Crains New York - October 22, 2012 - (Page 30)

Halloween party Continued from Page 29 fun, and when done right it brings out the best in adults.” Indeed, the Halloween festivities are legendary in the halls of Gilt and take the place of the traditional December holiday party. New hires are given the heads-up during orientation, and teams begin planning their costumes months ahead of time. Mr. Ryan’s love for Halloween was born of deprivation. “Growing up in Europe, Halloween was difficult—you could only go to expat households,” said Mr. Ryan, whose father’s job for Caterpillar had the family living abroad during the future tech guru’s prime trick-ortreating years. His mother would pile him and his two siblings in the car and they would drive around Geneva, targeting candy-doling Americans. “We always felt we were getting ripped off a bit,” Mr. Ryan said ruefully. “We fantasized about a place where every house celebrated Halloween. I think I grew up with Halloween envy.” Childhood denial has given way to adult indulgence. It’s tough to imagine that anyone in Mr. Ryan’s sphere these days can complain about not enough Halloween in his or her life. First, there is the festooning of the Gilt offices on lower Park Avenue. “We have a remarkably big set of Halloween decorations, most of which are owned by me,” Mr. Ryan said. The decor can range from skulls, skeletons and spiders to pumpkin patches. “The office decorations are pretty elaborate— we have things all over the place.” And with adornment comes candy, “tons of candy,” in Mr. Ryan’s words. Then there is the party. The CEO plans it himself, along with Kym Ganade, head of design and development at Gilt.This year’s party, like last year’s, will be held at the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts, a former synagogue on the Lower East Side. Last year, Mr. Ryan transformed the space.He had helpers,but the vision was all his. The walls were covered in fabric, and there were performers climbing them so slowly that guests weren’t sure if they were alive or not, according to one attendee. Aerialists dressed as angels dangled in the air. The cavernous space was lit in blues and greens, and a massive gargoyle hung over the altar.There was food,drink and a DJ. How he’s planning to top that this year is anyone’s guess. ‘Six-figure’ estimate Mr. Ryan declined to disclose the exact cost of last year’s party, except to say that it was more than $50,000. Maneesh K. Goyal, president and founder of events marketing agency MKG, whose clients include Google, Estée Lauder and Viacom, estimated the cost could have been significantly higher. “Something like this is [could] be a very healthy six figures,” he said. In pushing the boat out for Halloween, Gilt is part of a larger trend. According to a survey conducted on behalf of the National Retail Federation, a record 71.5% of Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year, up from 68.6% last year. Overall, spending on the spooky holiday is expected to top $8 billion. Like Gilt Groupe itself, which Mr. Ryan started in 2007, the party has come a long way. The first one was held in 2008 in a bar on the Lower East Side and was attended by 40 people.These days, the afterparties (there are two, and the locations are announced by email the night of the party) draw a multiple of that number. The celebrations are fitting for a company whose gross revenues have hit $600 million and which will be profitable for the fourth quarter of this year. What’s more, the company is projected to be in the black for next year overall, which would have it reaching profitability more quickly than Amazon did, Mr. Ryan noted. By all accounts, the party is a night of rocking fun that ends in the wee hours of the morning. Gilt employs about 1,000 people globally—about 700 of whom are based at the New York headquarters— and about 800 people turned up for last year’s party. Contract employees are also invited. The key, according to Mr. Ryan, is the costumes, which are absolutely mandatory. “The thing about costumes,you come back and you think it was really, really fun,” he explained. SOURCE BREAKFAST: SALLIE KRAWCHECK by Aaron Elstein The (ex) banker who talks Wall St. reform S allie Krawcheck is one of Wall Street’s highest-profile players. She ran Merrill Lynch as Bank of America’s president of global wealth management, served as CEO of Smith Barney and CFO of Citigroup. Since leaving BofA last year, she’s emerged as one of the most forceful advocates of Wall Street reform. What are you up to nowadays? Do you regret not publicly advocating for change while you were at the banks? You need to work on the inside when you’re in the inside, and you work in a different way when you’re not. The points of view I express now are the