Here is your roundup of recent significant events in the worlds of technology, entrepreneurship, startups and venture capital investing in Florida and beyond. Please share this information with others who may find it valuable.
The Big Buzz
Florida and its technology ecosystem get criticized quite often. This criticism comes from external sources, but there is also a lot of dissatisfaction right here in the state. While we have our own unique set of problems and challenges, much of this criticism is unfounded and just plain wrong. Here is a good “Myth Busting” article prepared by Enterprise Florida that addresses many of the common criticisms we see.
Useful Stuff
Franchising may be a viable strategy for expanding your business, but many people don’t understand how it works. This leads to unrealistic expectations and business problems. Here is a good article from Gunster shareholder David Bates that summarizes some of the critical concepts of franchising.
Recent Happenings
- The presidential election’s instability and general craziness is hurting the tech IPO market. Here an interesting outlook from a tech company CEO.
- Positive outlook for the Miami tech scene: Support from Knight Foundation will help Refresh Miami for the next 10 years.
- Women, minorities own more new businesses according to new census data.
- Here’s where you want to be: Tax-friendly state rankings released. Our state is No. 3 (behind Wyoming and Alaska).
Self-driving cars will soon be commonplace in our cities (they already are in some places). It’s a very cool concept, but it’s a disruptive technology that will negatively affect a portion of the workforce. Here’s a good discussion of this potential disruption from a transportation industry source.
- Congrats to UF, USF and UCF! These three Florida universities were recognized in a list of utility patents granted in 2015. This is a great indicator of the substantial progress that our state’s university system has made.
- Yet another positive Miami article! Miami still ranks near top for startup creation (paywall).
- Interesting news from the agritech space: This startup is helping farmers build business through better communication and information access.
- Florida’s life sciences industry has clearly been through some ups and downs, but overall it has had a very positive impact on our state, and the future is going to be bright. Here’s an interesting retrospective.
- Here’s a report from our friends at Cassel & Salpeter: Florida private equity deal flow down in 2016.
- Positive metrics on the status of Orlando’s entrepreneurial ecosytem. The future is very bright (paywall).
Drones are going to disrupt a lot of different industries, and it will be impacting you soon. Here is an interesting video on which industries will be most disrupted.
- Jacksonville’s upcoming Innovation Week will be a huge boost to that city’s tech ecosystem. TEDx participation will be very helpful.
- Funny but innovative tech marketing strategy in India: KFC serves up fried chicken in boxes that double as phone chargers.
- A lot of good things are happening in the German startup and venture capital ecosystems. Here’s a good summary.
- Bad times for space tech: The recent explosion of a SpaceX rocket will likely have far-reaching negative impact across a number of industries.
Your LOL of the month:
Now this is true customer service (or a couple of lonely people connecting): Zappos employee sets record for company’s longest customer service call at 10+ hours.
Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Events
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Connecting the dots: From idea to commercialization, the 2016 BioFlorida Conference (Jacksonville) |
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Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance annual dinner & cocktail party (Davie) |
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Gold Coast Venture Capital Association Meet the Angels @ FAU Tech Runway (Boca Raton) |
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South Florida Business Journal, Business Growth Expo 2016 (Fort Lauderdale) |
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5th annual ITPalooza by South Florida Technology Alliance (Fort Lauderdale) |
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Florida Venture Forum’s annual Florida Venture Capital Conference (Orlando) |
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Gold Coast Venture Capital Association’s Sup-X Startup Expo 2017 (Fort Lauderdale) |
About Gunster’s VentureBuzz
Produced by Gunster’s technology and emerging companies attorneys, Gunster’s VentureBuzz is designed to provide regular updates on news, events, advances and innovations of interest to companies, entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capital and private equity firms and investment banks in Florida and beyond.
Gunster’s technology and emerging companies team is involved in all stages of business development and commercial law. Our legal counsel covers the initial business planning phase, structuring of new entities, complex operational and corporate financing transactions, as well as the final liquidity event.
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This publication is for general information only. It is not legal advice, and legal counsel should be contacted before any action is taken that might be influenced by this publication.
About Gunster
Gunster, Florida’s law firm for business, provides full-service legal counsel to leading organizations and individuals from its 13 offices statewide. Established in 1925, the firm has expanded, diversified and evolved, but always with a singular focus: Florida and its clients’ stake in it. A magnet for business-savvy attorneys who embrace collaboration for the greatest advantage of clients, Gunster’s growth has not been at the expense of personalized service but because of it. The firm serves clients from its offices in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Palm Beach, Stuart, Tallahassee, Tampa Bayshore, Tampa Downtown, Vero Beach, and its headquarters in West Palm Beach. With more than 280 attorneys and consultants, and over 290 committed professional staff, Gunster is ranked among the National Law Journal’s list of the 500 largest law firms and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Diverse Law Firms by Law360. More information about its practice areas, offices and insider’s view newsletters is available at www.gunster.com.
