#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene - One Year Later

Welcome to Part 1 of our 4-part series, “#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene". In the second iteration of this series, we recount our conversations with three new Miami entrepreneurs about what Miami is doing right for its entrepreneurial movement, where there is room for improvement, and why they each say #ThankYouMiami. Access the first iteration of this series here and the rest of this series here: Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

If you're an O.G. #ThankYouMiami reader, you remember that in November 2013 we put on our big boy birches and we tackled Miami's burgeoning entrepreneurial movement with a four-part series: #ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene. The series featured the prominent leaders of three Miami tech-based start-ups who shared with us their experience starting a company in Miami and their thoughts on what our city is doing right or could do better to support them and their businesses.

Back then, this site, our business savvy, and the local start-up scene were all arguably in their infancy. Nevertheless, the resulting articles were some of our favorite to date. Not only did they delve into a topic closely tied to Miami's future, but they also introduced us to some of the movers-and-shakers within our community. As an added bonus, it was an absolute thrill watching their companies evolve for the last year.

This time we come to you, our growing audience, as owners of our own developing business eager to delve back into the conversation. Check back each day this week as we recount with you our conversations with:

• Lucy Rodriguez of LRBrows.com
• Zach Grossman of EnerBee.com
• Ethan and Jonathan Denney of Webpresario.com

Are you a part of the Miami entrepreneurial movement? What do you think Miami is doing right to support its future growth? Where do you see room for improvement? Which local entrepreneurs would you like to see give their opinion on this subject? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet @ThankYouMiami!

#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene - Part 4: David Notik

David Notik, Founder of Woven and Creator of #MiamiTech

Welcome to Part 4 of my 4-part series, “#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene", where I recount my conversations with Miami entrepreneurs about what Miami is doing right for its entrepreneurial movement, where there is room for improvement, and why they each say #ThankYouMiami. Today, I share with you a summary of my interview with David Notik from Woven and #MiamiTech. Access the rest of the series here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

The Start-Up

David Notik is the Founder of Woven, an online platform that makes it easier for individuals to access and get involved in the communities that interest them. Woven organizes all of a community's news, messages, events, resources, etc. in real-time on one page so users can efficiently find, search for, and filter this information to best meet their needs. Simultaneously, it strategically connects the businesses, organizations, and members in each community to their target audience.

You can see the Woven platform in action at MiamiTech.org, the page for Miami's tech and start-up community. Additionally, Woven recently debuted its new live event activity support feature at Social Media Club South Florida's 5th Anniversary Meetup event.

 

Miami entrepreneur David Notik says Miami is "an intimate community that makes it accessible for locals to form relationships that empower them to make an impact".

The Miami Benefits and Challenges

Miami chose David. He met his wife, Rebecca, here while visiting with his family and decided to make the move from New York City 4 years ago.  When he first arrived, David saw Miami as a relative desert for tech and start-up, particularly in contrast to NYC and Seattle where he previously lived. However, he wanted to surround himself with like-minded people so he began attending Refresh Miami meet-ups in hopes of tapping into the local entrepreneurial and tech communities.

In the past two years, David has observed a blossoming of those communities. He is currently working out of The LAB Miami, an "entrepreneurial campus" powered by the Knight Foundation and one of the co-working spaces mentioned in Part 1 of this series.

David mentions that Miami's welcoming nature, as well as its young pioneering community are its greatest strengths. These qualities, combined with a lower cost of living, make Miami an accessible area for growing a business. At the same time, he stresses that the ability to make money, rather than spend less, is critical for drawing talent to the area.

David offers a unique perspective to the funding and talent acquisition question carried throughout this series. Will, featured in Part 2, and Brad, featured in Part 3, started by first thinking about local solutions to these challenges. Conversely, David primarily took a global approach.

For example, Woven's one full-time employee, Kai Sellgren, lives and works from Finland. And, while David is open to hiring local talent, he does not think it is necessary to limit his search to his backyard. He takes full advantage of existing technology, like Skype, which allows him to hire and work with someone who meets his needs anywhere in the world.

David has a similar outlook regarding future investments. He is cultivating relationships with local investors, but will not limit himself to local sources of funding. David is confident in the strength of his business and believes it to be a more important factor in getting funded than the location of his potential investors.

Despite his more global outlook, David's investment in the local community is evident through his involvement in Miami's start-up and tech community. Not only does he regularly participate in community events, but, through #MiamiTech, he has also given this community an innovative tool through which all its members can get on the same page.

