"Quick Pitch: Moonit is a social compatibility engine that helps Gen Y users gain insights into their romantic, platonic and professional relationships.

Genius Idea: Whether you take astrology seriously or not, it’s fun to think about. Moonit’s creators know this, so they integrated astrological matchmaking with the web and Facebook with a tool simply called “The Matchmaker.”

… I'll admit I spent too much time today matching up friends, testing the matchmaking on both happy and unhappy couples, and doing a little preliminary astrological scouting for prospects among the single women with whom I’m Facebook friends. The algorithms and the medium may have changed, but the core appeal is a time-tested one."

After graduating I was in investment banking and Mason was a financial analyst. We reconnected about four years ago and Mason's father, who has a real skill in using astrology to figure out whether people belonged together, did his chart. It showed very positive things about our relationship.

We started thinking: We've amassed this network online through Facebook and LinkedIn but who do you go to if you are looking for the ideal roommate, a boss, a significant other? We've come up with an algorithm so you can import someone's information from Facebook and we can tell you what the dynamic of that relationship would be. Initially that is based on the two people's birthdays. But over time you can use the site as a relationship diary where you put in relationship updates.

They get to develop a marketing plan that works for their schedule and makes sense at their schools. Students have come to us with some fun, 'out of the box' ideas, like weekly relationship story video postings to YouTube; school newspaper and other media outlet stories; Facebook wall posts and widget sharing; sorority and fraternity sponsorships and events; and the involvement of sports teams and on-campus clubs.  We set up weekly calls with our interns to review their progress on various metrics, including Moonit subscribers, e-newsletter opt-ins, Facebook fan and Twitter follower growth, as well as degree of engagement and time spent on site. These metrics can be tracked back to specific geographies and even particular schools using their .edu addresses.

Our top interns will be offered paid summer internships and the chance to get full-time positions when they graduate! We're also working with specific schools to grant marketing credits wherever possible. So pass this along to any undergrad or grad student you know who's involved in their campus community and interested in gaining hands-on marketing experience!

Well let us be the voice of reason here. We are a testament to the New York they don't show: the one where young people actually spend their daylight hours hard at work trying to get a company off the ground. And we are not alone; the current economic downturn has given way to an incredible amount of innovation on this side of the country. Silicon Alley is alive and well (and, in our perception, getting better every day).