Entrepreneurial & Tech Culture on the Rise in 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!