The Starting Gate

Q&A with Matt Haggman: Promoting a startup community

By Nancy Dahlberg, ndahlberg@miamiherald.com

For the past year through his new role at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Matt Haggman has been a man on a mission — to help put Miami’s startup community on the map.

As the Knight Foundation’s Miami program director, Haggman has been the face of the foundation’s new efforts to accelerate a technology hub and startup community in South Florida. Haggman and Ben Wirz, Knight’s director of business consulting, set out to make foundation investments in key areas so that entrepreneurs would have places to meet, collaborate and learn and programs and networks offering access to mentorship, training and investor funding. The ultimate goal is a robust, sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The office’s biggest investment so far: $2 million over five years, to bring Endeavor, the global nonprofit, to Miami to mentor, promote and accelerate high-impact entrepreneurs. Endeavor, which launched in Latin America in the late ‘90s and now has operations in 14 countries around the world, chose Miami for its first U.S. office. Haggman said it all started with a get-to-know-one-another meeting with Peter Kellner, the co-founder of Endeavor, who now lives in South Florida, in the lobby of a Miami Beach hotel last spring. With more study, which included a trip to Mexico City to interview entrepreneurs, leaders and mentors involved with the program, “I became convinced this is the perfect thing for Miami,” said Haggman, a former Miami Herald reporter.     

      The foundation has also invested in a co-working campus, The LAB Miami in Wynwood, and has been sponsoring dozens of events, contests and organizations around town. For nearly a year, Haggman and Richard Florida, the urban affairs expert and author, had been discussing and planning the recent Startup City: Miami, a day-long event that drew more than 1,000 people. And there’s more to come: “We’re just getting started,” Haggman says.

Haggman answered some questions recently about the Knight Foundation’s current projects in entrepreneurship and offered some thoughts about the entrepreneurial community.

Q. Let’s go back a little bit. Why did the Knight Foundation’s Miami office choose entrepreneurship as a focus?

A. Our mission at Knight Foundation is helping create more informed and engaged communities. With that in mind, in each city we work, we try to develop a locally-focused initiative that builds on trends in that particular city and in an area where we can have an impact.

For the past five years, we’ve helped develop the local arts scene in Miami. As we looked around a year ago, we saw a great opportunity in widening our lens on the creative community to focus on helping build the startup and entrepreneurial community — from social entrepreneurs to for-profit efforts.

Q. The Knight Foundation seems to be a sponsor of entrepreneurship events all over town, from the AT&T Hackathon, the NewME Pop-up Accelerator, TekFight, HackDay and the Americas Venture Capital Conference to the recent Startup City: Miami, last week’s SuperConf and many others. Is that by design?

A. Yes, it is by design. One of the pillars of our strategy is to make it easier for entrepreneurs to connect, exchange ideas and learn from each other. A fundamental challenge is that we as a community are siloed and quite fragmented, yet the elements are all here. To remedy that, we’re looking to increase the frequency, quality and variety of convenings in the startup community.

Q. In building a tech ecosystem, what can be learned from Miami’s success — and the Knight Foundation’s leadership — in the arts and culture?

A. That things can move quickly in Miami and that we have the ability to change, fast. That we must focus on the grassroots, while building at the organizational level too. That it’s a community effort — hierarchies and top-down approaches don’t work, and success hinges on building a strong, diverse network of people and organizations. That we at Knight Foundation don’t have the answers, but the community certainly does.

Q. Complete this sentence: South Florida’s startup community most needs ...

A. ... more big, homegrown successes.

Q. You’ve traveled and met with entrepreneurs in other communities, from Berlin to Mexico City. What are the takeaways for Miami?

A. Miami has many of the elements needed to succeed, and its gaps can be filled.

The characteristics that Miami shares with robust startup communities include strong universities, a thriving cultural scene, a highly diverse and international population, a widely-shared entrepreneurial spirit, an increasing urban density, easy accessibility from other cities, and a high concentration of wealth. Yet, we lack the infrastructure and support system — the strong connections between entrepreneurs, mentors and smart capital.

Q. Helping to bring Endeavor to Miami to set up its first U.S. center for high-impact entrepreneurs is Knight’s biggest investment to date in this area. Why is this a cornerstone of your strategy?

A. Endeavor’s model aims to solve the problems that Miami confronts: a lack of connection, mentorship and access to smart funding. For some 15 years, Endeavor has developed a pay-it-forward model in cities around the world that not only propels leading entrepreneurs but in which more than 65 percent of Endeavor Entrepreneurs go on to become future mentors and funders of other entrepreneurs.

Q. What’s ahead for Knight’s entrepreneurship investments?

A. We’re just getting started. And, by the way, this is a total team effort at Knight: Ben Wirz, our director of business consulting, has spent countless hours and is a partner on this. Our aim is to connect, educate and inspire. To do that, we’re focusing in six core areas: helping build physical places for entrepreneurs to meet, work and share; expand mentor networks; increase the richness of convenings, from weeknight meetups to large-scale conferences; improve communication platforms; better connect entrepreneurs and investors; and improve skills and capabilities — like expanded Internet access in our poorest areas — that broaden and further diversify our base of entrepreneurs.

Q. What will be your metrics for success?

A. Our ultimate goal is to help make Miami more of a place where ideas are built. The talent is here in Miami. Lindsay Hyde who founded the mentoring program Strong Women Strong Girls, and Jeff Bezos at Amazon — they called Miami home as kids. The challenge is getting our best innovators, social entrepreneurs and doers of all kinds to see that Miami has the people, the tools, and wherewithal to build their ideas here.

Q. How are you finding your career transition from journalism to philanthropy?

A. Enjoying it. There are similarities about the two jobs. The ongoing learning, the people.

Q. Favorite book?

A. Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder.

Q. What inspired you to work with Richard Florida and the Atlantic team to put on the recent Start-Up City: Miami?

A. Richard is perhaps the leading thinker on what makes cities succeed. He and his wife Rana have grown increasingly attached to Miami and for nearly a year we’ve been discussing the conference. We couldn’t be more thrilled with how it went. New World Center was packed; so much energy and so many insights.

The idea was to combine both local doers and thought leaders, with national leaders in the field, and take a hard look at Miami. The feedback has been very good. But the big takeaway for me wasn’t the speakers, but the attendees. Miami turned out in a big way. Clearly something is stirring.   

