Brokelyn

Kids build, tinker, create and even lock pick at free Inventgenuity Festival [MommyPoppins]
Alexa von Tobel’s tips for starting your own company [LearnVest]
Convertible clothing helps stretch the wardrobe budget [NYT]
Prospect Park West bike lane already improving safety [Brownstoner]
Brooklynites eagerly buying Williamsburg-themed cigarettes [NY Observer]
Text messaging to improve restaurant service? [NPR]
Skins (which cast through Brokelyn) pushing racy MTV boundaries [NYT]

Alexa Von Tobel, 26, left Harvard b-school early and raised over $1M to launch a web site.

Would you take financial advice from someone who dropped out of Harvard Business School in the middle of a recession to start a web site?

It might not be a bad idea. Alexa Von Tobel is a not-even-30 dynamo who managed to raise $1.1 million from major corporations to launch LearnVest.com, an online personal financial planner for women, a kind of Cosmo for checkbooks.

Alexa’s over the bridge in Manhattan, but we’re writing about her because our readers are creative types who love to dream up iPhone apps, start blogs, open online stores and the like—and while you can do all of those things by the seat of your pants, Alexa’s experience in developing a business plan and raising funds is indispensable to anyone hatching a new venture. Read the rest of this entry »