Cultivate New York got started through a conversation on the nextNY email mailing list.

On the nextNY thread, John from Meeting Wave posted:

This was all over the news here (bay area) last week:

http://www.jobnob.com/blog/2009/05/jobnob-san-francisco-happy-hour-be…

Basically Jobnob was hosting a happy hour calling unemployed people to come and join startups, but, without pay. So many people showed up that they couldn’t get much done and the startups there were overwhelmed. This of course surprised most people. Something to think about. EHL”

Moreover, there are laid off people on severance who will lose their severance if they take a paying job. Some of these individuals may be interested in “sweat-for-equity” positions at startups (I’ve spoken to a few).

Should NYC have an “unpaid” job fair trying to connect these people with startups similar to the one out in San Francisco?

I’m not suggesting it makes sense for laid off people to take unpaid jobs instead of looking for their next paying job, but could be an opportunity for those on severance looking to contribute to a promising early stage NYC startup.

Just a thought.

This thread led to a discussion about starting a NYC UPF sometime this year.

Now a team of volunteers are working to bring the event to fruition.

Disclaimer: Cultivate New York is the agent that facilitates the meeting between you and the businesses that take part. This is not a hiring situation, this is a volunteer opportunity that does not constitute employment. Any employment relationship is entirely up to each company to make. Cultivate New York is not responsible for any choices made by the parties.