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/24/v-fullstory/3251801/qa-with-matt-haggman-promoting.html#storylink=cpy

Start-up City: Miami will explore 'urban tech'

Next month, The Atlantic will launch Start-Up City: Miami, the inaugural event in a new series of day-long programs exploring the emerging models of “urban tech” taking root in cities around the world. The free event will be Feb. 13 at the New World Center in Miami Beach, producted  in partnership with the Creative Class Group and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Start-Up City: Miami will explore and ask: What short- and long-term strategies will attract entrepreneurs and start-ups to Miami? And what could the future of Miami be?  “This conference is completely unique. It’s designed to both showcase and deepen Miami's ongoing urban transformation and learn what it takes to evolve from arts and culture based transformation to technology transformation,” said Richard Florida, an urban studies expert, author and Atlantic senior editor who is spearheading and curating the conference. (Pictured outside Panther Coffee in Wynwood last year.)

The program will draw together leading voices in the urban planning and community building arenas, including Tony Hsieh, Zappos founder and CEO who has been deeply involved in Las Vegas’ start-up ecosystem, Steve Case, chairman of the Start-up America Partnership and founder of AOL;  and Brad Feld, a TechStars founder and author of Start-Up Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City.

“Part of our strategy is providing compelling convenings for people and strong opportunities to connect and to learn,” said Matt Haggman, the Knight Foundation’s Miami program director. “I’ve been talking to Richard Florida for some time about doing a one-day conference focusing on Miami and all the different things that have come together to make this a really promising moment for the startup community in Miami to really make some big strides. … I think it is going to be a really compelling, interesting, thought provoking day-long conversation.”

Other confirmed speakers and panelists, many of them from South Florida, include: Manny Medina, founder of Terremark and an investor who is developing a major tech conference for South Florida; Adriana Cisneros, vice chairman of the board and director of strategy for the Cisneros Group of Companies; Susan Amat, executive director of The Launch Pad at the University of Miami and founder of Launch Pad Tech; Juan Pablo Cappello, attorney, co-founder of idea.me and  investor; former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz; Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Miami and urban design expert;  Samuel Arbesman, senior scholar in research and policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation;  Niesen Kasdin, former Miami Beach Mayor; Fernando Fabre, president of Endeavor, a global nonprofit that promotes high-impact entrepreneurship and is coming to Miami; Melissa Krinzman, founder and managing Director of Venture Architects;  Juan Diego Calle, co-founder and CEO of .CO Internet; and Marcelo Ballona, founder of Submarino, who led the largest tech IPO in Brazil’s history.

To register for the conference: http://startupcitymiami.eventbrite.com/#
 
Program website: http://events.theatlantic.com/start-up-city-miami/2013/

Florida splits his time between Miami Beach, Toronto and New York, is also the director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto and Global Research professor at NYU, where he is currently teaching a Global City course in Abu Dhabi, and co-founder and editor-at-large of Atlantic Cities.

Here is more of what Florida shared with me about the conference:

Q. Why do you think a conference like this is needed in Miami now?

A. The idea for the conference came from a talk I gave last winter in downtown Miami.  At the talk, I challenged our city (by that I mean the region and metro broadly) that we had done a fantastic job of city-building, downtown transformation, creating great neighborhoods, and using arts, culture and shopping to fuel urban transformation. But there is one additional step we needed to take if we really want to be a great global city. Great global cities are more than real estate and arts and  culture, fun and lifestyle. From London and Paris to New York and San Francisco, great global cities are "idea capitals."  I challenged the city and said this is the next step we need to take.  That requires being a place that generates and propagates world class ideas.  The conference is one small step in this direction and we hope to build from it over time toward something like the broader ideas conference for entrepreneurs, urban transformers, city-builders, place-makers and all those with a stake in a startup city. I like to think of Miami as it becoming akin to an Art Basel for ideas around urban transformation, city building, creative place-making and startup cities. Miami is an evolving laboratory of these activities and can serve as an example and laboratory to the world.  Miami needs something like this and the world needs it too.

Q.  Can you give me a couple of thoughts on where you see Miami's startup ecosystem now?

A. It is just emerging. But it is the next step in the region's urban and economic transformation.  I am doing more research on how Miami stacks up against other cities and regions now with my research team at the University of Toronto's Martin Prosperity Institute. I'd actually like to get a project up and running on the subject here. One of my dreams is to connect some kind of research institute or think tank – a think and "do tank" - with really smart talented young people as "fellows" in place here in Miami. I like the model which the city and region has pioneered with the New World Symphony and New Arts where alongside  performances and shows, young people come to Miami to work and develop their talents as careers. I'd love to see something like this happen with urban transformation, city-building and startup cities, where a group of fellows from around the world come to Miami to learn more about the field and apply their talents here. Combined with events like Startup City, this would help to build up our capability as an Idea Capital.

Q.  Have you curated other conferences similar to this for Atlantic? What has or can come out of a conference like that?

A. This conference is completely unique. It’s designed to both showcase and deepen Miami's ongoing urban transformation and learn what it takes to evolve from arts and culture based transformation to technology transformation.  It is designed to be the signature gathering in this space.  It combines three key skills sets and unique capabilities. One, Miami's unique position and evolution in urban transformation. Two, the Atlantic's ability to put on cutting edge, world-class conferences and events like the Aspen Ideas Festival ,which is a partnership between The Atlantic and the Aspen Institute.  And three, this conference leverages  my long experiences in urban transformation, place–making, city building and urban entrepreneurship. Put all three together, and the idea here is to build something like Aspen Ideas or Davos or TED for start up cities, place-makng and city building.  

Q. What can we learn from Miami's arts and urbanization movements here that can be applied to building a tech ecosystem?

A. That's the focus of the conference and where we want to head. But what we know is that arts and culture tend to come first.  They attract the first phase of city builders and urban transformers.  Then technology starts to nest. We see it happening everywhere from San Francisco to New York and London.  But those other cities have more technology assets, more talent and were already great idea capitals. We're going to have to work harder here. But with what is happening on the ground, with the people, technologies and talent we have here -– and with the conference and what we want to build and work on coming out of the conference -- we can make it happen here.

Q. What are some highlights of the upcoming conference in your view?

A. The people!  We are bringing folks like Tony Hseih, the young amazing founder of Zappos who is transforming downtown Las Vegas into a startup hub, Steve Case who founded AOL and is a leader in theStartup movement, Brad Feld who wrote the book on this and many others who have researched how this has occurred in New York and London and the key people in our own startup, place-making and city-building scenes.  This is the kickoff of what we can and will do.