The #ThankYouMiami Statement

So what is this hard-working visionary most grateful for? David said "#ThankYouMiami for keeping it real - for being accessible, supporting and  ambitious as a community".

Are you a part of the Miami entrepreneurial movement? What do you think Miami is doing right to support its future growth? Where do you see room for improvement? Which local entrepreneurs would you like to see give their opinion on this subject? Leave a comment below or send me a tweet @ThankYouMiami!

#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene - Part 3: Brad Liff

Brad Liff, CEO and Founder of Fitting Room Social

Welcome to Part 3 of my 4-part series, “#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene", where I recount my conversations with Miami entrepreneurs about what Miami is doing right for its entrepreneurial movement, where there is room for improvement, and why they each say #ThankYouMiami. Today, I share with you a summary of my interview with Brad Liff from Fitting Room Social. Access the rest of the series here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4.

The Start-Up

Brad Liff is the CEO and Founder of Fitting Room Social, a social shopping platform intended to give women the confidence to shop online knowing the item they are purchasing will fit them well. Users begin by creating a profile with their personal information and clothing measurements (don't worry, girls - you can keep your measurements private!). They then upload photos of their personal style and rate each garment photo as a "Great Fit", "Good Fit", "Fair Fit", or "Poor Fit". Fitting Room Social sorts the user-populated information to connect women with garments that match their individual fits and style per their profiles.

Miami entrepreneur Brad Liff calls Miami a city with "a real business community of talented, smart, and dedicated people".

The Miami Benefits and Challenges

Brad came to Miami almost 5 years ago from Long Island, New York for a job in private equity. In Miami, he caught the entrepreneurial bug, decided to put his private equity career on hold, and started Fitting Room Social.

When I asked Brad why he chose to start Fitting Room Social in Miami, he firmly stated that Miami is his home and that it is important for him to build his business in his own community. He would like to see Miami grow as a tech center and wants to show we have all the resources, including capital and talent, to build a company locally.

Acquiring initial funding for Fitting Room Social was not a challenge. Its current operations are funded through capital Brad received from a group of investors last year. When asked about future funding, Brad responds with confidence that the challenge will not be a consequence of building Fitting Room Social in Miami. In his opinion, institutional investors are becoming more comfortable with investing in cities like Miami and are less concerned with relocating business investments closer to them. Additionally, he thinks the community is doing a better job of educating and accessing local sources of capital.

Brad's views on talent acquisition in Miami are just as positive. Unlike the other entrepreneurs featured in this series, Brad has limited technical knowledge so, for him, finding outside technical experts was a critical first step to launching Fitting Room Social. He began building the platform's prototype using off-shore developers, but quickly realized he needed local talent to realize his vision. He found the high-quality development talent he needed in Rokk3r Labs on Lincoln Road. The support he has received from Rokk3r Labs has been instrumental in helping Brad make his entrepreneurial dreams a reality.

The #ThankYouMiami Statement

Brad met and married his wife, Marjorie, in Miami and recently had his first child, daughter Ruby, here. So what is this passionate new father most grateful for? Brad said "#ThankYouMiami for introducing me to my wife".

Check back tomorrow for Part 4 of this 4-part series where I share with you my interview with David Notik, Founder of Woven and Creator of #MiamiTech.

Are you a part of the Miami entrepreneurial movement? What do you think Miami is doing right to support its future growth? Where do you see room for improvement? Which local entrepreneurs would you like to see give their opinion on this subject? Leave a comment below or send me a tweet @ThankYouMiami!

#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene - Part 2: Will Weinraub

Will Weinraub, CEO and Co-Founder of LiveNinja

Welcome to Part 2 of my 4-part series, “#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene", where I recount my conversations with Miami entrepreneurs about what Miami is doing right for its entrepreneurial movement, where there is room for improvement, and why they each say #ThankYouMiami. Today, I share with you a summary of my interview with Will Weinraub from LiveNinja. Access the rest of the series here: Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4.

Miami entrepreneur Will Weinraub calls his hometown "a diverse, quickly-evolving city that keeps me on my toes and keeps me innovative".

The Start-Up

Will Weinraub is the CEO and co-founder of LiveNinja, a video chat marketplace where users can find and book chat sessions with experts ("ninjas") on a variety of subjects ranging from career counseling to video editing to yoga. Simultaneously, the LiveNinja platform gives individuals the necessary online tools to monetize their skills and connects them to potential customers.

