Permanent work from home, digital-first companies, funding avenues and more were all discussed at Tampa Bay Inno's annual Startups to Watch event held Friday.
The event, which follows the 21 Startups to Watch in 2021 list published earlier this year, virtually hosted startups making major moves in the ecosystem. It also featured Tampa Bay Inno's first ever fireside chat with Steve MacDonald.
MacDonald, a longtime pillar in the tech community, launched and successfully exited myMatrixx. He recently announced the official launch of MacDonald Ventures, which will focus on early-stage technology companies. While he has long been an angel investor, the launch will allow him to invest in a more public and formalized way.
Here are some top things to know from his fireside chat with Tampa Bay Business Journal Market President and Publisher Ian Anderson:
- Areas he's looking toward: "Certainly cybersecurity is a big area here locally, as well as blockchain and fintech. (I think) AI, machine learning will be at the core of any new tech startup and we're starting to see a lot of interest locally in what companies are using AI to build their business. Those are really starting to thrive in the area and it's really exciting."
- On the 'there's no funding' excuse: "There is a big support system here, there is money, and when I hear what are frankly excuses, I think the founders should reflect on themselves. Maybe the business isn’t right or you're not presenting yourself correctly. I would challenge (founders) to look inward because it's out there in a way it's never been before."
- What he looks for in a pitch: "If a presentation or a pitch is too wordy, if the slides are full of words, it goes straight to the trash. It has to have a clear elevator pitch, a clearly defined problem. We want to see the founding team and why are they right to do it and why now. You want to be in a market that is growing or where you can be part of the growth. At the end of the day they need to tell a good story and it should be bullet-pointed."
Also, some standouts from our Startups to Watch list weighed in on several topics during our panel.
Some key takeaways from the next generation of startups include:
- Going remote is one thing, but keeping a culture is another. "One thing we see is when we’re in the office you naturally collaborate and are naturally involved in everyone's lives and different departments," Aaron White, CEO at Script said. "Now that we're siloed, it's super hard not to lose company culture. We really want to be intentional about being intentional."
- Getting on a national stage can largely be helped by who you work with. "My advice is if you have a solution you're bringing to market that you want to take it national early on, get involved in the incubators and accelerators. Get involved in pitch competitions," SaLisa Berrien, CEO at COI Energy Services said. "At first they said, 'You're doing so much.' And it's a lot of work, it's not for the faint of heart. But really be intentional about finding the right partners."
- A major shift to working remote is most likely here to stay, but comes with benefits. "Work from anywhere does not mean work from our home in a pandemic, but it's becoming evident the need to go into the same exact room is not the only way to do things," Matt Redler, CEO at Panther said. "In fact, it's quite a constraining way to do things. I'm very exited about not letting location constrain companies to only work with a limited amount of people.I think we need to champion talent over location."
You can check out the event in full below.
