Florida Venture Forum

The first time I walked into the @flventure, very few people took Florida seriously as a tech ecosystem. That was 25 years ago. I was so young that the legendary Miami satirist Dave Barry looked at me and joked that he thought I was an intern. He wasn’t entirely wrong. I was a young founder in a state where the infrastructure wasn’t there, the capital wasn’t there, and the belief in what was possible wasn’t there. Florida’s innovation economy was a dream a handful of people refused to let die. Fast forward to 2026. Hundreds of founders. Hundreds of investors. World-class operators, VCs, and institutions — all vested in Florida. Florida is a G20-level economy. A booming venture ecosystem. A magnet for the best founders, investors, and institutions in the world. This time, I wasn’t there pitching. I was there doing what I love, helping support the next generation of founders and institutions who now call Florida home. My bullish advocacy for Florida doesn’t in any diminish my enduring belief that Silicon Valley remains the epicenter of American venture and technology . And that’s a good thing. America doesn’t win with one innovation hub. It wins with many. The fact that world-class companies can now be built in Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Orlando not just San Francisco and New York is a massive competitive advantage for 🇺🇸. Props to Kevin Burgoyne and his team at the Florida Venture Forum. Since 1984, over 2,000 companies have presented at Forum events and raised upwards of $30 billion in equity capital, producing billions more in economic value to the state. That kind of patient, long-term ecosystem work doesn’t make headlines. But it’s the reason Florida’s venture scene has real depth, not just momentum. Here’s what I know after 25 years in this ecosystem: The overnight success stories people celebrate are built on decades of infrastructure nobody saw. To every founder grinding to make it happen right now: Keep going. Your moment is coming. 🚀