I could not be more excited about the conference and what is happening in our city!  I am so very happy that the Knight Foundation has helped me be more effective in helping to move this agenda forward.  The ongoing urban transformation of Miami is truly astounding –- something we need to learn more about and deepen and something that can and will be a resource for cities, city-builders and place-makers around the world.

 

Making the case for crowdfunding: Q&A with Sherwood 'Woodie' Neiss

Sherwood Neiss

Position: Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors, Miami.

Age: 43

Grew up: New Canaan, Conn.

Lives: Miami Beach, since 2004

Education: B.A. in Japanese and Political Science from Tulane University; International MBA from Thunderbird, American Graduate School of International Management.

Previously worked: Paine Webber in New York, Ernst & Young and PeopleSoft in San Francisco, before co-founding FLAVORx in Washington, D.C.

Favorite saying: "The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it." -Ayn Rand.

Q&A by Ina Paiva Cordle

Sherwood "Woodie" Neiss is passionate about entrepreneurship. And he has helped lead the charge to change nearly 80-year-old federal securities laws about investing, so that entrepreneurs can gain access to capital.

Called crowdfunding, the changes will allow small investors to fund start-up businesses, hopefully creating jobs and boosting the economy in the process.

Earlier this month, while Neiss was in Dubai speaking at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, we emailed him questions. Here are his edited responses.

Q. Please tell me about your entrepreneurial background.

A. I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart. I was the kid selling lollipops in elementary school, mowing lawns in high school and selling T-shirts to get through grad school. I learned early on that input drives output and nothing happens of its own accord.

I helped co-found a company, FLAVORx, based in Washington, D.C. FLAVORx solved the problem of getting kids to take yucky tasting medicine. By the time we sold the company in 2007, we’d gone from two to 50 employees and one to 40,000 pharmacies, including the nation’s biggest retail chains like CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.

Q. Please explain what crowdfunding is and how you became involved.

A. Crowdfunding is where a group of people pool money together to help fund someone with an idea. As a concept it isn’t new. Prior to 1900, Savings and Building Associations allowed communities to come together to finance home purchases. Charity events and political contributions are also forms of crowdfunding.

 Kickstarter launched the current crowdfunding movement in the past five years. I became involved because, with the collapse of the financial markets in 2008 and the recession, everyone was talking about jobs.

My peers Jason Best, Zak Cassady-Dorion and I (all entrepreneurs) understood that the only way out of the recession was to create jobs. Jobs provide wages, and people use those wages to buy goods and services. Money flowing through the system will improve the economy.

However, in order to create jobs, businesses need access to capital. And with the financial meltdown this capital evaporated. We understood that we needed to get capital flowing to small businesses.

Frustration also helps. I won a Startup Weekend event here in Miami. A crowd of people thought I had a winning idea for a company – using smart phones for instant polling. I went out to raise money for it and couldn’t find it. Jason, Zak and I couldn’t understand why it was OK to ask people to give money to worthy causes but it was illegal to ask those same people to invest in a worthy business.

Q. What was the law previously and when was it created?

A. Seeking investment capital from the public is illegal unless you go through a costly registration process with the Securities & Exchange Commission. One of the reasons for the Great Depression was shysters selling fictitious shares of worthless companies to unsuspecting investors. The SEC was formed with a mandate to protect investors, and also to promote the efficient use of capital.

So in 1933 and 1934 they passed laws to prohibit people (issuers) from publicly soliciting money from people (investors) who are essentially not millionaires (accredited). We’ve lived under these laws with a few exemptions for the past 80 years. The exemptions worked just fine until the collapse of the financial markets in 2007, because the private markets were providing the capital necessary for startups and small businesses to hire and grow. As the capital markets dried up, small businesses suffered disproportionately.

The old rules needed to change. However, it required updating the security laws to the Internet Age, something regulators were opposed to. Our job was to show our legislators that the advances in technology (the Internet) and social media could allow us to do what the regulators couldn’t on their own, patrol the markets.

 Our 10-point framework, called the Startup Exemption would allow communities of people to come together on SEC-registered websites, vet an entrepreneur, business idea, financial model and investment opportunity and decide if it is worthy of funding. Since it was investing instead of donating, we called it Crowdfund Investing.

Small business expert sheds light on fiscal cliff, growth issues

By Joyce M. Rosenberg, Associated Press

Dane Stangler is in a position to understand the challenges facing people who own small companies.

Stangler is the director of the Research & Policy department at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. His job is to help the foundation determine how it can encourage and mentor entrepreneurs. His department conducts research and surveys and analyzes studies done by researchers at other institutions. So he is familiar with the issues that entrepreneurs and small businesses face.

The Kauffman foundation was started in the mid-1960s by Ewing Marion Kauffman, founder of the pharmaceutical firm Marion Laboratories and baseball’s Kansas City Royals. Part of the foundation’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship, something it does through grants and research.

The foundation draws what Stangler calls a blurry distinction between entrepreneurs, the people who start companies or run young enterprises, and small businesses, which Kauffman sees as companies that have made it past their early years. Some small business issues, like income taxes, aren’t a problem for entrepreneurs whose businesses may not be making a profit, Stangler notes. But small companies of all sizes face some of the same problems — the weak economy and the prospect of federal budget cuts.

Stangler spoke recently with The Associated Press as Congress was haggling about the fiscal cliff. Economists have warned that if Congress doesn’t prevent tax increases and budget cuts from going into effect, the country will be at risk of going into a recession. And it’s believed that small businesses would suffer the most.

Q. How important is government policy for small business owners?

A. If you are a business owner, your primary concerns probably have to do with your business. Policy impacts at the margins but I still think that for most entrepreneurs and for most business owners, their top concerns are still customer demand, because consumer spending is still making its way back. Households are still deleveraging. Policy is very important, but getting sales, getting customers, running your business, dealing with employees, probably still dominate the daily thinking of a lot of business owners. Policy obviously impacts that, but not always centrally.

When you do get into policy concerns that either are, could be, or should be at the top of a business owner’s mind, I think tax policy is probably the biggest one because tax rates are about to go up and that’s important because so many small business are taxed at personal income rates –- like S corporations and sole proprietors.

