Last week we've been proud participants to one of the biggest tech events South Florida is hosting year around: eMerge Americas. Hosted in a prime location at the Miami Beach Convention Center, with more than 10,000 participants, with all the major tech companies boasting big booths, 100+ start-ups showcasing their new ventures, a Career Section and a number of celebrity speakers the Conference was a success!
Now that we were able to catch our breadth following up with contacts after the event, here are some thoughts we came home with from this event.
1. South Florida's tech market is definitely growing in initiatives
There were 129 start-ups participating in the start-ups contest. That's more than I expected! It is correct, some of them were from out of town but Miami was very well represented as well. It is a great thing to see young entrepreneurs putting together ideas and business plans and pitching. And it is a great thing to see crowds flocking and National TV Networks broadcasting the events.
2. The South FL tech investment community still looks pretty shy
While the initiatives are great and Miamians show very entrepreneurial, the investors community remains shy. Prizes of the $25k, $50k and even $100k of sorts will not drive talent to Miami fast enough to make it compete with major tech hubs like San Francisco, New York or Boston. Make it a million $ for a prize and then we are talking!
I spoke with a lot of very talented developers that I personally know: they would easily relocate to Miami should the opportunities arise! They are attracted by the weather, the relatively low cost of living and the good taxes environment but they look for the same things: great projects and great salaries.
Prior to this show this piece of information came in that for every single dollar invested in tech in Miami there are a thousand dollars invested in in tech in San Francisco ($14 mil. in 2014 as opposed to $14 bil. in 2014). That's a huge difference!
So I challenge the South FL investor's community to step up to the plate and significantly raise the bar in terms of invested amounts in South FL projects.
3. The tech talent looking for full time jobs remains scattered
While the entrepreneurs were great, the job seekers were shy. We participated in the Career Fair section. In two full days we gathered only about 25 resumes out of which only 2 people had the actual education and skill sets to be interviewed for a full time position.
This comes back to two avenues: one is the School's System in Florida- which can definitely be improved. And another one is the amount of capital investments that is poured in the local economy. The better schools and the more investments we will have, the more successful people we will be able to drive and the more innovation will happen.
4. We are in Miami- so we have to show off!
At that times it was funny to see how some people turned a tech event into a fashion show! Attendants showing up late and without an apparent interest in technology were showing off expensive clothing and apparel and looked like they were in a big hurry just to pass by.
5. We still need a major innovative driving force to take this City to the next level
I appreciated the speeches and keynote speakers: they are a necessity at these kinds of events. I love Manny Medina and I even like Pitbull. I am even okay with a Mayor talking here and there- even if I am not sure what a Mayor actually does for the tech community in a City like Miami.
But I wish more tech super stars were invited to talk. How about a Bill Gates or a Mark Cuban? How about an Elon Musk? They would have been inspirational!
So Mr. Manny let's try to bring over better quality speakers next time!
Along the same lines one thing Miami (and South FL more general) is still lacking is a major recent innovation story like the ones that people used to write when the first PC was invented in the IBM"s facility in Boca or when Citrix was founded in Ft. Lauderdale. I agree that things like growing and selling Teremark to Verizon for a lot of money was a great business success in South FL but I am looking for the next Steve Jobs! And the next Apple Computers!
Make it a great day!
Adrian Corbuleanu
http://wittywebnow.com
Witty Web Solutions (http://wittywebnow.com) is a Miami Beach based software development company. Our code is lean, small foot print, easy to read, reliable and fast. We have excellent tech support. We save development costs by implementing agile project management techniques.
