May 1, 2019 was a very significant day for our market. That date marks the point in time when the world started to take notice of the emerging innovation market in Tampa Bay. AOL Co-Founder Steve Case saw enough significance in Tampa Bay to bring his Rise of the Rest bus tour, along with troves of investors, thought leaders, and national press. This is a really big deal for our community and it deserves to be celebrated and enjoyed.
But now what?
The honeymoon can only last so long. As an innovation community, what can and should we do to ensure we maintain this cosmic shift of momentum.
Steve Case said that, “we are still early, maybe in the second inning.” Translation: there is a lot of work to do in order for Tampa Bay to be compared to the ranks of growth markets like Austin, Nashville, and San Diego. In other words, as an innovation community, Tampa Bay is an early-stage startup. We have spent a lot of time discovering a problem and developing the start of our offering. We have top notch talent, driving industries, and capital that people are willing to put to work. We have had significant sales in the last few years, including Connectwise earlier this year, creating over 70 new millionaires. We now have Immertec joining the ranks of a prestigious group of the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. If Tampa Bay is a startup, then we have one of the most important things we can get, our first national customer in Steve Case and Rise of the Rest.
As team Tampa Bay, we have to continue to execute. We have to build and work together. We have to think of ourselves as one region. We have to think about how we can help the person or company next to us. We have to think of ourselves in terms of cooperation instead of competition. We have to keep our heads down and figure out how to progress our businesses. We have to continue to celebrate our wins.
What personally can each of you do to help?
Tell somebody who doesn’t live here about a positive story that has taken place in the last three months.
Offer a startup founder some support or free advice based on your personal experience.
Look to invest in an early stage company, or potentially see if you can be a customer.
Go to a networking event and get yourself further ingrained with the community.
Cross the bay and have a meeting with somebody from the other county. This will help us continue to build the metaphorical bridge between Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater.
Ask somebody for advice on that startup idea that has been marinating within you for the last year, giving it a true shot for success.
Finally, continue to do what you have been doing. Clearly, we are doing something right. The world is starting to take notice. Key leaders of the innovation world are coming to see Tampa Bay firsthand.
I’m sure I speak for the entire community when I say: thank you all for everything you have done to this point to help to put Tampa Bay on the national radar. Our work may just be getting started, but we are very much on the right track. Let’s stay the course and together, we will push ourselves past the second inning and into a solid foreseeable future. If we do this, soon we will not be considered one of the emerging markets. Tampa Bay will be THE place in the nation to build and grow a business.
