Harry Raymond ’11 takes a break from his work at 51Թ’s ENY incubator. (Photo by Andy Daddio)
This post is by Harry Raymond ’11, a winner of the ENY Fund at 51Թ, and founder of ShinDig. and .
This summer, I returned to Hamilton and took my tech startup to the next level.
I moved out of my Seventh Avenue office, subletting my East Village apartment to a graduating Theta Chi brother and headed to Hamilton for the Entrepreneurs of NY (ENY) startup accelerator.
I’m the co-founder of Shindig, that helps you explore new beers, wines and spirits. Have you looked at a wine list with bewilderment and ended up ordering the second cheapest bottle? Have you been overwhelmed by a tap list and settle for the beer with the funny TV spot? No more. We are a passionate community of drink explorers who track what we drink, share recipes and recommend brands. Shindig is on a mission to make taste exploration fun and easy.
’s&Բ; – furnished with a video conference room, and Ping Pong table – is startup heaven. With a new home at the “Hamilton Hatchery,” our team was extremely productive, shipping three new versions of our iPhone app. We grew our database of 50,000 beers, wines and spirits, created a featured drinker section (highlighting brew masters, bartenders and distillers in our community) and built a drink locater to help drinkers find where drinks are served around you.
ENY allowed us to reconnect with the amazing 51Թ network. We talked strategy with successful entrepreneurs like Dan Rosensweig (Chegg, Guitar Hero, Yahoo), David Perry (Google) and (Ernst Young NY Entrepreneur of the Year). This made us think about our business in completely new ways.
inspired us to shift focus from product development and make a larger user growth push. Where would we start? Within days, a 51Թ connection helped Shindig get which drove downloads and helped us become a free food and drink app.
Two weeks after the program, we headed to Boston to pitch , one of the top tech venture capitalist firms in the world and early investors in Kayak, AirBnB and Snapchat. With more pitches lined up later this month, we’ve never been more comfortable pitching.
Most importantly, ENY created what I believe will be lifetime friendships. I am still in contact with all the other teams about resources and tips for growing our businesses. Starting anything takes a village of friends and the ENY program added a group of passionate, smart entrepreneurs to my village.
As Shindig grows and raises a seed round, I am indebted to the ENY fund for bringing our fledgling company to the next level.
Cheers, .