There’s a lot of disagreement in the literature, both academic and nonacademic research, about the impact of tax rates on business owners. We worked with a company called Thumbtack.com on a survey of 6,000 businesses and individuals. One of the things our researchers dove into was the impact of taxes. And we released a paper in October that said it’s not necessarily the level of taxes (that’s the problem). That doesn’t matter, because no one expects to pay no tax. It’s the sheer complexity of dealing with taxes. So it’s not necessarily the rate, it’s just the burden.

Q. What is the biggest issue with the fiscal cliff?

A. The fiscal cliff is not only about the tax code. It’s just the uncertainty. I know that’s a catchall term that everyone uses, but it’s for real this time. Everyone always says businesses hate to deal with uncertainty, and it kind of has a hollow ring to it because just the nature of running a business, you’re always dealing with uncertainty. But at times like this, when politicians have manufactured a crisis, this is serious uncertainty, because no one knows how it’s going to change. If we do go over the cliff, we’re sort of going to get whipsawed because the Internal Revenue Service is preparing for the government going over the cliff, putting in place all the new tax forms, and then, six weeks later, when they reach a deal, we’re going back to the way things were. That uncertainty and that expectation of being whipsawed back or forth is really a serious issue.

Q. Is there any long-term damage done by this kind of situation to small business?

A. There’s very few people who would bet against the U.S. in the long term.

Q. No matter how the cliff is resolved, it’s expected that eventually, there will be billions of dollars in cuts to the federal budget? What will be the impact on small business?

A. It’s probably finally dawning on lots of people, especially on the political right, what a large portion of the economy government spending is. In say, the 1960s, (a percentage of) government spending was what’s called productive spending – the highway system, universities, infrastructure and entitlements. What could be classified as consumptive spending – entitlements (like Social Security) then were a small share. Now it’s radically different. Entitlements are a gigantic chunk and productive spending is really decreasing as a percentage. Nonetheless, that decreasing share of productive spending and even that consumptive spending on entitlements, that’s still a massive chunk of the U.S. economy. And there are tons of U.S. businesses dependent on the government.

Inc. magazine every year does a list of the fastest growing companies. Government services dominated the list in the last decade. Washington D.C. is the top metro area for Inc. 500 companies since 2000. If a substantial of that is cut, you’ll have a massive effect not just on small businesses, but innovative, fast-growing companies. History certainly shows that government spending has certainly played a very important role in innovation and economic growth. National Institutes of Health-funded research at universities is hugely important. Small Business Innovation Research grants at federal agencies are hugely important.

Are you a #TekFighter? New event at MDC Dec. 7

You may have seen the tweets about TekFight, or perhaps one of its creative videos. But it was an old-fashioned face-to-face conversation with the real Saif Ishoof (or Master Sai-Fu in the TekFight world) that really got me interested in learning more about this brand new and very different free event happening Dec. 7, and I followed up on email. Here is a Q&A from my conversation with Ishoof, er, Master Sai-Fu:

What is TekFight?

Sai-Fu:  TekFight.com is a tournament  being held on Dec. 7 at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus. TekFight is not a mixed martial arts fight like the UFC! TekFight is a place where entrepreneurs, angel investors and technologists can trade ideas and resources, and build relationships in the same way that students exchange knowledge in a Karate studio. My co-founder Jo-Sensei (also known as Jose Antonio Hernandez-Solaun) and I believe that Miami can be a place where ideas can be transformed into careers through entrepreneurship.

Why did you create TekFight?

We believe entrepreneurship should be an open source process where people can gain exposure to those who can help them sharpen the skills they need to build great products, services, and companies. We want to bridge relationships between Miami’s emerging innovators and top-level decision-makers to speed opportunity creation.

Martial arts is a fitting setting to place our work, since it is a world that honors those who are committed to helping others achieve while fostering a competitive spirit.

TekFight is one part of an already rich ecosystem that has been growing because of the hard work of leaders like Startup Digest, RefreshMiami, Social Media Club Miami, HackDay Foundation, and countless other groups. TekFight has been made possible because of the transformational support of the Knight Foundation, Miami Dade College and Greenberg Traurig. The Miami Downtown Development Authority and Brickell Luxury Motors have also supported TekFight.

Who’s on your team?

TekFight unifies the role's that Sai-Fu and Jo-Sensei have played in our careers, be it corporate leadership, social entrepreneurship, mentoring, and startup angst. We each remain deeply committed to our life's work, in the roles that we play in the organizations we run on a day to day basis, but we needed to facilitate a convening of this kind in the city that we cherish. In creating TekFight we have had on our team two phenomenal under-25 entrepreneurs, Binsen Gonzalez and Jeff Goudie, who are driving the momentum of our work. Binsen is the genius behind our creative, web and digital campaign. Jeff is the operations and logistics czar who has helped keep our work moving forward in a powerful way. I am proud to say that I have known both of these folks for the last 6 years, and I feel they really embody the spirit of what TekFight is all about, a Miami grit to get things done with the resources and knowledge available and a champion's heart.

Our DoJo was also a product of phenomenal mentors like Madeline Pumariega, the president of MDC’s Wolfson Campus, who has a persistent vision for a downtown education hub, as well as the leadership and energy of Knight Foundation’s Matt Haggman, and finally a corporate chieftain like Greenberg Traurig's Co-Managing Partner, Jaret Davis.

What will the tournament look like?

We will have multiple rounds throughout the day with leading entrepreneurs, funders, innovators and tech professionals. As the name implies…yes we are set up like a technology Martial Arts Tournament. Everyone enters TekFight as a white belt. Participants can acquire a yellow belt or higher, if they truly commit to the TekFight tournament.

How do you ‘Belt Up?’

a) Tweet comments/questions to @TekFight
b) Volunteer to help out at the tournament
c) Spreading the word about TekFight
d) Make a commitment to help someone at the tournament, ie offering to help write code for a project…review a business plan…help market an idea…mentor a fellow student.'

Tyler McIntyre of Lucid Tecnologies created an app,  App.tekfight.com, which will allow participants to start earning points toward their higher belt and it will help Dojo participants connect with others during training. The App is a true start of incorporating a gamification element to real world entrepreneurship.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/05/3128566/miami-event-to-turn-entrepreneurs.html#storylink=cpy

Why acquire a Yellow Belt?

Yellow Belt status or higher will grant you access to special rounds including a yellow belt luncheon with angel investors, an Iron-Fist Session with tech/VC lawyers, and an exclusive session with Manny Medina. 

What will participants and speakers walk away with?

