NYC tech’s newest symbol of peak status is a studio space built around a creative collective. The current wave of VCs & founders are running their businesses out of “Brooklyn-based studios” and investing in “the art of company building” predicated on taste. It’s all connected

It is impossible to think about the Brooklyn authenticity aesthetic, authenticity commodities, the “maker movement,” and startup culture as independent phenomena. It is not a coincidence that they all developed into mainstream culture at the same time. It might have been inevitable but the Great Recession certainly catalyzed the process.

The rapid development of platforms and services that empower individuals to build a business around themselves is a major one. Top talent wants more control and ownership over their work, having options to transcend their reputation and financial success from a parent brand.