Can a tech entrepreneurial ecosystem thrive in South Florida? How long has that question been asked? At least for the entire time I've been at the Miami Herald (two decades and counting).
Some of the area's leading entrepreneurs are answering that question with their feet: They are here and they are staying. As Miami Tech Week gets underway -- with dozens of events planned and listed here by Refresh South Florida -- here is what a few of our South Florida tech entrepreneurs are saying.
John Duffy of 3CInteractive, which provides a comprehensive cloud-based mobile marketing platform, acknowleged that it might be easier in Silicon Valley: "I don't think we have the seed ecosystem we need. It's a problem I would like to see changed," he told an audience at a Startup Florida event earlier this month. He said some funders had asked him about moving -- but he's made it work. "Instead of spending resources on finding talent, we spend most of our resources on being a magnet for talent." Duffy is proud to say he has only lost one employee he would have liked to keep. He says he's a product of mentoring, and believes that is one key to success in growing the tech ecosystem here.
Albert Santalo, who grew up here, has said he's here to stay as well. The CEO of CareCloud, a Miami startup offering a digital solution startup for the hot healthcare space, went to Silicon Valley for $20 million of his venture capital funding, but he told me he hasn't had much trouble hiring good people for his company he launched in 2008 -- it's 110 employees strong and growing. The flip side of being the anti-Silicon Valley: Besides the cost of doing business being better, there is less competition for tech talent down here. That can work to your advantage, he says. Read a recent Miami Herald story about CareCloud here. (Photo of Albert Santalo by Patrick Farrell/Miami Herald)
B
irame Sock built and sold her first company, Musicphone, while in San Francisco and New York. She chose to come to South Florida to build Third Solutions, which provides a green digital receipts solution (MyReceipts.com), and some VCs thought she was nuts. Now with angel financing and about two dozen employees at her Miami Beach offices, she is on the road again for a second round of financing. It gets easier and easier, as she is showing the valley and the alley it can be done. (Photo of Sock by Patrick Farrell/Miami Herald)
Steven McKean, founder and CEO of Acceller, a unique comparison shopping and information platform for selling digitial lifestyle services to consumers that McKean founded in 2000, 
said he never considered basing his tech company anywhere but Miami, where he was born and raised. He probably subscribes to the magnet strategy as well: Acceller, with about 80 employees, is a two-time winner of the South Florida Business Journal Best Place to Work Award. As for finding talent, McKean says there are pockets of strength and pockets of weakness in South Florida, but he doesn't have much trouble finding good developers and marketing people down here; for very specialized positions he may look outside the region as well. McKean, also a Business Plan Challenge judge this year, says "I love this city. I have a great affection for Miami."
What's not to love about South Florida? What will it take to grow the ecosystem? Or is all the talk overstated?
Read an ealier post on Social Media Week and Miami Tech Week here.