It is out hope that the 300+ participants will acquire a deeper relationship with those key partners they need to bring their ideas to life. We also hope that those that are creators (ie developers) will be able to unlock critical funding relationships as well as potential clients from enterprise clients. In a similar vein, we seek that enterprise users and funders will see the richness of talent in our South Florida community.

The entire day promises to be filled with surprises. Two must see elements of the day, include the featured address from the Director of the US Department of Defense's Office of Small Business
Procurement, Andre Gudger. Director Gudger oversees a multi-billon dollar acquisition budget and his work is aimed at helping small enterprise unlock large federal contracting opportunities. It is interesting to note that a number of "Inc. 500" companies on the rise are those that have defense business. The other must see speaker is Miami technology luminary Manny Medina who will be sharing in an intimate session entitled "Tea with the Master" his unique perspective of Miami's continued promise as a technology hub. Beyond these two featured speakers, the real excitement will come from several of our rounds that allow an airing of the real frustrations and challenges that entrepreneurs and funders alike have about the innovation sector in South Florida.

Give me the basics on TekFight.

a) TekFight is being held at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus on 12/7 9-5PM.
b) Register here for the event - http://tekfight2012.eventbrite.com/#
c) Follow us on Twitter @TekFight and download App.tekfight.com
d) Look at our video http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=k4pYs11a1bA&nomobile=1

TekFight is more than just a conference -- it is a movement. Bruce Lee said "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but rather the man who has practiced 1 kick, 10,000 times." TekFight is part of Miami;s practice of that one kick...Are you a #TekFighter?

For more entrepreneurship news, follow Nancy Dahlberg on Twitter @ndahlberg

Requiring entrepreneurship coursework: The 'skillsets to create good jobs'

By Karen Burkett, WLRN/Miami Herald News

Florida International University President Mark B. Rosenberg says every FIU graduate will eventually be required to complete coursework in entrepreneurship.  Every. single. one.  It's not uncommon for business majors to take these classes, but it is unusual for say, a French major to have to study entrepreneurship.  I asked the University President what this shift says about the job market for college graduates and the modern economy.  Here's some of our conversation, which first aired on the WLRN/Miami Herald News radio.

President Rosenberg:  I think that the 21st century economy is one in which the great jobs are going to be created through innovation and entrepreneurship and I want FIU to do right by our students.  Not just training them to take good jobs but making sure our students have the skillsets to create good jobs.

 

Karen Burkett: Are students asking to study entrepreneurship?

 

MR:  What they're asking for is quality and relevance.  Recognize that one of our largest majors right now is business.  We have 9,000 students in our College of Business.  But we also see that increasingly regardless of the discipline that people are doing much better in the job market when they have business related skills.

 

KB:  What's the responsibility of a college or university to help students get jobs?

 

MR:  I think that the first responsibility is to provide a quality education.  But coming closely on the heels of that in a 21st century context, a quality education means that students are prepared for the rough and tumble job market.  We're a lot more accountable these days.

 

President Rosenberg says this curriculum change will go into effect in the 2013-2014 academic year.  He also said the university has already put a mandatory global learning curriculum initiative in place.  Students are required to take courses that focus on global issues.

 

I could not end our conversation without a question about tuition and student debt.   On average, a student borrows almost $27,000 to pay for a college education.  President Rosenberg did say he believes tuition will eventually be capped.  

 

 

Hear the WLRN/Miami Herald News Friday Business Report here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q&A: A taxing proposition for small businesses

By Joyce M. Rosenberg, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – Taxes and uncertainty.

Those words sum up one of the biggest worries facing small business owners. With the scheduled expiration on Dec. 31 of tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration, many people who run small companies don't know how much they'll be paying in tax in 2013. And many say that's why they have put off plans to hire and expand.

The uncertainty is compounded by the fact that the outcome of the presidential and congressional elections is far from clear. President Barack Obama and challenger Gov. Mitt Romney have different ideas about tax policy and it's hard to say whether Congress will act to stop the cuts from taking place.

Here are some questions and answers about the tax cuts and how their expiration may affect small businesses:

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Q. Which scheduled tax increases are small business owners concerned about for the tax year that ends Dec. 31, 2013?

A. The change that's expected to affect owners the most is an increase in personal tax rates. The top rate will rise to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. That would affect single taxpayers with income of $200,000 or more and households with income of $250,000 or more.

Also expiring is the 15 percent rate on dividends. They will be taxed as ordinary income, which means business owners who receive dividends from their companies will likely be paying much more tax on this income than they have since 2003.

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Q. How do personal tax rate increases affect small business owners?

A. Most small businesses are what's known as “pass-through” or “flow-through” companies. That means the company itself doesn't pay taxes on what it makes. Owners report the income on their personal tax returns. These companies include sole proprietorships, partnerships and what are called S corporations (named for a provision of the federal tax code). The income is taxed according to the owner's tax rate. So single business owners with income of $200,000 or more and those whose households have income of $250,000 or more will see their taxes rise next year. There are no exact numbers on how many small businesses are pass-through companies, but the National Federation of Independent Business estimates that 75 percent of small businesses are in that category.

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Q. How many small business owners would be subject to the highest rate?

A. No one has exact figures, but the number appears to be in the mid-single percentages. The staff of the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that next year, 940,000 taxpayers with profitable businesses will have tax rates of 36 percent of 39.6 percent. That represents 3.5 percent of the total number of taxpayers with profitable businesses.

Another estimate comes from a survey by the lobbying group Small Business Majority. Five percent of the small business owners who participated in the survey said their household income was $250,000 or more.

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Q. What about large companies?

A. Large companies pay their own income taxes, and owners then pay tax on any dividends they receive. This form of taxation is used by what are called C corporations. Those companies include large companies, like General Motors Co. and Apple Inc., but they also include small businesses. The top tax rate on C corporations is scheduled to drop to 28 percent next year from 35 percent in 2012.

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Q. So if a company can avoid the higher personal tax rate by organizing as a C corporation, why not do that?

A. It's important to remember that C corporations have “double taxation” – on the company's income and the dividends paid to the owners. And corporations are subject to more regulation than other types of companies. Owners need to comply with the laws of the states where a company is incorporated. Turning a company into any type of corporation means legal fees. And over the long run it might make sense not to change a company's structure.

“Tax rates can change year after year,” says Charles Massimo, CEO of CJM Wealth Management, a financial advisory firm based in Melville, N.Y. He says owners need to choose a structure for their company based on their long-term needs.

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Q. Can Congress do something about this?

