When Byron Crowell graduated from Tampa's Jesuit High School in the '80s, most of his classmates went down the typical paths to become doctors, lawyers and business executives.
"There were very few entrepreneurs, especially in the tech space — very few in my time," Crowell said. "And I think it's probably still true. There is a bias toward an existing-known track."
Crowell has spent the last two decades bouncing back and forth across the country — returning to Tampa Bay only to leave again — most recently spending time in Los Angeles, then Connecticut.
But when he was able to gain full ownership of his company, Q11 Associates, two years ago, he decided to return to the Bay area for good.
"I looked to go back to California, but I had my eye on getting the company back to a point and thought, 'When I get it back, where do I want to be? Where can we go after it?'" he said.
The company, which Crowell says aims to be "the best newsletter for businesspeople," officially made its way down locally this year and is now nestled in a 1,700-square-foot space in Rocky Point. Q11 Associates is best known for its "Solution Publishing" brand, which delivers a customized, aggregated newsletter for customers in the HR, B2B and IT spaces, based on stories the user clicks on. It also offers B2B marketers a chance to get their brand in front of readers.
The company was founded in 2001 and is entirely bootstrapped. Crowell served as the CEO and founder until 2016, then served as COO before repurchasing the company.
He wants to leverage his overall company and Silicon Valley experience to bring what he says is a much-needed change to Tampa Bay.
"I really want to bring the experience I have from the West Coast and help build an ecosystem for other entrepreneurs," he said. "I think that's the thing we're missing that Miami has. I want to be a small part in accelerating the growth in this community in Tampa Bay because we have a unique story to tell."
Part of that growth acceleration is offering a path to current college students through an internship program. The program currently has two students from the University of South Florida and one from Florida State University.
"We need better local education, better attitudes of what's possible and expected of kids and businesspeople," he said. "The attitude in California, that's baked into people's bones, is you have to be smart, self-driven and motivated, and there is a culture of doing innovative stuff. And if someone is doing innovative things, it's not, 'That's weird,' it's, 'That's cool.'"
But Crowell doesn't want Tampa Bay to become the next Silicon Valley, or even the next Atlanta or Austin.
"Tampa is in a very unique position to be a special place," he said. "For that, we won’t be Silicon Valley, but if we build an ecosystem and a culture — it really does need to mature — this could be the next place that does have special characters and companies."
