Entrepreneurial & Tech Culture on the Rise in Orlando

Lake Eola Orlando

Six years ago I decided to come to Orlando and it was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. In my heart, and based on my research, I believed that Orlando was a growing city ripe with many opportunities for entrepreneurs.

I expressed the thoughts and feelings I had at the time by writing a poem that I recently published on my blog. I am very happy to be living in Orlando and am excited that the culture of tech and entrepreneurship is continuing to grow.

Earlier this week a great video was shared with me containing clips from a lot of familiar faces speaking about this growth. I found it to be inspiring and thought I’d share.

 

See the video below…

The Orlando Start-up & Tech culture has a lot of room to grow, but we’re definitely on the right track.

There are a lot of smart people working together to champion this cause and I am thankful to be a part of this movement.

Here are a number of Orlando’s Top Entrepreneurship Resources and Events

  • Orlando Incubation Program – Business incubation network organized by UCF to help support early stage companies. I had two companies in the incubator over the last five years and found it to be a very nurturing environment and resource.
  • Starter Studio – An accelerator focused on helping technology companies grow.  Organized by Greg Pollack, Christine Ortiz, Dan McGaw and Orrett Davis
  • National Entrepreneurship Center – Originally the Disney Entrepreneurship Center this resource offers assistance in business planning, business formation, doing business with the government, coaching and more.  Led by Jerry Ross.
  • StartSomething – monthly invite-only meet up / mastermind for Orlando entrepreneurs
  • Blackstone Launch Pad -UCF student entrepreneurial coaching and advising.  Operated by Cameron Ford and Pam Hoelzle.
  • GrowFl – focused on helping second stage entrepreneurs
  • University of Central Florida – UCF is the second largest University in the world. It attracts a great deal of high quality professors / researchers and students. There are many resources to leverage for not only education, but to help you grow your business and cultivate innovation as well.
  • UCF College of Business – Offers great business education, variety of business plan competitions and an extensive network.  Led by visionary Dean Paul Jarley.
  • LeadershipTalks – Organized by Bruce Wang and Ryan Plaza.  Leadership talks is a relatively new monthly event that features a business leader in the Orlando community speaking about topics related to leadership and entrepreneurship.
  • RedCarpet Monday – Business professional and entrepreneurial meet up that occurs that alternates between Tampa and Orlando.  The events typically have a very good turn out and plenty of networking opportunities.
  • Trucks & Tech: A meetup organized by Ted Murphy, founder of IZEA that combines two of my favorite things….food and tech!
  • Orlando Startup Weekend – 3 day event celebrating and nurturing area start-ups
  • Florida Companies to Watch – Award banquet recognizing Florida area growth companies.
  • CEONexus – Roundtables organized to help entrepreneurs and CEOs support one another
  • Florida Angel Nexus – Connects Florida entrepreneurs to mentors, networking, and financial capital.
  • Florida Venture Sourcing – Online community connecting investors, startups and mentors in the Orlando community.
  • Orlando Chamber of Commerce – “Orlando Inc” is a branch of the Central Florida partnership focusing on regional entrepreneurship.
  • Rollins Advanced Center for Entrepreneurship – The Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship’s objective is to educate and connect students and alumni with advanced entrepreneurs
  • Orlando Creative Village – A epicenter for digital media and technology that is being developed by the City of Orlando.
  • Florida Technology Journal – Publication covering Florida innovation, business and technology.  Also, the producers of the video above!  Nice job guys

Big props to all of the people moving the tech & entrepreneurial culture forward in Orlando.

What are your favorite Orlando resources for entrepreneurs or start-ups?

If you’d like to add a helpful entrepreneurial resource to this list drop a comment below.

All suggestions will be pre-screened before published…no spammers!

 

 

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3 Comments

  1. David, add Florida Angel Nexus to the list. I believe you are familar with it but if not, “We invest in start-ups. Lots of them. All the time.”

    Let’s catch up soon,

    Blake

  2. @Blake – Just added Florida Angel Nexus! Somehow that one slipped my mind yesterday. What you, Blaire, O’donnell and the others are doing with the Angel Nexus is really great! Keep up the good work 🙂

    I look forward to catching up sometime soon

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