By Norberto ‘Tito” Gil
When I first read thecomments by Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine, I smiled. I smiled because I knew exactly what was going to happen: that this community would stand united in its mission to make Miami a major tech-hub.
See, Miami Beach is a major competitive advantage for us, but the soul of Miami is in its people. We are a tough bunch that knows how to build something from nothing. And that’s what we’ve done over the last two-or-so years with the tech community (most of the assets registered on MapYourStartup.co were founded less than two years ago). We’re in a city that’s ruled by traditional business – understandably so, with so many competitive advantages – and one startup at a time, one LAB Miami and Refresh Miami meet-up at a time, one Knight Foundation and Miami DDA investment at a time, one Miami Open Coffee Club meet-up at time, we’ve built something very real and amazing.
And in my opinion, the strength of what we’re building has perhaps never been more evident than this last week. After Mayor Levine’s comments, entrepreneurs and community leaders Brian Breslin, Brian Brackeen, Will Weinraub, Matt Haggman, Nancy Dahlberg, Binsen Gonzalez, and several others made public comments in defense of our community as a whole. And I knew they would, that is why I am smiling. I knew that when the dust settled, we’d all walk around that much more united in our collective effort.