New York City has long been a stalwart of the creative and financial industries. Though the city that never sleeps slowed down during the peak of the pandemic, the tech scene only accelerated. It’s the only major tech hub that saw growth in tech sector employment in 2020 — tech employment grew five percent that year, according to a Brookings Institution report.
There are no signs of deceleration: more than 10,000 jobs at nearly 800 companies are currently live on Built In NYC. We talked to employees at 10 of those companies to get to the core of what it’s like to work in the Big Apple tech scene.
What they do: SeatGeek is a mobile-focused ticket platform that allows fans to buy and sell tickets for sports, concert and theater events.
Making live events more accessible: “Growing up in India, I was one of the privileged few who was exposed to computers and programming fairly early,” Kaul said. “I heard about Silicon Valley folks taking on large companies with just their computers and wonderful ideas. After having been in the industry for 15 years, I can safely say most industries have been opened up, endlessly innovated upon or disrupted. However, there was always one exception: live events. There was almost no openness or a reason to innovate the live event space before SeatGeek came along.”
Bouncing back strong: When the pandemic first started and live events were canceled, companies like SeatGeek faced a level of uncertainty that they had never experienced before and were unprepared for. “We were looking at millions of dollars in refunds — after already paying out sellers,” Kaul said. The product team came up with an idea: users could receive a full refund for a ticket, or they could receive a discount code worth 130 percent of the original ticket value. Kaul was the back-end engineer on the project, and within 48 hours, the product launched. Affected customers received an email to make a choice. “They loved the idea and chose discount codes in very large numbers,” Kaul said. “We stood out and retained customers at the same time. It directly helped us bounce back stronger when live events returned.”
What they do: Tipico is a mobile sports betting platform.
Cultural influencer: Moore joined Tipico for the cultural impact she could have on the startup. “I can take a more active role in building a culture that I want to work for,” she said. “It’s exciting being able to drive the cultural expansion here. We encourage collaboration when rolling out new cultural initiatives and every voice is heard.” With an emphasis on work/life balance, and the flexible, hybrid work environment to match, Moore can tell people are the top priority at Tipico.
Spreading her creative wings: Moore is revamping the new hire orientation process, which has pushed her to get creative; typically, she’s task-oriented. “There seems to be an endless number of ways to give people a good experience in their first week, and it’s been fun to discover what will work best for us,” she said. “I am excited to see what I can achieve as I work on developing and implementing more cultural and HR-related processes.”
What they do: Yext is an information tech company that has an artificial-intelligence-powered platform that transforms enterprise search.
Can’t stay away: In 2019, Wei worked at Yext as a software engineering summer intern. She returned as a full-time employee in 2020. As an intern, she felt team members trusted her and that Yext provided opportunities for learning and exploration; she worked on production-facing code and made decisions. “I came back hoping for similar experiences to my internship. I was not disappointed,” Wei shared. “I feel like my opinions matter and the effort I put in is rewarded.”
Product evolution: Wei works on data connectors, which allow users to pull information into Yext using methods like application programming interface calls. “Inputting data into Yext was a pain point for some of our users,” Wei said. “When we launched data connectors, it was amazing to witness the impact and quick adoption.”
Wei joined the project at the start of her time at Yext. “I saw it evolve from a technical document to an actual system with a pretty cool user interface,” Wei said. “This project helped me to gain experience in new technologies and take ownership of part of the system. It has also had many interesting challenges, which led to engaging discussions, multiple product extensions and thoughtful development.”
What they do: Monday.com is an operating system that connects team members to workplace processes.
Bring your full self to work: Singh can’t imagine her day without every member of the talent acquisition team. “Every person is smart, hardworking, incredibly kind and supportive,” she said. “It truly is a company culture where I can bring my full self to work and that I’m proud to talk to candidates about every day.” Monday.com brought team members together at its headquarters in Tel Aviv. There, Singh got to collaborate and brainstorm with others and get to know her colleagues outside of Zoom.
Lunch bunch: Monday.com offers a $300 monthly stipend for lunch, and it’s one of Sing’s favorite benefits. “It’s just one of the amazing perks we have, but it’s especially helpful when you’re having a sushi craving!”
What they do: Ribbon Health is a healthcare data platform that provides infrastructure that payers, providers and digital health solutions need to maintain accurate provider directories, referral management and care navigation.
Creating change in healthcare: Tso’s role helps him achieve his learning goals, and he feels inspired by Ribbon Health’s mission to solve a well-defined problem at an infrastructure level. Though Tso admits that even with a clear vision, creating change in healthcare is difficult. It requires humility, dedication and an unwavering commitment to the patient.
“Ribbon’s recruiting process centers on our values, which has attracted a team that is up for the challenge,” Tso said. “I am driven and feel amazed by the people around me. All of this makes me want to bring my best to the table every day.”
Selling the vision: Tso is watching new healthtech startups sprout up, yet patient awareness and access are lagging behind new platforms and solutions. Tso’s team envisioned a partnership between new companies and Ribbon Health to help increase patient access to convenient, cost-effective and quality care options.
