Mayor Bloomberg’s Bold Vision to Spark Innovation and Entrepreneurship in NYC
The success of China’s Haidian District highlights the fact that countries around the world are investing in entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Selig Sacks is a Senior Partner at Pryor Cashman, LLP and Co-Chair of its China Practice. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School and is also very involved in promoting the arts in NYC and a passionate New York Rangers fan.
This past March, I had the opportunity to meet with the Dean of the Economics Department of Peking University and the Deans of the Schools of Management (Business Schools) of Peking and Tsinghua Universities. These are two of the great universities in China, each situated in the Haidian District of Beijing.
- 30% of all IPOs of Chinese companies come from the District.
- According to the Vice Mayor of Beijing, 280 private equity firms have located in the Haidian District and over 800 companies meet the listing requirements for ChiNext – Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which support small and medium sized enterprises.
- If you are a China-based public company in tech, media or telecom, chances are you are located there.
Startup companies founded by students from a great university plus a venture capital and private equity community at the ready to provide financial and human capital: sounds familiar, right?
In my meetings in the Haidian District there were repeated references to Stanford and Silicon Valley and how the great academic institutions located there can continue to learn from and emulate the relationship between the two.
Since graduating from Stanford Law School, I’ve had the opportunity to build a practice in NYC focused on private equity and representing China-based companies seeking access to U.S. capital markets by going public here. During that time, I’ve seen many Haidian District companies evolve from startups to significant tech players both in China and beyond.
The success of Haidian District highlights the fact that countries around the world are investing in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Mayor Bloomberg’s vision of creating an applied science graduate center for teaching and research in New York City is equally bold. Everything about the ambitions for the proposed campus – to spark innovation and entrepreneurship – is synonymous with Stanford’s values.
When I return to the Stanford Law School campus or attend Alumni Association events in New York, I am consistently overwhelmed by a sense of community and collaboration. And under Dean Larry Kramer’s leadership at the Law School, there are endless opportunities to take classes in other disciplines and benefit from the talents and intellectual curiosity of students with very different skill sets, technical and otherwise.
This sense of collaboration and entrepreneurship is part of Stanford’s DNA. It seems to me that we have a unique opportunity to blend that culture of scientific advancement, innovation, cooperation, and entrepreneurship with the strengths of New York City.
I’m excited about the potential to have an influx of new Stanford engineers and scientists who will infuse our community here in New York with the entrepreneurial “can do” attitude which epitomizes Stanford. GO Cardinal.
- Selig Sacks
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