How ‘Boy Wonder’ Westheimer Will Save NY’s Tech Industry

In the months leading up to the election, Nate Westheimer campaigned across the US for President-Elect Barack Obama, embracing his message of change. 

But as newly-elected organizer of the legendary NY Tech Meetup, Nate he’s staying away from the word altogether.

In fact, it’s a big way Nate differentiated himself in the competition leading up to the vote.  While rivals floated new ideas, Nate’s platform was about coordination— essentially, looking around at New York City’s wealth of existing resources, networks and efforts, and linking them up.  In techspeak, it’s like code optimization– for the tech industry.

Any startup entrepreneur knows how difficult it is to launch something that takes off on its own.  And if you manage to get to that point, change for the sake of change could be a big mistake. Nate’s well-equipped as the founder of now-defunct BricaBox.  Currently he’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Rose Tech Ventures.  Oh, and he’s just 25.

Initially, Nate wasn’t going to run for the position. But outgoing master of ceremonies and Meetup.com CEO Scott Heiferman called him at the eleventh hour before the vote, urging him to throw his hat in the ring.

It worked out well: Nate won with 48% of the vote, and his boss David Rose extended his post though the first quarter of 2009.

In this video, Nate tells us what he’s got in mind, why he’s excited and how to get involved. 

Thanks Nate!