GigSesh Profile: Bonnie Halper

When New York was coined “Silicon Alley” in the late 1990s in response to California’s Bay Area “Silicon Valley”, it was clear that technology startups had found another home. Young entrepreneurs had a new market to begin startup ventures and in turn, the recruiting world had an entirely new market of young companies to work with. Recruiting specialist Bonnie Halper experienced these major industry changes first hand and even capitalized on the market opportunities when she co-founded Silicon Alley Cats a year ago. From her start as a writer for big names like Bloomingdale’s and Showtime to her current advisory and publishing role at Silicon Alley Cats, Halper is wealth of knowledge for all entrepreneurial professionals.

GS: As someone who was working in NYC during the tech boom, what can you tell us about how the corporate landscape in the city changed during that time?

BH: Web 1.0 was a wild ride — and those were different times, as we were literally inventing an industry. There was also a fear of online and a concurrent fear of missing out, in the corporates. The problem with the corporates back then was that, in many cases, people with a fear of online taking over were put in charge of those divisions (I kid you not), so their failures were almost a self-fulfilling prophesy. Which is what paved the way for a new class of corporates — the startups that would become the mega-corporations, such as Google and in the next iteration, Facebook. As for NYC specifically, there was the Time Warner merger with AOL — which became AOL Time Warner and which went down in history as being one of the worst mergers of all time. AOL had the larger market cap, but far less revenue. It made no sense. This time around, many corporates have a strategic investment arm, investing in companies that could become potential acquisitions for them, or that could be powerful/disruptive in their vertical.

GS: When you transitioned from working at large corporations to founding your own company, what changed the most in your day to day work?

BH: Oh, I did miss the corporate perks that were around then. Then again, those corporate perks are pretty much gone now, anyway: car services, business class flights. When you go off on your own, you do spend more time working, and getting out and networking becomes critical, so expect to have a lot less free time or down time. Networking in the evenings can be potentially as big a part of your job as anything you do during the day.

GS: What’s your favorite part about working with startups and entrepreneurs?

BH: I focus quite a bit on helping entrepreneurs with their investor pitches and have found that most companies/entrepreneurs do not know how to pitch themselves, or easily explain what their company’s/product’s value proposition is. If you’re in technology, practice by describing your company/product to someone who doesn’t work in tech. If you can express it in a way where they can easily understand it — you’ve articulated your product well. The advice I most often give: tell me a story. There’s a story behind how you came to found your company, and everyone loves a good story — especially investors. Same with press releases — and every startup/company should have a press release on hand, just in case. Don’t write a standard boilerplate release: write a compelling story. The job of the press is to get the word out and they do this by telling a story. Grab them, and they’re much more likely to want to tell your story.

GS: What do you do in your personal time that helps to keep you inspired and creative in your work?

BH: I spend a lot of time writing.

Whether it’s the editorial for my weekly startuponestop newsletter, or work for a client — or reviewing pitch decks for Silicon Alley Cats, all of which takes a great deal of concentration, and a prolonged thought process. I’ve always used cooking as a catharsis and as an activity to clear my mind. I recently rediscovered archery, which is not only a great discipline that requires quite a bit of hand/eye coordination: it’s also a hell of a lot of fun!

Love some of the advice Halper offers in thier interview? With a huge amount of experience in the tech industry, she has a wealth of knowledge to share with anyone looking for career advice or referrals. Don’t wait to let your career happen to you, sign up on GigSesh and make something happen today!