Three of NYC’s Tech Thought Leaders worth following

Thought leadership, as Dorie Clark defines it, is something better than being a celebrity (famous for something in particular) or an expert (famous for what you know).  A thought leader is known for what he/she thinks, and more than ever, thanks to technology, we can have access to these people who challenge the way we think about many aspects of our lives.  If you don’t know about them already, here are three NYC thought leaders you should be following.

Jason Feifer

Jason is Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur, the host of two podcasts (Pessimists Archive is a history of unfounded fears of innovation and Problem Solvers chronicles how entrepreneurs solve unexpected problems), and a soon-to-be author of a novel he co-wrote with his wife (Mr. Nice Guy will be released in October 2018).  He comes from a strong magazine pedigree, having previously edited Fast Company and Men’s Health as well as writing for New York, the New York Times, Slate, GQ, the Washington Post, and the Guardian.A story Jason often alludes to in his talks and public speeches is the idea that 1800s NYC was in a horse manure crisis and that even the best innovators of the time couldn’t solve the problem.  But cars ended up indirectly solving it.  Often solutions can come from unexpected quarters, so, he encourages, don’t be a bystander.  You may often have a solution to a problem if you look carefully enough.

Dorie Clark

Dorie graduated from college at 18 and by 20 had a Masters from Harvard.  She’s written three books, one of which, Stand Out, was named a #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc.  In that book, she takes on the theme of thought leadership through interviews with people like Daniel Pink, Malcolm Gladwell, and Seth Godin.  She’s a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review and is an adjunct professor at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.Dorie is hailed as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.”  If you are unfamiliar with her, you can get to know her via her TED talks, on:

• Future-proofing your career
• Finding your breakthrough idea
• How to build a following around your ideas

Manisha Snoyer

We have written about Manisha before, and her “Airbnb for schooling” continues to make strides not just in NYC, but in other cities as her firm Cottage Class expands.”Homeschooling used to be for hippies, now it’s for hipsters,” Manisha has been known to quip, and it’s true.  Her startup helps parents and educators connect for a bespoke community marketplace of education.  Immediate use cases are homeschooling co-ops, preschools, afterschool programs, and camps.  But, as a business that is on trend with the disruption of education led by charter schools and MOOCs, Cottage Class has already helped hundreds of families and generated over $1M in tuition contracts in its brief time in existence.Cottage Class was part of the 2017 TechStars Accelerator program.  Each year TechStars chooses 300 companies to be part of a three-month mentorship-driven accelerator.  These companies receive a $120,000 investment and hands-on mentorship and access to the Techstars Network for the life of the company.Who is someone not on this list that should be?  Let us know in the comments below and we might feature them in an upcoming article!