TechTalk: Building Better Bonds in the Emerging Florida Tech Scene

Julia Lucidi:

Yeah. No, I'm excited to be here.

Fritz Spencer:

Well, to get us started, I would love if you could quickly give us a brief background on yourself.

Julia Lucidi:

Absolutely. So my name is Julia Lucidi. I have been working with the tech community for about 15 years now. I'm originally from Brazil and I was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. And after college, I moved to Brazil. I wanted to get to know my country. And early on in my career, I started working with the startup community in South America. I got a job at a nonprofit organization called Endeavor that works with developing communities and supporting the growth of high-impact entrepreneurs. And it was really an important anchor for my career having worked at that nonprofit so early on because it completely immersed me in the world of working with startups with innovation technology. And I just carried that banner with me everywhere I went after that. And I worked for the government of Brazil, I worked at The Coca-Cola Company, more on the corporate innovation and sustainability side.

I then moved back to the United States after living for six years in Brazil and worked helping international founders take their first step into the U.S. market. And about two years ago, I decided to start my own company, Founder Tactics, giving a continuation to the work that I've always done, which is building tech communities, supporting entrepreneurs in their growth. And we do this by curating events and content that will help build tech and innovation communities. So, one of our biggest communities that exists under the umbrella of Founder Tactics is the Fort Lauderdale Tech Meetup, which right now is at about 3000 people as far as how big our community is. We host meetups once a month where we offer a space for people to network, get to know each other, learn from speakers in the Fort Lauderdale region, and it's been really exciting to see that grow.

Fritz Spencer:

Wow. Thanks so much for that introduction and brief intro to your entrepreneurship that you've been started. One fun fact. I think you might've missed however that I know about you is that you're also, dare I say, a master of capoeira.

Julia Lucidi:

Not a master, but an instructor. I've been training for 15 years and it's a big part of my life. What's funny about capoeira is that for you to become a master in capoeira, it actually takes close to 25 to 35 years. So it's a martial art that is more of a marathon per se, and very unlike other martial arts when it comes to the belt system.

Fritz Spencer:

And for those of you who don't know capoeira, to me at least is in layman's terms Brazilian dance fighting.

Julia Lucidi:

Yeah, that's right.

Fritz Spencer:

It's fun to say. I like to say capoeira way more than dance fighting.

Julia Lucidi:

No, that's hilarious. And that's the best way to explain it is dance fight. I mean, that's the way I understood it before I even started to train. It has a lot of nuances to it, and it's a beautiful art form. I highly recommend you all look into it.

Fritz Spencer:

Great. Well, let's move on to Founder Tactics and the meetup. You told us a little bit briefly what they are, but tell us in more detail what they are and why you founded them.

Julia Lucidi:

Okay. So Founder Tactics is my company. So when you start your own endeavors, you need to create a company with a mission and really define the work that you're going to do. So Founder Tactics is a consulting firm. So I work with different companies, organizations, and brands that desire to build a community around what they do. So an example of this is there is a racing league called SRO Motorsports. They do all of the GT races throughout the United States, Fanatec, the races at COTA, Indianapolis. And they hired Founder Tactics, they hired me to organize events on their paddocks for their community to help strengthen the business community of their business because these races has race car drivers, race car owners, they have sponsors, and a series of different partners that are part of the race every single time that they run these races.

And so they thought, hey, this is a huge opportunity for us to strengthen the business network of our paddocks. And so they hired Founder Tactics to organize these intentional events to build community and business networking on their paddocks. So that's an example of how Founder Tactics has stepped into a business community that has a lot of tech-related sponsors, a lot of technology in the motorsports industry and is building a business community around that. And as far as the Fort Lauderdale Tech Meetup being a company that's specialized in community building, it's only natural that we would also build our own business community. So it ends up being a showcase really of what Founder Tactics is capable of delivering for businesses. And so the reason why I started the Fort Lauderdale Tech Meetup is because so many things happen in Miami.

