Small businesses play a large part in the city. Today marked the launch of For New York, a new online magazine from online lender Bond Street to spotlight the importance of these small businesses by interviewing their founders and owners. Founded in New York City in 2014, Bond Street has aimed to transform small business lending through tech, data and design. Since its inception, Bond Street has contributed to the growth of hundreds of small businesses, including dozens of NYC establishments like Vinegar Hill House, Tacombi and Joe Coffee. Why For New York?
“For New York” represents the humble, eternal spirit of the New York City merchant,” explained Bond Street Co-Founder & CEO David Haber. “We started Bond Street because we recognize the vital role that small businesses play in our city, and we want to see them succeed.”
This initiative will raise awareness for the cause in a series of editorial profiles featuring David Chang (momofuku), Karen Wong (The New Museum), and Daniel Boulud (chef), among a growing roster of New Yorkers. As part of the initiative, Bond Street is hosting a series of events throughout the summer covering topics like, “The Importance of Building a Brand” and “Financing Options for Entrepreneurs.”
“On a macro level, independent businesses are where innovation and poetry are born. Entrepreneurs make up the chorus to the song of this unique, thriving city of ours – they’re the gospel of New York,” observed New Museum Deputy Director Karen Wong.
Around 20 percent of the forthcoming interviews will be affiliated to Bond Street whose niche covers one to three year term loans from $50,000 to $500,000 range with rates starting at 6%. The remaining interviewees were recommended by friends and friends-of-friends. Over 50 notable New Yorkers share their favorite local haunts and the importance to support independent businesses on the online zine.
“We partnered with a number of leading small business focused companies to champion this cause, including WeWork, Thumbtack, Classpass, ManagedbyQ, Reserve, inDinero and CircleUp,” commented Haber. “For New York is an affirmation of our belief that Bond Street’s business and brand will be built by the customers we serve and the community we empower. This online magazine and event series is meant to showcase the vibrancy of New York’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and the impact that small businesses have on making the city so unique.”
Look for new content weekly and periodic panel discussions; “Debt vs. Equity” is slated for 3 August at WeWork in Dumbo Heights and “Importance of Building a Brand” for 17 August at Bond Street’s downtown headquarters. Bond Street naturally hopes to gain more traction by offering these discussions. As “the lender of record” for WeWork, Bond Street offers lending options to small businesses for its over 50 national locations.
“Certainly, part of the reason we’re doing this is to raise awareness for small businesses and hopefully get in front of a number of small businesses, and ultimately have people interested in financing — for sure. That kind of underpins everything we do, but there’s also some real opportunity to build a conversation around supporting small businesses in general,” Haber told WWD. “We hope to catalyze that.”