LiveNinja has been widely recognized for its successful execution of an innovative concept. In December 2012, LiveNinja closed a seed round of $500,000 in funding through angel investors from Miami, New York, and South America.

The Miami Benefits
Will was born and raised in Miami and, from our conversation, is a big fan of the area. When I asked him why he decided to start LiveNinja in Miami, he quickly responded by asking: "Why not Miami?". He credits the following qualities for making Miami a valuable place for entrepreneurial endeavors:

1. Access to funding - When Will decided to start LiveNinja, he was pleased to find that there was a funding framework to facilitate its creation and growth locally. He saw possibilities for capital from both local angel investors, as well as foreign funding sources.

2. Community diversity - The range of demographics in Miami give start-ups, like LiveNinja, access to different audiences on which to test ideas and from which to get feedback.

3. Geographic location - Miami's proximity to Latin America and its connection to the international community facilitate access to foreign funding sources and to the option of easily expanding outside of the United States for companies like LiveNinja.

4. Industry transformation - Miami is rapidly evolving from a tourist destination to a thriving urban environment that supports locals, like Will, in their entrepreneurial ambitions.

The Miami Challenges

There are two challenges start-ups commonly face regardless of where they are located: acquiring funding and acquiring talent. I was curious to know whether these challenges were amplified or lessened by Miami's unique qualities so I asked Will whether LiveNinja has encountered any obstacles that may be Miami-specific.

In terms of funding, LiveNinja achieved a tremendous milestone when it received seed funding at the end of last year. However, Will believes Miami can attract additional funding opportunities for its early stage businesses through continued support of innovation and entrepreneurship. He stated that the ability to draw capital for local entrepreneurial undertakings is also dependent on the willingness of local entrepreneurs to work hard to bring it here.

Will found that identifying the local technical talent necessary to develop LiveNinja was slightly more challenging. In his eyes, there is technical talent in Miami, but it is much more scarce than marketing, sales, and management talent. He is confident that Miami's low cost of living, lifestyle opportunities, and weather will make it easy for companies to attract technical talent to the area into the future as long as they produce projects worthy of their attention.

The #ThankYouMiami Statement

So what is this talented Miami-native most grateful for? Will said "#ThankYouMiami for being enticing and exciting, for spurring my professional and personal growth, and for giving me both a family and a tech career".

Check back tomorrow for Part 3 of this 4-part series where I share with you my interview with Brad Liff, CEO and Founder of Fitting Room Social.

Are you a part of the Miami entrepreneurial movement? What do you think Miami is doing right to support its future growth? Where do you see room for improvement? Which local entrepreneurs would you like to see give their opinion on this subject? Leave a comment below or send me a tweet @ThankYouMiami!

#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene - A 4-Part Series

Welcome to Part 1 of my 4-part series, “#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene", where I recount my conversations with Miami entrepreneurs about what Miami is doing right for its entrepreneurial movement, where there is room for improvement, and why they each say #ThankYouMiami. Access the rest of the series here: Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Miami is buzzing with entrepreneurial activity. In the past few years, I’ve observed more and more incubators and co-working spaces open their doors, including The Launch Pad, Incubate Miami, Rokk3r Labs, the LAB Miami, Pipeline, and most recently Venture Hive. From civic engagement events to hack-a-thons, the local entrepreneurial movement is alive and kicking.

Now, I am only an entrepreneur by marriage so I have as in depth an understanding of entrepreneurship as my husband chooses to give me. But my common sense tells me that the growth of our entrepreneurial community shows Miami is moving in the right direction. How much? I leave it to the members of this growing community to tell you.

Each day this week, I will share with you an interview with a local entrepreneur about what Miami is doing right, where there is room for improvement, and why he says #ThankYouMiami. Check back daily as I recount my conversations with:

• Will Weinraub, CEO and Co-Founder of LiveNinja 
• David Notik, Founder of Woven and Creator of #MiamiTech 
• Brad Liff, CEO and Founder of Fitting Room Social

Are you a part of the Miami entrepreneurial movement? What do you think Miami is doing right to support its future growth? Where do you see room for improvement? Which local entrepreneurs would you like to see give their opinion on this subject? Leave a comment below or send me a tweet @ThankYouMiami!