Open Tech NYC 2013

THE NYC INNOVATION STACK

OPEN TECH NYC 2013Andy Parsons @andyparsons

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This talk

OPEN TECH NYC 2013

W H A T ’ SN E X T

F O S S D R I V I N G

N Y C

N Y CD R I V I N G

F O S S

M Y J O U R N E Y

NYC has become a VIBRANT, SUSTAINABLE ecosystem for technology innovation and Open Source.

Understanding the forces at work will help us make sure it STAYS THAT WAY.

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Me.

• startup junkie. masochist.• MENTOR @ seedcamp, techpeaks, smartcamp• deliver stuff that works in startup time• old timer on the nyc scene. • love choosing tools, making them better

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not Me.

• foss expert• IDEALIST

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MYquick history

of the internet

CLOSED SOURCE OPEN SOURCE

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2003: Wake up Call‣ datacenter catastrophe ‣ discovering postgres!‣ rethinking .net costs‣ retooling

• Compares 2 open source models• “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow”

OPEN TECH NYC 20136

OPEN TECH NYC 2013

PROJECT LINES OF CODE COMPLEXITY

BACKBONE.JS < 1000 LOW

REDIS 100,000 MEDIUM

MONGODB 500,000 HIGH

POSTGRES > 1,000,000 HIGH!

complexity and trust

* STATS FROM OHLOH (http://www.ohloh.net/)

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Perhaps in the end the open-source culture will triumph not because cooperation is morally right or software "hoarding"' is morally wrong ..., but simply because the closed-source world cannot win an evolutionary arms race with open-source communities that can put orders of magnitude more skilled time into a problem.

- ERIC S. RAYMOND

OPEN TECH NYC 2013

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WHAT IS an innovation ecosystem?1. freedom to innovate2. risk investors 3. infrastructure4. education5. talent6. culture of openness7. reinvestment

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‣ reinvest wealth‣ reinvest knowledge‣ reinvest network‣ help others

“If NYC can learn anything from Silicon Valley it is the power of plowing the fruits of the harvest back into the soil”

- Fred Wilson, from his preface to Tech and the City

reinvestment

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Community

OPEN TECH NYC 2013

‣ attentive maintainers‣ respectful exchanges‣ everyone contributes‣ no bystanders

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WHAT IS IT ABOUT NEW YORK?foss in nyc

• investors• culture. you want to live here!• education • this guy• population density

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Takhteyev/Hilts, u of toronto 2010GEOGRAPHY OF OPEN SOURCE

COUNTRY USERS CONTRIBUTORS CONTRIBUTIONS

US 39% 39% 43%

UK 7% 8% 7%

Germany 6% 6% 6%

Canada 4% 4% 4%

Brazil 4% 4% 2%

Japan 4% 4% 5%

France 3% 3% 3%

Australia 3% 3% 3%

Russia 2% 2% 2%

Sweden 2% 2% 2%

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Takhteyev/Hilts, u of toronto 2010GEOGRAPHY OF OPEN SOURCE

CITY USERS CONTRIBUTORS CONTRIBUTIONS

San Fancisco 7% 7% 9%

NYC 4% 4% 4%

London 4% 4% 3%

Tokyo 3% 3% 3%

Boston 2% 2% 3%

Sea!le 2% 2% 2%

Chicago 2% 2% 2%

Washington DC 2% 2% 2%

Los Angeles 2% 2% 2%

Paris 2% 2% 2%

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* THERE ARE MANY, MANY MORE

VIA NYC HACK AND TELL

• mongodb• brubeck• backbone.js• clojurescript• schematics• coffeescript• nodejitsu packages• statsd

SOME* PROMINENT NYC FOSS PROJECTSSOME* PROMINENT NYC FOSS PROJECTS

• pandas• core (ocaml)• syphon• cinder• giter8• unfiltered• twofishes• beautiful soup

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‣ enabling companies to start small for little $$‣ enabling invividuals and teams to become prominent as contributors ‣ attracting talent‣ changing our engineering culture to one of openness and collaboration‣ teaching us about centralized vs. decentralized collaboration

what is OPEN SOURCE doing for nyc?

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models for foss

• centralized• always run by a company or bdfl• now owned by “evil” megacorp• has resulted in many forks• future unification uncertain

centralized vs decentralized

• decentralized• no bdfl• not “owned” by any company or entity• run by loose consortium of individuals

postgresqlmysql

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‣ leading the charge on municipal open data (nyc open data)‣ MEDIA, FINANCE, FASHION, LOCATION, mobile‣ attracting talented leaders‣ NYC bigapps‣ cornell tech campus‣ diversifying the tax base, away from finance

what is NYC doing for OPEN SOURCE?

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investment and hiring

‣ > 1000 active co’s‣ hundreds hiring‣ most foss-based‣ many contributing to foss

http://nytm.org/made-in-nyc/grid

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where have we BEEN? ups and downs.•1995 - 2000: first wave of internet companies• 2000: dot-com bubble burst• 2001: 9/11• 2008: lehman failure and economic disaster• 2000 - 2010: second wave, media tech (doubleclick, huffpo, engadget, gizmodo)• 2007 - 2011: only region in the country to see increase in tech vc• 2012: superstorm sandy• now: third wave of successful startups (4sq, meetup, omgpop, etsy, gilt...)

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where are we headed?• the future is extremely bright • more community around nyc foss projects• growth of nyc foss founding and contribution• more large companies supporting these ideas• more talent and innovation in nyc

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WHAT we all must do!

• find a help/mentoring opportunity• start a project• join a project• talk about a project• blog about something you discovered• hack in person

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ABOVE ALL, keep perspctive and HAVE FUn inventing!

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NYC INNOVATION STACKOPEN TECH NYC 2013

MEETUP culture

forward-thinking government

engineering talent

science, tech, math education

active investors at all tiers

established companies building foss

startups using and building foss

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happify: a nyc company• engineering talent in our technologies• we love nyc, raising families here• access to media companies• smart, long investors• need for happiness!

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contact me:

andy parsonsandy@happify.com@andyparsons

thank you!

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