Jeff Vinik has long backed the Tampa Bay real estate scene, with his multibillion-dollar efforts in Water Street Tampa. But on Wednesday, he explained he's just as bullish on the local startup scene.
Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, spoke to a packed room as part of the national Startup of the Year conference. The conference, backed by Maine-based Established, was hosted at startup hub Embarc Collective — an idea Vinik put into motion in 2018.
"I look to where can I make a difference, where can I use my megaphone," he said. "And the two things [are] public transportation and innovation, and this hub here led by some great people."
He handpicked Lakshmi Shenoy, who at the time was serving at Chicago-based 1871, to lead Embarc, which opened its space in January 2020 and has grown five times over in the last two years.
"We’re sitting in the fastest-growing place in the country; there is no doubt that this is the place to be," Vinik said. "That was my pitch to Lakshmi then and that's what it is now."
Embarc Collective
Beyond backing Embarc Collective, Vinik has dipped his toe into the local startup scene over the years. He's backed education technology company Knack, insurance tech startup TrustLayer and most recently a wellness vacation-focused startup.
"I've learned so much about investing in startups, the hard way," he said. "I've had a mixed record. Not negative, but mixed, which is par for the course."
Vinik had been on the flip side of the investment world for decades, namely with his hedge fund, Vinik Asset Management. He said he initially had a learning curve in differentiating between how he treats equity versus venture capital.
"Equity markets, I know how to do that — and buyouts," he said. "Here’s the biggest lesson: In the public markets, most stocks go up over time because they're established companies that have gone through the rigor. In the venture world, it's the opposite."
He pointed out the fact that most venture projects fail to get a return, which caused a bit of a mindset shift.
"It took me a while to realize everything sounded great because I'm an optimist," Vinik joked. "But, I've learned a lot in life things work out. I’ve gotten better with venture over time — more discerning, more diligent."
Frank Gruber, co-founder of Startup of the Year, asked Vinik what he was most excited about in terms of startups.
"It excites me to see high-quality leaders, passionate, working around the clock," Vinik said. "Hats off to every startup leader and employee out there. What you guys do is so critical to our society."
Vinik also doubled down on Tampa Bay being a solid bet for startups.
"It's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy, and now it's happening," he said. "Tampa is an unbelievable place to live that hadn’t been discovered; now it has, so it's just going to roll on itself."
In order to capitalize on that growth, he urged attendees to continue collaborating across the region.
"We get more companies, capital investors, customers; it's a flywheel really going in the right direction," he said. "We just have to keep the culture right, of hunger and creativity. This is not just Embarc, but Tampa Bay Wave, USF — we'll need to work together to keep the momentum going."