“We built a partnership network and are launching an integrated directory where patients can just as easily take control of their GI health through a virtual therapeutic care platform, instead of waiting for an appointment with a gastroenterologist, for example,” he said. “We have had to sell our vision and build a scalable partnership program while keeping patients at the center as we curate a new directory of care options for them.”
What they do: VTS is a commercial real estate leasing and asset management platform. Landlords and brokers can centralize data and workflows to attract, convert and retain tenants.
A values-oriented culture: When Cohen interviewed at VTS, she saw how team members practiced the company’s core values and how they aligned with her own values. As a recruiter, Cohen’s work revolves around painting a picture to candidates of what it’s like to work at VTS. “It was important to me that I would be able to genuinely and truthfully describe what that was like being a part of VTS,” Cohen said. Her favorite value? Move as one — one person's win is everyone’s win.
Education station: Cohen’s favorite perk is the learning and development stipend. The annual stipend can be spent on program fees or tuition, classes, mentorship programs and other resources VTS feels will provide beneficial learning experiences.
What they do: Kaltura powers live, on-demand and real-time video experiences. People use its cloud-based products to teach, learn, watch, connect and collaborate.
A cultural and professional shift: Thompson joined Kaltura as part of a merger and acquisition after working in the startup world for some time. Kaltura is not a startup, but Thompson found many of the traits he loved about that world in the environment. “You are encouraged to participate in the key conversations of the business and explore different opportunities,” Thompson said. “Kaltura provides a path to grow through mentorship, learning and honest conversations on what you want to do. Kaltura has provided me with ample room to grow professionally.” Kaltura started as a director of outbound product, moved into sales, and now is in product marketing. “The mobility through different departments has been a unique experience that has let me explore and learn where I can add the most value. This company-wide growth mindset is why I stayed.”
An autonomous community: Thompson’s favorite perk is working from home, which wasn’t new for Kaltura when the pandemic began. Leadership already had systems in place to provide a support structure and a sense of community and autonomy, and though he rarely sees his colleagues in person, it’s like being with old friends when he does. Kaltura’s work-from-home policy has impacted his life greatly. “I moved to a new area and bought a new home instead of renting an apartment. My kids can play in the yard, and I’m around more because I don’t need to commute two hours every day.”
What they do: Dailymotion is a global video streaming service. It focuses on establishing premium content partnerships in music, news, sports and entertainment.
Prioritizing passion: Ramirez’s decision to work at Dailymotion started during the interview process when she met team members and heard firsthand about their professional growth experiences. She saw a great company culture and people who are as passionate about video, compelling content, data analytics and innovation as she is. “I felt like the company really did prioritize employees and work-life balance as a whole,” Ramirez said. “Dailymotion is a fun, collaborative company where we prioritize our amazing content partners and their audiences ranging from major production studios, cable programmers, music label groups, and print conglomerates to smaller digital-native brands and mom-and-pop producers.”
Making work easy: Ramirez has a tough time choosing her favorite perk between the career growth opportunities offered at Dailymotion, hybrid work environment and the company culture. Not to mention 401k contributions and an insurance policy that covers employees, their spouses and kids. “All of these things make going to work easier for me,” she said. “It feels fulfilling and you feel appreciated for your efforts.”
What they do: Cometeer delivers specialty flash-frozen coffee in a convenient, mentable format — no coffee pot required.
Cool priorities: After working in investment banking and private equity, Mai sought a role that turned the coolest part of the work — partnering with founders and management teams to take their businesses to the next stage of growth — into a priority. “Establishing a cohesive and thoughtful business strategy is really hard, but I might argue that executing on day-to-day initiatives that reinforce that strategy is even harder,” Mai said. “That is why I ultimately decided to work at Cometeer: I wanted to be on the ground and have a direct impact. It feels much more rewarding to me this way.”
Updating the tech: Mai is part of the team that launched the “Cometeer for Office” page, which replaces inbound office sales procedures with an automated checkout flow. The switch better serves customers and decreases the time previously spent on responding to inbounds. “We were able to both increase topline and scale the office segment,” Mai said. “It was an invaluable learning experience for me to be involved in the project’s entire lifecycle, from initial scope to launch.”
What they do: Up&Up is a mission-driven real estate startup with single-family home rentals in Atlanta, St. Louis and Indiana. Renters build wealth like home owners as the rental home generates income and can either cash out the wealth they’ve accumulated or purchase the home at the end of their lease.
Working toward a bigger goal: As Lin matured in his career, he placed more weight on team comradery and a strong company vision. “Being with smart, motivated people all working toward something bigger than ourselves created an environment for me to learn and grow as a human and a professional,” he said. “Up&Up has no shortage of brilliant individuals, tricky problems and company vision that will have a huge impact on many families. This was an easy choice for me.”
A place for builders: Lin hit the ground running at Up&Up and worked directly with the leasing team in one of his first projects. He learned what their challenges were, and together, they worked toward a solution. “We built out a few new tools to help them view and act on new leads,” he said. “I love that we were able to solve a real problem that had an immediate impact on the business. Up&Up is a great place for builders.”