A. In theory, yes. Congress is in recess until after the election. When lawmakers reconvene they can consider stopping the increase or approving a smaller tax hike. However, there's a wide division between the political parties. GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the Republicans who control the House oppose the higher tax rates and say a higher tax bill will prevent small business owners from hiring. President Barack Obama and the Democrats who control the Senate believe a higher tax on the wealthiest people will help reduce the government's soaring budget deficit.

Congress doesn't have to act by Dec. 31. Lawmakers can pass legislation at any point during 2013 – or even after the year ends. For example, on Feb. 18 of this year, Congress approved an extension of a 2 percent payroll tax deduction for all of 2012. However, a prolonged debate in Congress would extend the uncertainty for business owners.

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Q. How is this uncertainty affecting business owners' decisions?

A. Uncertainty about taxes has been one reason why many owners have been reluctant to take on new employees, according to surveys by the National Federation of Independent Business. “It's a major reason why people are not hiring now,” says Jim Moniz, CEO of Northeast Wealth Management, a Braintree, Mass.-based financial advisory firm that counts small business owners among its clients.

Moniz says many of his clients who operate small companies have called him seeking advice about how to plan amid the uncertainty over taxes.

“It ultimately affects how many people we hire and whether we expand,” says Darin Feinstein, whose businesses include five Fatburger fast-food franchises in Las Vegas.

Feinstein says higher taxes would come on top of other rising expenses, including what he pays for food and employee salaries.

“My margins are shrinking to a number that would make me reconsider how many employees I'm going to have,” he says.

Dan Biederman, who has an urban planning consulting firm based in New York, says he's expecting taxes to rise next year, and because of that he's holding back on hiring.

“I was going to hire someone for a project in New Jersey, and now I'm not going to do it,” he says.

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Q. Should owners make business decisions based on tax policy?

A. Financial advisers are sticking to the advice they have long given small business clients: Taxes should be just one consideration in a business decision.

“Don't let the tax tail wag the dog,” says Jeffrey Berdahl, a certified public accountant with RLB Accountants, an Allentown, Pa., accounting firm whose clients include small businesses. “If you need to hire someone for your business, you need to do it.”

Owners should talk to accountants and financial advisers before making big decisions, says Massimo, of CJM management. “A business owner should base decisions on the company's ability to make profits and revenue and the needs of their business,” he says.

Not all small business owners are focusing on what's going to happen to their taxes. David Rosenbaum says higher taxes won't change his plans for his New York-based company, Real-Time Computer Services Inc.

“I have never delayed or accelerated a decision based on what my taxes were going to be in a given year,” he says.

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Q. If nothing is done to stop the expiration, what can a small business owner do to prepare for higher taxes?

A. Owners need to determine if there are ways to improve their profits, says Moniz of Northeast Wealth Management. Although higher taxes will hurt, having a higher income will mean there's money available to help the business grow.

“Businesses need to become much more efficient and make sure that the people they have are as productive as possible,” Moniz says.

Rosenbaum agreed that companies need to focus on improving their profits.

“If your margins are so small that taxes make the different between making and losing money, there may be a need to evaluate your business model,” he says.

EarlyShares' CEO gives lowdown on crowdfunding

In a TechMeetup I attended this week at the newly opened Pipeline Brickell coworking space, Maurice Lopes, founder and CEO of Miami-Based EarlyShares, shed some light on crowdfunding  for equity in an event called CrowdCamp. The company, with 15 employees in its Miami and Chicago offices, has been on a nationwide roadtrip to explain crowdfunding.  He made a presentation and then took dozens of questions from the group.

A bit of background: Lopes said he founded EarlyShares last year as a way for businesses to raise capital through crowdfunding. He explained how  Sherwood "Woody" Neiss, Jason Best and Zak Cassady-Dorion of Miami Beach campaigned long and hard to bring equity crowdfunding in the U.S and started the framework for what we have now. The JOBS Act, signed in early April, allows everyday Americans to invest in companies, among other provisions. It's in the regulatory process now –- where the specific rules for crowdfunding are being shaped  -- and the new law is estimated to go into effect in 2013, perhaps in the first half of the year. Lopes, as an industry leader, has been heavily involved in discussions and meetings with regulators as the rules are being shaped.

Lopes explained equity crowdfunding could be huge for small businesses, not just high-growth tech companies.  “The gym never got funding before, the aerial sign company never got funding before, the dog walking company that came to us last month with 120 employees and $5 million in revenues never got  funding …  So now you have a chance to own a piece of a company that might be down the street  that  might be a catering company  that does  12,000 meals a day to schools... Great investment, long term, may pay a nice dividend, a feel good investment, lower risk. This fills that gap.”

“Our reality for small business now: There is no funding," he continued. "...This is the first time we have a piece of legitimate legislation that allows people to invest in other people.”

Lopes explained that EarlyShares is already taking applications –- it has had more than 1,000 companies apply -- so the company is seeing data about the type of companies that will potentially use the platform. The majority as of now are actually not startups, he said, but small businesses in existence for years.

On the EarlyShares platform, companies that seek funding will be able to raise $100,000 to $1 million in an offering using standard deal documents EarlyShares provides. The average "ask" so far has been running about $250,000, he said.  Using that number, Investors will be able to buy a share of stock for $100, meaning 2,500 shares could be sold. Its an all or nothing offering -- if a company doesn’t hit that $250,000 ask, the investment isn’t made and no money changes hands.  If the ask is met, the  investments will be grouped under one SPV, or Special Purpose Vehicle.

So why crowdfund?  Using the above example, with potentially 2,500 investors owning a piece of your company, it’s a great way to not only get the money you need, but also validation of concept, exposure, and a large base supporters who have a vested interest in your success, Lopes said.

Here are some of the other questions Lopes answered, with the qualifier that the regulations are being shaped now and some are subject to change:

Why is fraud not a major concern? As part of the offering, companies will be putting up a lot of information on the platform, Lopes said. In Lopes' view, When you have thousands of people looking at your project, discussing it in chatrooms, asking questions, it’s transparent. If something smells funny, the people will find it, he said. Also, there are two protections incorporated in the law: a securities and background check required of all officers owning more than 10 percent of the company and a valuation by a third party.

As a company seeking funds, how can you improve your chances of success? You have to work hard at it, through your friends and family network, your social networks, etc., Lopes said. What is typical is total strangers aren't generally apt to invest until after you have reached 30-40 percent of your funding goal, so getting to that first 30-40 percent quickly is key. No one wants to be the first in.

