges” goes up, he says.
New York City also excites Dorsey as a petri dish to experiment with mobile products especially. “New Yorkers live in a very different way because of the density,” he points out. “I am most excited about . . . opportunities to explore the density of the city.”