Jason Eichenholz thinks Central Florida’s entrepreneurs should multiply the ideas for their companies by 10.
As it stands, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Orlando-based autonomous vehicle tech company Luminar Technologies Inc. thinks the region’s entrepreneurs are conditioned to think small. And that’s holding Central Florida back from becoming a thriving, recognized tech hub, he said. “They think smaller and smaller and smaller. We beat up our entrepreneurs.”
Eichenholz voiced those concerns during Orlando Inno’s Startups to Watch event on Jan. 20. The event’s panel discussion partially focused on how to generate more successful startups in Orlando and how to market the area as a place for entrepreneurs to start innovative companies and as a palace for investors to deploy capital.
Thinking too small can be an issue for a tech entrepreneur, as small ideas and small investments may not be worth an investor’s time, Eichenholz said.
It wasn’t the first time Eichenholz, co-founder of one of Orlando’s most notable technology success stories, called for the region to do a better job of supporting visionary entrepreneurs. For example, during Orlando Inno’s September 2021 Innovation Ecosystem Roundtable, Eichenholz said the region needs to think bigger and “swing the bat a little harder.”
Eichenholz isn’t alone in thinking Central Florida entrepreneurs don’t get the local support they need. Jim Thomas, partner at Orlando-based startup investor Kirenaga Partners, during the Jan. 20 panel told an anecdote of a Central Florida entrepreneur who failed to raise $3 million locally, tried to raise it in California and was only successful landing investors when he started asking for $30 million.
“Now it’s something that actually can move the needle,” Thomas said. “What we’ve all seen too much of here is when we get turned down for that $3 million in this community, we take a zero off, and we say, ‘How about we raise $300,000?’ ”
The story spurred a response from Eichenholz, whose company raised more than $250 million from Silicon Valley prior to a merger that took it public in 2020. “They got the money because they went to Silicon Valley with a big idea… The problem is we’re training our entrepreneurs to go from $3 million to $300,000, and then we beat them up for $300,000.”
Orlando would reap numerous benefits if a bigger chunk of its economy was based on high-tech, innovative work. For example, there likely would be more high-wage jobs. The average local tech industry wage of $89,000 is much higher than metro Orlando's overall average annual wage of $48,530, according to CBRE Group Inc. and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic illustrated the resiliency of tech-based employers compared to those in the leisure and hospitality sector. In fact, metro Orlando’s technology workforce saw minimal growth in 2020, adding 60 jobs, per a CBRE Group Inc. report. However, it fared much better than the region’s tourism industry, which shed 102,000 jobs in roughly the same timeframe.
Orlando in five years has made progress in the areas of startups and technology. The metro’s tech employment grew 30% from 2016-2020, and local companies in 2021 raised more than $300 million from investors for the second year in a row. Still, CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) reports technology accounts for a sliver of employment in metro Orlando: 3.3%.
“Until we start thinking bigger as a region, we’re going to be having this conversation for the next 10 years,” Eichenholz said.
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