Meet Ryan Urban, founder, lead investor, and former CEO of Wunderkind — now building Queen One, his boldest venture yet. 

Known for building high-growth companies with a strong point of view, Ryan’s latest venture brings together creativity, commerce, and leadership in a new format — continuing his decades-long focus on building life and energy for the audacious people and companies across New York City.

Since launching his entrepreneurial career in 1995, Ryan has been obsessed with delivering undeniable performance and building connective brand and people experiences. Over the past two decades, he has founded and scaled several successful companies and played a key role in growing multiple 8-figure businesses, including Bonobos and BrickHouse Security. He is also the founder of Wunderkind, a unicorn software company powering personalized communications for leading global brands like Samsung, Saint Laurent, Dior, Uniqlo, and Gucci.

Under Ryan’s leadership, Wunderkind grew into one of New York City’s most recognized tech companies, with seven global offices. In 2018, it became the flagship tenant at One World Trade Center; within two years, the building’s occupancy surged to nearly 100%. His offices became a gathering place for New York’s tech scene, even hosting press events with former Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

A 4th-generation New Yorker, whose family immigrated to Williamsburg in the early 1900s, Ryan’s vision and mission are to build life in NYC, touting New York as the next Silicon Valley, and creating a return to home, literally and figuratively, with this next venture. Recognized with more than 50 awards, including Crain’s 40 Under 40 and multiple Best Places to Work accolades, Ryan’s focus on vision continues to shape the future of commerce and urban life.

With this new testament, Ryan is raising his staff to build life and be a beacon for every great company to create energy in NY. Queen One is a life vessel and will bring the 30K sq ft Rise and Fly Vision Centre to Brooklyn this September.

To stay connected with Ryan and learn more about what’s next, visit queen.one.

Building life” is a central theme in your work — how do you define that in practice, and how will the Rise and Fly Vision Centre bring that philosophy to life in Brooklyn?

The good news is Brooklyn is already ELECTRICity. We’re putting out a beacon for all the creators and the curious to build a nice headquarters in New York. We have an incredible magnetic foundation to build on and we’re going to create that light tower to organize the wavelength… to assemble the spirit of ELECTRICity.

Without instructions, everyone will know that this is the place to build life, to have real impact, with great purpose.

You’ve built companies that blend creativity, commerce, and community — how does Queen One evolve or challenge traditional models of leadership and business building?

Brooklyn is Kings County, and we’re the Queen of Kings. 

What Queen of Kings also means is this: your job as a leader is to build another leader, and another leader, and another leader.  A leadership hive—Queen One will develop many Kings. Those Kings will develop many more Kings. Leaders who build leaders who build leaders who build leaders.

Wunderkind became a cornerstone of NYC’s tech ecosystem, even influencing real estate occupancy at One World Trade. How do you see Queen One shaping the city’s future infrastructure and cultural energy?

I think and dream—physically dream—a lot about how people, companies, cars, bikes, aerials, birds, and atmosphere all thrive together in New York City. From transportation to vibrancy, communication to beauty, it’s all connected. When I look out my window at the Brooklyn skyline… it’s not there yet. The Manhattan skyline is iconic and will continue to flourish. But the skyline of Kings? That’s what’s to come. And we have a lot of vision to make these physical dreams come together in the future. 

As a fourth-generation New Yorker, how has your personal history influenced your vision for Queen One and your belief in NYC as the next Silicon Valley?

I went from New Yorker… to New Yawka… to a representative of ELECTRICity.

Silicon Valley had an incredible run. It was instrumental to the spirit of profound technology that now touches all 8 billion humans on this planet. But ELECTRICity will go even further—it won’t just impact people. It will impact all the kingdoms: the human kingdom, the plant kingdom, and the planet & star kingdoms to name a few.

Think of them like Harry Potter houses—each one essential, each one unique. Right now, the human kingdom is the only one that hasn’t fully integrated into the ecosystem. But we will. Humans are doing extraordinary things—but we’re also the only species creating waste that doesn’t return to the cycle. A worm’s waste, a tree’s shedding—everything else has a role. Only we stand apart.

That’s why ELECTRICity is the epicenter of how humans partner with the other kingdoms.. And when that happens, we’ll create a biosphere where humans don’t dominate, but contribute and collaborate.

You’ve worked with global luxury brands and high-growth startups alike — what lessons from those partnerships are informing how you approach Queen One’s brand and impact?

I’ve learned over time from the best people and brands in the world that a few things are true:

Every brand wants to grow.

Every brand wants to move faster.

Every brand wants community.

And every brand wants to be cool.

Vibrate & Connect.

With a track record of scaling businesses and building culture, what kind of team are you assembling for Queen One, and what qualities do you look for in people who are ready to “build life” alongside you?

Having special, collective, flourishing vision. There comes a time in people’s lives when they’re ready to trade comfort for great purpose – to build the extraordinary, and achieve excellence. I call this building life. The team at Queen One likes responsibility. We like work. But for us—it’s not work.

For us to be a beacon, we have to earn that, collectively… and we will. Why predict the future, when you can build it? 

Anything else you’d like to add?

Time is now. 

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