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.
We started Tech Rant back in late ’07 as a supplement to the workshops hosted by TBTF’s Emerging Companies Academy program. These weekly coffee chats were structured as an informal support group for start-up founders and early stage tech companies. They were held every week for almost two years before moving to the IdeaField space, the first full-time coworking facility in the Tampa Bay region.
With the Hillsborough County Entrepreneur Collaborative Center (ECC) about to officially open this week in Ybor, it seemed like a good time to revisit the Tech Rant format to see if there was interest in restarting these startup brainstorming sessions.
Please let us know what times / days work best. As a test run, let’s shoot for a brown bag lunch format on Thursday Dec. 18th at 11:30 am.
As it was before, all topics are fair game. Stop in to discuss any challenge you may be facing in your start-up including:
• Idea validation
• Creating a product roadmap
• Finding co-founders (and do you need one)
• Creating / refining your business model & roadmap
• Market validation & product readiness
• Sales & distribution strategy
• Hiring contractors or full-time employees
• Applying for an incubator / accelerator program
• Raising outside funding (angel, venture, crowd, etc.)
• Partner development & agreements
• IP strategy & licensing
• Hiring service providers (attorneys, accountants, other)
Details:
Thursday Dec. 18th
11:30 – 1:00
Hillsborough County’s Entrepreneur Collaborative Center
2101 E. Palm Avenue (in Ybor City)
Parking lot north of Palm is free
RSVP on TechRant’s MeetUp page
If you have any other questions, feel free to ping me on MeetUp or on Twitter @StartupMonkey.
In his final Startup Tampa Bay video as a @HillsboroughFL Commissioner, @MarkSharpeFL discusses his successful EDI2 program and how it has helped the local tech ecosystem grow in both activity and visibility.
A few recurring topics came up in this video that are worthy of additional discussion:
Finding startup resources in Tampa Bay
Branding Tampa Bay as a active & growing tech ecosystem
The Friday morning @BuddyBrewCoffee group is back and ready for another season of productive discussions about building a stronger tech ecosystem and the need for more technology-based economic development.
The group discusses the goals and guidelines for the @HillsboroughFL #EDI2 program that was launched this summer to help co-sponsor small programs in the tech community. The EDI2 program which has been poorly reported by the local press and in press releases from some of the participating organizations is designed to assist, not fund the tech community. It is not a big government grant program to be “won” by the best application, it is simply access to small amounts of funding that can help pay for meeting space, speakers or other resources that help strengthen the startup infrastructure of the Tampa Bay tech ecosystem.
The first law for start-ups = an idea at rest stays at rest
Whatever your plans are for the next big thing, be it software, hardware, service or other – you cannot just sit on your idea waiting and hoping for something to happen. Ideas are not meant to be static; they have to be worked on, challenged and sometimes scrapped in favor of something better. Some minimal level of activity and momentum are critical to the on-going development and maturity of your idea and all too often I meet wannabe entrepreneurs and potential start-up founders who are frustrated with the lack of interest in their idea only to find that they have not made any effort to move forward since their initial scribble on a napkin.
If you’re not motivated enough to break a sweat trying to test and improve your idea, why should anyone else listen, assist or invest. Show that you care enough to make your idea better and if you are unsure of your next steps or lack the resources to get there, ask for help.
In Tampa / Central Florida there are several places start-ups can turn to for support and encouragement. IdeaField Coworking was created to assist freelancers and entrepreneurs by providing a comfortable, collaborative workspace where ideas can develop and grow. Another resource is STAR Tec’s TEC Launch program which is specifically geared towards innovators and entrepreneurs who want to validate their ideas and create cool new products. On November 6th, TEC Launch is hosting a workshop for anyone that has a good idea and has the motivation to make it better. Only 20 ideas will be accepted for this hands-on workshop, so please submit your IdeaCamp applications ASAP (deadline is October 21st).
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.