A lot of the activities for the tech community is concentrated in Miami, but you drive 45 minutes north of Miami, you're in Fort Lauderdale, 30 to 45 minutes more, you're in West Palm Beach and there's a ton of professionals, startup founders, investors that are in these regions. And it just didn't make sense that everybody was driving down to Miami for everything. And I said, "Wow, there's a huge opportunity here for us to better serve this market." And so just for you to have an idea, the first edition of the Fort Lauderdale Tech Meetup that we hosted in January of 2023 had 350 RSVPs. So it's clear that this is a market that has been not given as much attention, and there's a huge opportunity and need to service and create a stronger tech community in these regions. And people are excited to build locally and we're seeing that happen.

Fritz Spencer:

Yeah, I think you nailed it. As someone who lives directly between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, I can see how that glow of Miami was so appealing for so many years, and now as the years go on and on, you see how there's so much more space around here that's not just Miami. You want to call it the new Silicon Valley, but there's really so much more around it and there's so many more people in South Florida, South Florida inclusive of really the Tri-County area. And so it's so important that you've started this in an area that you found to be impactful. And so I'd like to discuss a little bit more about some of the impact that you're having. What have you seen come to fruition out of your efforts?

Julia Lucidi:

Yeah, that's a great question. I have a lot of folks who come up to me and just first of all, thank me for creating a space where people can gather consistently in the Fort Lauderdale region because I think that first of all, consistency is really important because we can do events or gatherings or start creating community and it be far too spaced out for there to be actual fruits from it. So I think that the key to building community is being consistent. And for me at least once a month has been the sweet spot for us to get people out and to get people consistently connecting over time because it is by seeing people consistently and seeing those people month after month that you start to build trust, start to build relationships, and business opportunities start to come out of it. So I've had people who have met their co-founders at our meetup and started a startup. Started to raise funds through finding a co-founder in our community.

We've had people find jobs, we've had investors find companies that they want to invest in. We have a lot of people who come who are also from corporate, so anything from Chewy, Citrix, LinkedIn, Meta, Apple, and we see a lot of these professionals mingling with startups, exchanging ideas, and kind of getting the latest trends in technology from coming to our meetup. Because I think that that's a really unique thing about working with startups is that we get the opportunity to see and learn about the latest things that are emerging in technology that haven't reached the mass market. So it's really interesting to have access to these entrepreneurs who are building out the future. Some of them make it, some don't, but it's still really valuable for these corporate leaders who get a chance to connect and learn and see what's happening. And it ends up being really valuable for startups as well because a corporate leader can lead you to a business deal. Maybe you're selling to corporates or they can mentor you, give you expertise. So there's a lot of those type of exchanges happening at the meetup.

Fritz Spencer:

One thing I love that you touched on there was about the diversity of your guests, if you want to call them that. I've personally attended your events and I've noticed that I have conversations, three-way conversation, four-way conversation where it's a CTO talking to a COO, talking to a founder, talking to an investor, and it's like the perfect mix of people who all needed each other to be there at that right time. And it was so amazing to see that happening in real-time in Fort Lauderdale. And my second thing is that it doesn't matter that it's Fort Lauderdale, I think that your model really applies to any city that's lacking that community growth culture and the posture that you've taken to cultivate it and put it into the Petri dish and let it really force grow. And I'd love to hear that. And looking forward, I think I'd love to know what's your vision for that Petri dish. What do you see coming out of it? What is your end goal the day you say, well, we did it? We did it, mission accomplished.

Julia Lucidi:

Yeah, I think that first of all, to address the need of other communities. Our communities need leaders to step up and take initiative to create spaces for connection. And I think a lot of times people can naturally say somebody else will do it, but I just want to encourage anybody who's listening and feels a need within their own community, step up and do it. You know what I mean? When I first organized the Fort Lauderdale Tech Meetup, I did not expect 350 people to register. I thought we would have, just like the other meetups that I have started in South Florida, they start with 5, 10 people who come in the door. And that is still a success. It's not about having 150 people come to your first meetup. If it does, great. But I think just starting somewhere is really, really important. And a lot of the meetups here in South Florida that started with four or five people coming to their first meetup, they now host 150 people per month or per meetup or however many times they're meeting per month.

