My First Post!

Jonathan Bensimon's Field Notes #1 with Cities Decoded.

Hey everyone👋

It’s Jon here. Super excited to be joining Cities Decoded, and huge thank you to Sam Li the invite.

I’ve been obsessed with what’s happening in NYC’s tech and creator ecosystem for the past year, and this feels like the perfect place to document it properly, aside from LinkedIn of course.

A bit about me: I’m originally from Toronto. I moved to NYC in early November, but for the past year I’ve been going back and forth between the two cities almost monthly just to attend tech events here and see loved ones. There was something magnetic about the rooms I kept stepping into.

Now I’m finally here full time…which still feels surreal.

What I’ve realized is this:

NYC is about the rooms you get to be in.

Rooms where, in tech particularly, AI, partnerships, marketing, design, creators, community from all different industries and more all collide.

Rooms where people want to push the needle forward.

Rooms that look incredible.

Rooms where opportunities are in surplus.

Super gratefully that I get to step into these rooms not knowing what will come next and looking forward to doing more of that + sharing those experience with whoever reads this. Hopefully it helps in some way.

Now let’s get into it.

Here’s some events that stood out:

1. Partnership Leaders Catalyst Event in ServiceNow Office

On April 2nd, Partnership Leaders is hosting its Catalyst Summit at the ServiceNow offices.

I attended one of their events over the summer, and it immediately felt like home. No fluff. Just operators breaking down how they’re actually building modern partner motions.

People openly sharing:

• How they structure partner directories

• How they drive ecosystem demand

• How they turn alliances into real revenue engines

As someone working in partnerships at Contra, it’s rare to speak with other leaders about how they’re driving their business forward since most the time you just get snippets from how you can work with them in a 1:1 meeting.

2. Andrew Yeung and the Power of Scrappy Community

One of the most grounding talks I’ve heard recently was from Andrew Yeung.

He moved to New York knowing nobody. No built-in network. No shortcuts.

Now he has some of the most interesting operators in tech are trying to get invited to his dinners.

What stood out wasn’t the success. It was the grind.

Event rental issues.

The scrappy early meetups.

The consistency when nobody was watching.

New York rewards people who show up repeatedly.

Andrew is proof of that.

3. Loveable: Two Worlds, One Platform

In one single day, I got to see two completely different sides of the same company.

First: a finance hackathon at JP Morgan’s HQ. CFOs and operators testing AI tools to solve real workflow problems. Watching traditionally conservative finance teams experiment live with new AI platforms was wild.

Later that night: Williamsburg. The Lighthouse. Creators building websites, visuals, interactive projects. Music playing. Energy high. Pure experimentation.

Same tool.

Two completely different communities.

Made me think that AI in NYC isn’t just helping efficiencies, it’s become very cultural.

4. TechNYC AI Demos

At the Domino Building (where I work), TechNYC hosted AI demos focused on restaurant and hospitality.

Fun fact: there are over 18,000 restaurants, cafés, and bars in NYC.

Seeing founders build AI chatbots connected to restaurant CRMs, implementing automated booking systems, and using AI-generated video to elevate website storytelling made everything feel tangible.

Also got to chat with Nicholas Neubert from Runway about AI video and how businesses are using generative media directly on their sites.

Would highly recommend checking out Runwayml.com. They’re taking a strong hold of AI video creation.

5. Creator Economy NYC: “Just start”

Flatiron was packed with creators for Creator Economy NYC’s kickoff.

I filmed my first IRL interview there. No production crew. No fancy setup. Just a DJ mini mic and CapCut.

Two takeaways stuck with me:

From Brett, Founder of Creator Economy:

Create boldly. Use the city. Don’t overthink the cringe.

From Josh Kaplan, CEO of Smooth Media:

Tell one story. Do not try to do 100 things. Pick your niche and get extremely good at it.

New York gives you infinite surface area to experiment.

The real skill is choosing your lane and committing.

Why This Matters

I’ve lived in two great cities.

• Toronto has talent.

• New York has velocity.

The density of ambition here is different. It’s Toronto on steriods.

The proximity to opportunity is different. The willingness to build in public is different.

That’s what I want to document through Cities Decoded.

The rooms.

The builders.

The stories that don’t make headlines but shape the ecosystem and support, uplift, and inspire other to do more with what’s around you.

Take full advantage of what you have here. There’s a lot more then what meets the eye.

You’re just one room away from changing your life in such a positive way. Go step into it.

More coming soon.

Let’s go!