Can you raise more than what you are expecting? That’s still being worked out in the regulatory circles, he said.

Will companies be able to be raise other types of financing? Right now, it’s just equity, Lopes said, explaining that the rules are still being shaped. 

Will EarlyShares vet the listings on its platform? There will be a list of criteria all companies will need to meet to be listed on the platform, he said. For instance, one would be a requirement that there is a management team, not just one person. Another might conern insurance, he said.

What are the charges? EarlyShares plans to charge between 6 and 9 percent, depending on the amount in the ask. The higher the offering the lower the charge because the amount of work for EarlyShares is the same. EarlyShares will not charge upfront fees but that’s not to say there won’t be upfront fees, Lopes said. There are third-party companies that will charge for the required background check and valuation that are required by the law. This might cost $500 to $1,000 for each, for example.

Stay tuned for much more on this subject when the regulations are released and the law goes into effect sometime next year. Here is a recent post by Sherwood Neiss on the topic.

Lopes ended with a plug for the SMB Challenge -- EarlyShares is the major sponsor. There’s still about two weeks left to enter the free contest, with a $50,000 prize pool. Find  an earlier post here.

(Photos provided by EarlyShares show Maurice Lopes, CEO of EarlyShares, giving a presentation, a general view of the TechMeetup at Pipeline Brickell and members of EarlyShares team at the event.)

5 Questions with Rhys L. Williams of New World Angels

Rhys L. Williams is the president of the New World Angels, which he co-founded in December of 2003.  Since 2005, the group of 35 accredited investors has made nine investments in South Florida-based companies, mainly in the tech space. Investments of $500K are made in financing rounds that generally total between $500K and $3MM. The fund also has made nine follow-on investments in some of those companies.

Q.  Approximately how many deals do you look at a month and how do companies get considered?

A. We receive anywhere from 15 to 40 business plans in a given month.  Our business partner, Enterprise Development Corporation, does the initial scoring on these plans, and then our Screening and Selection Committee reviews the top 12, and then they discuss and debate their relative merits. They will invite six companies to give a “live” screening before our committee, and from this meeting the final two or three will be selected and given the opportunity to present before both chapters [New World Angels chapters are in tri-county South Florida and the Tampa Bay area] at the next monthly dinner meeting.  The cycle is continuous, and both our committee members and the EDC folks do a phenomenal job.

Q.  Can you give me some examples of a couple of companies you've invested in recently?

A. Late in 2011 we invested in Aplicor Inc., a Boca Raton-based company whose Cloud Suite product offers small and mid-sized companies a true cloud business solution.  It integrates customer relationship management (CRM), sales force automation (SFA), customer support, marketing automation, and financial reporting, all within a single web-based, dashboard-rendered solution.  The Cloud Suite is easier to use and deploy, more flexible, and most often a better value than larger competitors’ offerings (vs. Salesforce.com & NetSuite) and is winning in head-to-head customer competitions.  Tech giant Don McKinney is the Chairman and early angel investor who brought this deal to us, and the company is also ably-coached at the Board level by founding Citrix CEO Roger Roberts & Wayne Huizenga, Jr.  CEO Steve Haley and his team are doing an incredible job of doubling accounts every quarter.

In early 2011 we closed an investment in Citrix Co-Founder Ed Iacobucci’s latest venture.  VirtualWorks tackles the challenge of “data sprawl” by introducing a new enterprise information architecture, making an enterprise’s information instantly and securely accessible — regardless of what it is, where it lives, or who needs it — through affordable, pre-integrated packaged software.  Mr. Iacobucci’s vision and drive are absolutely unmatched in the tech realm; we are very excited about this deal.  

The rest of our portfolio includes investments in telemedicine, mobile/web applications, biotechnology (therapeutics), business services, and consumer products (pre-packaged foods). 

Q. Have there been any recent trends/changes in investment strategy/operations you'd like to share?

A. Quality: we have seen a significant upgrade in the quality of business plans and the caliber of entrepreneurs and management teams over the past several years.  This is very encouraging for us as angel investors, and also for the region as a whole.

Eco-system: The trend that started post-2007 has continued: angels now inhabit the space that venture capital firms (VC’s) once owned, and many local VC’s are behaving more like traditional banks (investing only in expansion stage business that have been substantially de-risked), and banks are behaving like, well, we are still trying to figure that one out.

Innovation: We are seeing breathtaking innovation in many sectors, notably in the life sciences and mobile technologies.  Regulatory delays and hurdles for life sciences companies are still a major detriment to attractiveness for angel investors, but we are still very eager to find ventures that have a sound strategy to mitigate these risks.

Crowdfunding: We have not seen much of an impact yet in the manner that capital is raised and deployed, but we are watching this development with great interest.

Q. More broadly, what do you look for in companies you invest in?

A. We look for:

* Entrepreneur or management team with deep domain expertise and experience.  Successful track record a big plus.
* Reasonable valuation; our investment sweet-spot is for those ventures which value themselves between $2MM and $7MM prior to our investment (“pre-money”), though we will look at firms up to $20MM valuation.  We are comfortable with pre-revenue companies, though revenues are always a big plus.
* Modest capital requirements, with no more than one or two subsequent rounds of financing as a desired objective.
* Favorable competitive positioning, meaning the product or service is meaningfully differentiated from its competitors.
* Defensible barriers to entry a plus, which could be a favorable patent estate, or a key, proprietary supplier or distribution partnership, among others.
* Broad, expanding market space, capable of supporting at the end game at least one big winner and two other runners-up. This translates into multiple exit opportunities for the angel-backed company.
* Solid sales & marketing plan, this tending to be the area least understood or most neglected by the entrepreneur.
* Entrepreneurs and prior investors who work well in teams, that are willing to view the New World Angels as partners in their success, able to listen to and process strategic advice, etc.

 Q. Anything else you would like to add?

 A. We are always eager to receive well-conceived business plans from talented entrepreneurs.  We also enjoy meeting other like-minded angel investors who might be interested in joining our group or in co-investing alongside us.  It is phenomenal the degree of trust that co-investing with another member engenders. We have members who have gone on to start other business ventures together outside of the New World Angels, or start other investment groups, and even share each others’ avocations (e.g. breeding race horses!).  Entrepreneurs seeking funding, accredited investors interested in membership, or larger investors interested in co-investing, may contact the New World Angels via our website at www.newworldangels.com.