points of view that were shared internally. What can be done about excessive pay? A lot of something is how I’d put it.I’m advising small companies in New York and Silicon Valley, going to Washington a lot,doing some writing. Will you work for a giant bank again? Put it this way: It may take me a while to learn lessons, but I do learn them. I want to stay in financial services because it’s an industry that can really make people’s lives better, and that’s why I’m working with startups. And I’m working to help government and the industry work through changes. This is an industry that can seem impervious to change, though. WHERE THEY DINED Well, as the returns generated by the banks fall, pay is falling, too. Utility executives don’t make zillions, and you’re seeing pay for the bank CEOs fall, too. But we also have to address the structure of pay.A big mistake after the crisis was the move to pay CEOs in more stock. That’s a mistake because it encourages executives to take more risks so the value of their stock will rise. And one thing we don’t want is bankers taking more risk—banks are already big bundles of risk. One alternative that I advocate is paying CEOs in bonds instead of stock. Would one solution be to break up the big banks? Discover 360° Service. Project management is good. Project leadership is better. Cassidy Turley’s experts deliver superior results on time and on budget with 10–20% savings. We understand your goals, mitigate risks and add value—from site selection through move-in and beyond. PLANNING BUDGETING PROGRAMMING BUILD SPACE DESIGN MANAGEMENT Discover Excellence in Project Management. Discover Cassidy Turley. Peter Hennessy President, New York Tri-State Region 212.318.9790 Peter.Hennessy@cassidyturley.com www.cassidyturley.com Project & Development Services / Tenant Representation / Project Leasing / Property Management / Corporate Services / Capital Markets I think it’s just extraordinary. For example, reforming money-market funds was something that needed to happen. Yet the SEC AMBIENCE: got a lot of pressure from Corporate types the industry and couldn’t and tourists dine in the shelter of agree on how to do it.That 20-foot-high was a watershed failure, acacia trees because it was the first regadjacent to a ulatory matter since the fihotel lobby nancial crisis that involved WHAT THEY ATE: protecting individual inFruit salad with vestors. The job of the Greek yogurt; coffee and SEC is not to protect the orange juice asset-management busiA “Catskill ness and keep it from havsalmon” bagel; ing to raise capital—a sigcoffee and nificant part of the SEC’s orange juice How else could banks change? job is to protect individual TAB: $105.28, They need more diversity investors. Now the battle including tip in their workforces. It’s a isn’t over. [Treasury Secretary] Timothy Geithner says reform good thing when people in meetings don’t all see things the same way or is needed. know one another so well that they Might you become a regulator? can finish each other’s sentences. No comment. But I’ll say this: We’re at a weird and important moment. Who do you think would make a good bigPeople ask me, “Why are you doing bank CEO? this? Why not spend time with your It’s like being president of the Unitkids, work on the next stage of your ed States. No one’s ready for the job. career?” I’m doing all that. But given my background, it’s my responsibili- For the complete interview, go to crainsnewyork.com/toc. ty to engage in the discussion. THE GARDEN at The Four Seasons Hotel 57 E. 57th St. (212) 350-6658 www.fourseasons .com/newyork/ I haven’t seen any good research that shows spinning off their various parts would create value. The question is how to make the big banks less-risky institutions, and there are a variety of means being explored to that end—the Volcker Rule, higher capital requirements, etc. One thing that is helpful is the government administering regular stress tests to the banks, looking at how the banks would fare if the economy really tanked. Believe me, bankers really hate those things, and that’s all to the good. INSIDE TIP: The $26 H&H bagel may be the most expensive in the world. But the cream cheese is extremely good. 30 | Crain’s New York Business | October 22, 2012 http://www.fourseasons.com/newyork http://www.crainsnewyork.com/toc http://www.cassidyturley.com http://www.cassidyturley.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - October 22, 2012

Crains New York - October 22, 2012
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Business People
Opinion
Greg David
Report: Real Estate
Real Estate Deals
The List
Digital New York
Classifieds
For the Record
New York, New York
Source Breakfast
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - October 22, 2012