Building a tech community requires intentional and sometimes uncomfortable efforts. There can be a lot of hand-waving and noise generated while trying to garner attention, but two rather important criteria that often get swept aside are authenticity and humility. Hollow marketing efforts to create the illusion of success only encourage more noise that drowns out the actual progress of those putting in the work to build and ship meaningful products. Even worse are those efforts to deceive the public and the press by creating hallucinations in an effort to attract or placate investors.
This post by Alexis Muellner in the Tampa Bay Business Journal came as a bit of a surprise, but it was the culmination of many discussions and coffees over the past 15-ish years, where we discussed my personal observations of the rollercoaster ride that is the Tampa Bay tech ecosystem. I often mentioned the Savtira debacle in these conversations by asking (of the press) are we making an effort to highlight the actual technology innovators and business builders in our community or are we just waiting to hype up the next Savtira-type fraud?
And please stop referencing the Forbes Council “poll” proclaiming Tampa Bay’s position as the number one emerging tech hub. It is another sad example of wishing vs. working. The number of politicians and news outlets that gave this pay-to-play social media post credibility without fact-checking the source is yet another example of how we rush to be cheerleaders for the noise and drown out the signal.
Be authentic, be humble, and let’s put in the work required to support real progress without tripping over each other in an effort to take credit for the wins achieved by others.
I’ve participated in a number of #NASA related events over the years:
2015 – #NASASocial launch of SpaceX CRS-7
2022 – Hillsborough Community College NASA Patenthon
2023 – NASA Space Apps Challenge hosted by Tampa Hackerspace
But being interviewed for this TBBJ article caught me by surprise. There is a lot to be proud of within our tech ecosystem, but the space industry is often overlooked. Miles Space is just one example of local accomplishments that have garnered national attention, but there are others.
If we look beyond the glitz of vehicles and launch facilities, there are so many areas of opportunity for innovation. Cargo, crew health, communications, habitats, agtech, medtech, the list goes on and on. If we focus on the products and not the PR, we can build, ship, and even launch great products as we grow Tampa Bay’s space industry.
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I found this video of a talk a gave at Kauffman’s 1M Cups in Tampa a while back. It is a short riff on my BarCamp talk “Stupid Shit Startups Say,” which I toned down a bit for a more generic crowd. The theme was the same; emerging tech ecosystems are full of misinformation and well-meaning but poorly qualified advice on what startup founders need to know and do when building a new tech venture.
Fighting the urge to “fake it until you make it” and focusing on solving real problems with scalable products produces real companies with honest, mature founders. As a tech community fighting for credibility on the global stage, we should expect and support nothing less.
Sorry, the audio isn’t very good, I tried to clean it up but the camera was in the back of the room with no external mic. If you turn on captions, you will get 90% of the presentation. I look forward to giving this talk again in person someday, probably at another BarCamp. In the meantime, good luck with your startups, and please don’t say stupid $#!+.
The 11th annual BarCamp Tampa Bay will be Saturday, Nov. 10th at the University Mall (west end) – 2200 E. Fowler Ave. Tampa, FL 33612
Store #2127 – Where Spirit Halloween Store was located in University Mall
If you’ve attended or spoken and past BarCamps, you get it. So check the box, save the date, and RSVP at the Ticketing link. Don’t forget to comment below and tell people what you love about BarCamp, the sessions, the people you meet, the ideas that have turned into products and companies, or something else.
If you’ve never attended a BarCamp, you are in for a treat. Join us for a day-long unconference of collaboration and peer-to-peer tech education. It is free to attend, we feed you, give you a cool t-shirt, and immerse your brain in all things tech.
The notion that real products trump PR, pitches, and community generated awards is hardly a new theme on this blog, but in light of recent events and press coverage (good and bad) in the region, it deserves repeating. I know some may view this as me taking a shot at local EDCs and status-quo business leadership, but keeping our collective egos in check while focusing on what is sustainable needs to be ever present in our discussion of economic measurements and the non-hyped make up of the business / tech community. (more…)
Mil-OSS exists to improve technology development and innovation by connecting and empowering an active community of patriotic developers and solution providers with government organizations. Fortunately the Tampa Bay area is blessed with two of the U.S. government’s most visible and recognizable commands, U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Central Command.
We’re working closely with them and other organizations across Tampa Bay to develop Hackathon topics that support the Mil-OSS goals of improving use of the taxpayers’ funds through thorough requirements extraction, wise execution, and streamlined delivery by leveraging open source and open technology innovation.
Challenges for this event will focus on the following:
Open Source OSINT Framework
Ensuring Cloud Security of Server Instances
Common Operating Model
3D Model Visualization and Collaboration
Read more about these challenges here.
This challenge is open to industry, government. military, students and academia.
Registration is free for this event but the registration process will close on October 21st at 5:00p.m.
Teams will have the option of working from one of the official event locations or work from a location of their choosing.
All participates must attend the event kickoff and the closing presentations to be eligible for awards.
Evolving a great idea into a sellable product requires a mix of innovation, instinct, and basic business discipline. My mission is to help early-stage founders understand start-up challenges, build their confidence, and establish their credibility. I’m not here to put lipstick on your pig or offer any silver bullets for venture funding; just grassroots experience blended with a little attitude and the occasional flinging of poo.
The notion that real products trump PR, pitches, and community generated awards is hardly a new theme on this blog, but in light of recent events and press coverage (good and bad) in the region, it deserves repeating. I know some may view this as me taking a shot at local EDCs and status-quo business leadership, but keeping our collective egos in check while focusing on what is sustainable needs to be ever present in our discussion of economic measurements and the non-hyped make up of the business / tech community. 