So I would just encourage people who are listening to not wait for somebody else to do it but to step up and create that space for your community if it's something that you need as well. And your question about what is the end game? I think the most important thing that I see is really creating a space that is accessible to everyone. I think that South Florida is still very young as a tech community, and we need to create spaces where there's a lot of access. I think that there's a lot of events that are invite-only or founders-only, and I think that there's a place for that. But if we really want to transform the culture of a region, we need to be more mass impact in the way that we do it. Even, for example, we have student volunteers who come to our meetups and they help us check people in, they help us run the event. They're incredible.

And they're getting exposed to the tech community during their college years, like early college years. And the chances of them being absorbed into the tech community as talent is dramatically increased versus if we're trying to absorb that talent after they've graduated, and now we're competing with other more attractive perhaps markets or more competitive markets than South Florida. So really what I would love to see is a cultural shift where we are raising the bar of this tech community and becoming more competitive. And I think that being open and available to all and not having an exclusive invite-only space right now has been a big priority. Like I said, there is space for those more targeted events that are bringing just founders, just investors, but right now, I have felt a really big need to make this accessible to everyone.

Fritz Spencer:

Great. I love to hear it. And I'd like to finish up with one last question, which we typically ask here on TechTalk, but has there been any conversation that you've had maybe in your career or even with family or friends that has really influenced you on a daily basis and continues to influence even in your professional career?

Julia Lucidi:

Gosh, there's so many. It's kind of hard to pick one. I really believe in the power of mentoring. And you'll be surprised the spaces that you can find that. I feel like if you're open to learning... You can find learnings in just about anything, but being intentional and asking for that advice and getting insight from other people is really important. I have found that in mentor relationships, everything from former coworkers. Several of my former coworkers who were my bosses or that I've worked in projects with, have given me advice on everything from event planning to partnership, sponsorship packages. I connected with a former coworker that I worked with probably 13 years ago. She's now in Spain and she works with sponsorships and she helped me walk through my sponsorship packages. I think that it can be really impactful to reach out and ask for help, especially as an entrepreneur.

I mean, the biggest impact in my life for sure is my husband because he is such a supporter of my dreams. And as an entrepreneur, we all go through doubts. We all go through moments where we question what we're doing and is it worth it, am I going in the right direction? And having a spouse that believes in you at times even more than you believe in yourself, and that kind of supports you in those moments of doubt is so important. So I would say that hands down, the most important person in my professional career is my husband. Not only is he an awesome partner, but he's also a great professional. So even though he's not an entrepreneur, he's led multiple teams. He has an incredible international experience, and he helps me understand a lot of the workings behind some of the decisions that I need to make and helps me troubleshoot through them and is just an amazing sounding board. So I'm so thankful for him.

Fritz Spencer:

I'm glad to hear it. I'm glad to hear that you have a good support structure and a great team around you and that it's not just one conversation that you've had, but tons of different conversations that you have regularly that keep the doors open for opportunity. Julia, I want to thank you for taking the time today to have this conversation with me. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Julia Lucidi:

Thank you. This has been fun. I loved being on the podcast. Thank you, Fritz. I would just want to invite everybody to listen to the Founder Tactics Podcast on Spotify. I have a podcast where I interview entrepreneurs and the communities that have shaped them and led them to their success. So I invite you all to check it out, Founder Tactics with Julia Lucidi.

Fritz Spencer:

And thanks to our listeners for tuning into TechTalk, the entrepreneurs and innovators who turn to EisnerAmper for accounting, tax, and advisory solutions. Tune in next time, and don't forget to subscribe to EisnerAmper's podcasts wherever you listen to them. And visit eisneramper.com for more tech news that you can use.  

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