Crain's New York - February 25, 2013 - (Page 15)

D I G I TA L N Y REPORT INSIDE The ‘no’ men The stories behind the gatekeepers of the Series A funding crunch PAGE 16 The List The most active venture-capital firms PAGE 17 6 ways to end tech talent crunch A red-hot Silicon Alley will have to get creative to staff their A-teams BY ANNE FIELD Urban Science & Progress, a new applied-sciences campus opening this fall in Brooklyn, aims to use big data to help mitigate urban problems like noise, building efficiency, airborne pollution, parking, and where and when one is most likely to find a cab. The center, one of three technology schools announced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg last year, will use New York City as its lab and as inspiration for its syllabus, throwing realworld problems at its researchers and graduate students. While Cornell’s tech campus on A single stat illustrates the size of the biggest problem facing the U.S.’s burgeoning tech economy: By 2020, there will be 1.4 million computer-specialist job openings, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But projections show universities are likely to produce only enough qualified graduates to fill about 30% of these jobs. Employment in local digital companies grew 80% from 2007 to 2011,according to the New York City EMPLOYMENT growth in local Economic digital companies Developfrom 2007 to 2011 ment Source: NYC Economic Corp. GiDevelopment Corp. ants like Facebook and Google, Wall Street firms that need technologists for their back-end systems, and the startup community have vacuumed up the city’s tech talent pool. “For a lot of companies, it seems that all the good [employees] are doing their own startups or working—and getting paid a lot of money,” said Morgan Lang, co-founder of 9mmedia, a 10year-old, Manhattan-based software company that develops mobile and Web apps and hires only highly experienced programmers. Mr. Lang has 22 employees and would like to add three more—developers with expertise in iOS,Android or Ruby on Rails. Good luck, say the experts. “We don’t have a jobs crisis,” said Bruce Bachenheimer, clinical professor of management at Pace University.“We have a skills crisis.” Crain’s surveyed academics, company owners and other experts for ideas for tackling the tech talent shortage. Here are six agenda items for the tech world. See NYU on Page 18 See SIX WAYS on Page 20 JOBS 80% buck ennis STEVEN KOONIN’s Center for Urban Science & Progress will work with the city government on issues affecting urban life. NYU bets on big data Noise, pollution, parking: A high-profile physicist takes on the miseries of city life BY ANNIE KARNI When real estate broker Misha Chiporukha leaves his Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, apartment on Livingston Street and Flatbush Avenue, he is bombarded with New York noises: Buses exhale at the stop in front of his door. A boutique down the street blasts rap music from speakers.And at night, “there’s a garbage truck loading garbage for an hour somewhere behind the Chase building,” Mr. Chiporukha fumed. Mr. Chiporukha, who has often been driven to Facebook to vent about noise, said the constant clatter around him sometimes feels like a breaking point. “When I can purchase an apartment,” he said, “I’ll move to a quieter neighborhood.” This inevitable stress of city life? Maybe it’s not so inevitable anymore. New York University’s Center for ON THE CUSP $5.5B ECONOMIC ACTIVITY the Center for Urban Science & Progress is expected to generate over the next 30 years 200 ESTIMATED NUMBER of spinoff companies CUSP is expected to create, adding 4,600 jobs, during that time February 25, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 15

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's New York - February 25, 2013

IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
ALAIR TOWNSEND
GREG DAVID
REPORT: DIGITAL NY
THE LIST
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR THE RECORD
REAL ESTATE DEALS
SMALL BUSINESS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crain's New York - February 25, 2013