AlleyCorp Seeds a Blossoming Internet Hub in New York

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Saturday, September 01, 2012

AlleyCorp Seeds a Blossoming Internet Hub in New York

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

Kevin Ryan reclines in a designer chair in his Park Avenue office, wearing a Luciano Barbera suit and a vintage Rolex watch. A picture of Mr. Ryan with President Obama is on the wall and an ornate Oscar de la Renta gown hangs from the door.

This is not a man who would blend in among the sneaker-clad start-up ranks of Silicon Valley. Yet Mr. Ryan, chief executive of the Gilt Groupe and a founder of several prominent Internet companies, is one of the technology world’s most influential people, with a career trajectory that mirrors the rise of New York’s tech scene.

Mr. Ryan and Dwight Merriman run a start-up factory called AlleyCorp, after Silicon Alley, a nickname given to New York’s answer to Silicon Valley. It has churned out companies that have almost nothing in common, from e-commerce to publishing to database software.

When asked about this start-up grab bag, Mr. Ryan smiled and said, “Are you saying I have a focus problem?”

Gilt.com, which sells luxury goods like designer clothes and vacation packages, is considering going public next year. Business Insider, another AlleyCorp company, is a blog publisher with 19 million readers a month, run by Henry Blodget, the infamous former Internet stock analyst. And 10gen, which makes MongoDB, open-source database software that is used by companies like Disney and Foursquare, was valued at $500 million by venture capitalists who invested $50 million in May.

These companies contribute to New York’s growing role as an Internet hub, particularly for the new generation of online media and retail companies. Last year, 256 New York tech start-ups raised $2.2 billion in investment, up from 149 and $1.3 billion five years ago, according to the National Venture Capital Association.

“Silicon Valley is on their fifth generation,” Mr. Ryan said. “We’re on our second or third generation of New York entrepreneurs, combined with a bigger and better infrastructure to support it, so the scene is just mushrooming.”

Mr. Ryan made his name during the first tech boom as chief executive of DoubleClick, the digital advertising company that Google bought for $3.1 billion in 2007.

“He doesn’t fit into the Valley mold as much, but he’s definitely one of the most prominent people here,” said Chris Dixon, a New York tech investor and entrepreneur. “He went off and did this thing that entrepreneurs fantasize about, starting multiple companies and having them be really successful.”

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.