I am tremendously blessed to be the head of an organization of such committed, intelligent, successful, and high caliber individuals.

 

 

 

Q&A with Alex Sink on FloridaNEXT Foundation for small business

By Ina Paiva Cordle

Alex Sink has had a long and varied career spanning every sector, from private to public and nonprofit.

She may be best known for her attempt at running for governor of Florida in 2010, as the Democratic nominee.

But first, she spent 26 years with Bank of America, retiring as president of Florida operations in 2000, after leading the state’s largest bank with $40 billion in deposits, 9,000 employees in more than 800 branches.

Her public career has included serving as Florida’s elected Chief Financial Officer, a position she held from 2007 to 2011. As CFO, she managed more than $15 billion in state treasury funds, and was responsible for accounting of the state’s $70 billion budget. She also served on the board of the Division of Bond Finance and was one of three trustees of the State Board of Administration, which included the $120 billion pension fund.

Over the years, Sink has also chaired Leadership Florida, Take Stock in Children and The Nature Conservancy-Florida chapter.

Now, she is chair of the FloridaNEXT Foundation, a year-old Tampa-based nonpartisan nonprofit that seeks to empower young people, entrepreneurs and small businesses so they can drive the innovation needed to enhance Florida’s economy and quality of life.

At the same time, Sink also works as a senior advisor with Tampa-based Hyde Park Capital.

We asked her all about her foundation and her plans:

Q. What is the purpose of FloridaNEXT Foundation and what do you hope to accomplish?

A. FloridaNEXT Foundation works to empower young people, entrepreneurs and small businesses so they can drive the innovation needed to enhance Florida’s economy and quality of life. We primarily go about that in three ways. By convening. (We recently launched Young Leaders Forums around the state.) By communicating. (Our website, floridanext.org, highlights best practices, blogs and videos, and promotes upcoming events with the potential to help tomorrow’s leaders succeed.) And by connecting. (Through FloridaNEXT, startups can learn of or get in touch with new loan programs, while young leaders can meet investors or potential partners with the skill sets they need to, say, kick-start a new business.)

Q. What is the geographic area the foundation focuses on, and does it include South Florida?

A. We look to inspire innovation throughout Florida. But there’s no question that South Florida attracts much of the foundation’s attention. I and others from the foundation regularly appear before business groups and groups of young people, from Miami-Dade to Broward and Palm Beach counties. Several FloridaNEXT board members and bloggers live and work in South Florida. And the Young Leaders Forums I mentioned kicked off in downtown Miami — at the Gordon Biersch Brewery on Brickell Avenue in June. For Florida to be successful in the 21st Century, South Florida’s got to be successful. And innovative. And I’m not just talking about success in, say, the tourism and real estate sectors. But in education. In manufacturing. In trade. In sectors that can help Florida build and sustain a vibrant, diverse and sustainable economy.

Q. Why did you feel that there was a need for the foundation?

A.  Florida was first in, and will be last out, of the Great Recession. That’s principally because for as long as I or anyone can remember, Florida has relied almost entirely on population growth, tourism and low-paying service-sector jobs to sustain it. Unfortunately, that combination, Florida’s “same old” economic formula, will also surely handicap Florida going forward. It will spell failure for Florida in the 21st Century. Why? For one, demographers have severely cut their growth projections for Florida, all the way to the year 2050. For another, new jobs statewide are paying on average about 25 percent less than those lost to the recession.

To me, all this added up to Florida needing a new way forward. If Florida’s economy instead were fueled by innovation, if it did a better job promoting green jobs, high-tech jobs, life sciences jobs and information technology jobs, it wouldn’t be so susceptible to economic downturns, and it could actually lead in the 21st Century.

It could, if it worked harder to create these higher paying, more resilient jobs; if it generated more of the jobs that can strengthen and enrich our communities; and if it became a stronger player on the international scene. It needs, as the Brookings Institution has so persuasively argued, to encourage more companies to export.

I’m also convinced that those who principally need to drive this innovation are our rising young stars, our entrepreneurs and our small businesses, which make up more than 90 percent of all businesses in Florida.

This is why I launched FloridaNEXT Foundation: to promote and inspire this economic model, and to offer our young leaders, entrepreneurs and small businesses a vehicle they can use to drive the innovation Florida will need to succeed.

Q. What have you found are the top concerns of small businesses and entrepreneurs in the state?

A.  They’re concerned, and with good reason, that policymakers in Tallahassee and elsewhere focus far too much of their energy on luring large, out-of-state companies to Florida instead of committing themselves to nurturing our existing small businesses and growing an infrastructure that can support start-ups.

They’re concerned about the weak commitment legislators and other officials are showing to our students. The $300 million cut to higher education this year underscored that. “How can we find the skilled workforce we need,” I keep hearing from CEOs and supervisors, “if our universities don’t have the resources and money to devote to their education?”

Small businesses and entrepreneurs also say they’re concerned that investors remain hesitant about engaging new or early-stage enterprises because they fear Florida, or some particular regions in Florida, doesn’t have the skilled labor pool needed to scale or grow young companies.

Q. What are some of the initiatives that you have started and your plans for the upcoming year?

A. I mentioned that our Young Leaders Forums began in Miami. This week, on the campus of UCF in Orlando, we’re holding another. Later this month, in Tampa, we’ll be holding a third. Later in the year, and into 2013, we expect to hold several more of them throughout the state. The forums look to determine what our regions specifically and Florida generally can do better to attract and retain more talented young people. FloridaNEXT then works to advance those suggestions so they may lead to changes that can help build our next generation of leaders.

The gatherings attract young entrepreneurs, professionals, community advocates and visionaries, and also more established leaders in the communities in which they’re held.

We plan to hold more events, generate more research and continue to expand our blogging, website and social-media presence. If we do that, we expect we’ll attract more young people, entrepreneurs, small businesses owners and policy makers to our mission of inspiring a state of innovation in Florida. But already, I’m encouraged by what I’m seeing around the state. Increasingly, our universities and many of Florida’s businesses and local leaders are demonstrating a desire to innovate.

Q. What are your own plans? Do you plan to re-enter politics?

A.  I’m busy with FloridaNEXT. I’m also busy as a senior advisor with Hyde Park Capital in Tampa. I’ve also remained active in Florida politics — separately from FloridaNEXT, which is nonpartisan — by supporting candidates who can make a positive difference. Do I expect to again become a candidate? I’ll tell you, after the first of the year. 

This interview appears in the Miami Herald's Business Monday.