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How a troublemaking private school dropout became the Johnny Appleseed of tech

JL;DR SUMMARY David Lerner, co-founder of Tekserve, is remembered fondly as a complex yet benevolent figure in New York's tech scene. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

PhilanthropySocial JusticeNew YorkCommunityTech IndustryGenerosityDavid LernerTekserveMacintoshWbai

Places mentioned

Manhattan, New York, United States
"Over the course of that time the business grew from occupying half of his partner Dick Demenus loft to a cavernous 25,000-square-foot storefront on West 23rd Street."
Brooklyn, New York, United States
"He then proceeded to pedal around Manhattan and Brooklyn on a Citibike and give them away."
North Dakota, United States
"One Tekserve alum recalled that when his father passed away, Lerner offered to cover his airfare to North Dakota to spread the mans ashes."
Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States
"Another who now runs a store in Scranton, PA wrote: He taught me more about business than anyone."
South Bronx, New York, United States
"When I told him I had just finished a piece about a young woman in the South Bronx afflicted with cerebral palsy who had no voluntary movement of her arms and legs, the Johnny Appleseed of tech sent her a new iPad."

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Cairo Item ID 68868
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-12-02 05:30:55 UTC
Curated 2025-12-02 08:30:52 UTC