I wanted to share my experience at the recent Emerge Americas conference in South Florida. I'm in no way associated with Emerge Americas, but hopefully by writing a brief blog about what it's like to represent a startup in a tech conference in a community which is in its infancy regarding tech innovation, I'll bring more awareness to the young startup community in South Florida and events like Emerge Americas which serve as a great networking platform for young companies.
To no surprise, South Florida is dominated by a few industries: Healthcare, Hospitality, and Real Estate (Retirees, tourists, beachfront property). Tech doesn't even crack the top 10 maybe top 20. But for the past few years, the South Florida tech community has been experiencing steady growth. Conferences like Emerge Americas is a fresh reminder that the tech talent pool is slowly remaining in the area and not headed towards Texas or the west coast for a new startup endeavor.
South Florida is nowhere close to a Silicon Valley or Austin. There is no central hub for tech innovation to foster. You can't simply walk down the block and see tech giants headquarters because they don't exist here. There is no dedicated area for tech startups to grow and communicate with each other. Because of the lack of infrastructure, VC money is scarce. Only recently have VCs started to fund new tech companies in the area providing at least a chance to make it to growth stage.
As I'm making my way through startup row and walk by table after table of people taking chances on their ideas, I think to myself, where are all these people coming from? VC seed money is limited, so how are these people going to get seed funding? Are they bootstrapping? How the hell did we raise money in this market for two years?
I did love the positive atmosphere and vibes from the different booths I visited. Everyone was excited to talk to you about their idea and how it's going to change this or revolutionize that. Most of the time I'm thinking to myself, it's a good idea but it takes more than a good idea. You need a solid plan and twelve backup plans to get through the first year and to next year's funding. What's your growth strategy? Are you in beta or is your product live? Who are your competitors and how are you going to gain a sustainable advantage? Basic questions to see if they thought about the next year or so. Most did, some didn't. But that's expected in a community still in its infancy.
The most enjoyable part was actually standing at our booth telling everyone about our tech and Company. Where we've been, what we're doing now, and where we see our startup going in the next 6-12 months. You live and breathe your startup. When you have the opportunity to share what your Company does with others who are willing to listen, enjoy it and make it interesting. I got a chance to pitch one-on-one to Suze Orman as well. To be frank, I didn't recognize her until someone told me who she was. She loved our Company and what we're doing and where we're headed. This was a shared sentiment with most people we talked to during the two days. Also, fidget spinner giveaways, a really good idea to attract foot traffic.
We didn't have much time to explore and listen to the speakers the conference brought in. We just don't have the luxury of stepping away from the table unfortunately because you never know who was going to stop by next.
But overall, it's good to know there are others in the tech community trying to take their startup to the next level. We still have a long way to go, but we're heading in the right direction. Conferences like Emerge Americas help bring together the community and reinforce that transformation doesn't happen overnight. We need to continue to move forward with our ideas and learn from our failures so over time we can build towards a strong tech presence in South Florida.