If you are a blogger with at least a handful of loyal readers and the amount of time since your last post secures you a spot in the overdue zone, then you are familiar with the same reoccurring questions and comments I’ve received lately….”There are no recent blogs! What has happened to you?” Then you have to formulate the comeback that is like the excuse you give to your preacher after missing Sunday morning service for the past 5 years.

Let me use this time to say that I have not lost my new to New York spunk quite yet, I still find myself in unusual situations and experiences that are certainly notable. Two weeks ago I took a very dramatic spill while running in the park, spent 9 valuable hours of my Friday at Bellevue Emergency room, where I saw two doctors, went through the longest process of x-rays, witnessed a trauma case of a patient brought in by the ‘authorities’, lost all form of communication with the world when my phone died, and nearly my mind. I was then wrapped, booted, given crutches and sent out into the blood sucking world of New York City, which is how it is viewed through the eyes of an individual without two feet. What happened the following time that I was trying to transport myself around this city on crutches is left to your imagination.

Now, to inform those of you (my handful of people) who are interested, as to what has been going on: Good things. Very Good Things! SkillSlate released the closing of its first round of institutional capital of $1.1 million in funding, co-led by Canaan Partners and First Round Capital, along with participation from a number of prominent New York angel investors. In the past few weeks, we have  re-launched the site with 3,500 service providers in 10 service categories throughout the New York City area. The exciting part is that we will use this round of funding for technology development to expand our service category breadth and depth. 

While this is all exciting, it is also more work, which in this case is STILL exciting! I can’t say that I envisioned myself as the ‘grown-up’ who loved their job so much that it didn’t feel like work. First of all, it sounded so cliché, and second of all, I never saw myself as a ‘grown-up’.  But I guess that’s the beauty of a startup, you truly have to love and believe in what you are doing (and still play with nerf guns). Working at a startup was the best thing that I could have feel into upon my move to NYC, I just got so lucky to be at such an awesome organization. If I were working at a large firm, I couldn’t imagine having the same sense of happiness and excitement for my company that I do with SkillSlate and our recent development.

I am so proud to share the success of SkillSlate with everyone and see us featured in The New York Times and Venture Beat, and read about our funding in news like Vator.tv.   Along with the great media attention, I love the blogs about how we personally serve the folks in New York, such as,  SneakerheadVC and McBrooklyn.

Every single team member has been working so hard in preparation to for the launch and funding announcement. Working with such an amazing team makes all the difference in the world when you spend so much of your time together. Check out this great article written about Bartek: An Analyst Stops Analyzing and Starts a Startup.

So, for all of my followers that are residents of NY, take the opportunity to use SkillSlate for your moving, handymen, dog walking, and whatever other needs you may have.  I’ve read great reviews about this personal trainer, for those  of my friends who have mentioned trying to find a good one in the city.

And to my friends and family back in Florida, sorry for the lack of blogging, but at least you see that my absence is for good cause. Now that I have that justification out of the way, I  have to think about what to tell my preacher at church!