What NYC Taught Me About Life.

I’m in New York City for the first time today.

I came out here for an AI / Data Investing Conference.

To be honest, I was nervous. I grew up in a sleepy Minnesota town and never spent much time in my 26 years outside the Midwest; much less NYC, the city that never sleeps.

I got into LaGuardia and Ubered over to Midtown Manhattan late Sunday night.

As soon as I step out of the cab I can feel it.

The city has a low-pitched hum of commotion. Walking down the street you can almost smell the ambition. Even on a late Sunday dozens of people crowd the sidewalk, they glide like they have a place to be, like everybody is somebody — from the businessmen in Koreatown in their silk suits, to the hotdog and kebab cart vendors on the corners.

I run through a Seven-Eleven bodega for a late night dinner and check into my hotel around midnight. I’m struck by the service workeres, they are charismatic and courteous; they tell you it like it is, they don’t have time for non-sense. It’s hard to put into words.

After a quick sleep in my 200sq-ft hotel room I get up early and make the trek over to the conference at The Cutting Room, an old Jazz lounge.

From the Midwest I’m not usually prone to initiating conversation. But people here are eager to network with you. They do it naturally, easily. If there’s small talk to be made it’s quickly segued to the meat and potatoes, without feeling transactional.

“Great to meet you, what do you do, what brings you in. Have a business card? Add me on LinkedIn I’ll put you in touch with that guy you should meet. No problem at all.”

After a few hours of back-to-back-to-back speakers and panels I’ve somehow connected with dozens of people in the little blips between sessions. I feel like taking a nap, but these people are all just getting started.

The conference goes full-speed ahead from 8am to 8pm. And after the full day I've come away with 6-7 bonafide prospects to follow up with once I get back.

Now sitting back in the hotel lobby writing this, I realize: there difference here is real.

See, growing up in the Midwest I’ve ‘heard’ that things just aren’t the same on the coasts. “If you really want to start a business you should be in NYC or San Francisco”

I’ve always kinda refused to believe it. Maybe out of hopeful neglect. After all, these days you can connect with virtually anyone in the world online. Even from the Midwest you can access resources from anywhere via the internet.

But being here, it’s clear there really is no substitute for simply getting to where the action is. And it’s a funny feeling because it goes completely counter to everything I was hoping would be true.

It makes me wonder: how many game-changing ideas are stuck in the minds of Midwesterners like me without connections or the tools and resources necessary to bring them to fruition? How different would my business have grown if I’d started it from a New York or San Fran from the get-go?

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t have plans to pack my bags and move to NYC for good. I’m actually pretty excited to get back to the Midwest tomorrow.

But if I’ve realized one thing: it’s that ambition and charisma are truly contagious. And if you simply place yourself at the cultural centers of these collective human affects, you can harness.

So maybe there really is no replacement for being in a NYC or a San Fran. But perhaps we can find ways to cultivate some of that ambition and charisma and willpower wherever we are.

Peace,

Ramsey