How One Organization Is Helping Startups eMerge—and Transforming the Local Tech Landscape

FS:
Likewise. To get us started off, I would love if you could tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, your background, and where you've landed yourself today.

MM:
I am born and raised here in Miami, Florida. I am a daughter of Cuban immigrants, so my brother and I are first-generation American, which is exciting and it's actually a very big part of our ... continues to be a very big part of our DNA and what we do today. I went to undergrad and graduate school at the University of Florida. So I'm a Gator through and through.

FS:
Go Gators.

MM:
Yeah, go Gators. And I also studied in a school called Esade, which is one of the top global management schools in Barcelona, as part of my master's program. And I'd say that was, hands down, one of the best experiences of my life, just to be living in another country and surrounded by another culture and just meeting people from all over the world. Strongly suggest that for folks that have the opportunity and are able to study abroad. It was life changing for me.

And I've been in the hashtag, #MiamiTech, because I feel like that's a very popular hashtag nowadays, in the Miami tech scene for over 20 years, which is unbelievable to say, but my journey began working with my father, whose name is Manny Medina, and he founded a company called TerraMark Worldwide, which was an IT infrastructure and cloud computing company. We would build NAPs, which are called network access points, all over the world. Think about it as an airport for information transfer. And we built one here in Miami called the Network Access Point of the Americas.

And in 2011, the company was acquired by Verizon and that's when the emergence of our story with eMerge Americas was born. And the conversation went something like this. Very, very, very excited, very proud of my father who had built this company from scratch as a Cuban immigrant, came here with nothing, and was able to sell his company to an 1,000-pound-gorilla type company like Verizon, especially here out of Miami, and people kept telling him, "This is amazing. Miami has tech now. Miami has tech." And he, quite frankly, would say, "You know what? Thank you. I am blessed to have this opportunity right here in a community that's been so good to me, but Miami really doesn't have tech and we want to do something about that."

We faced a lot of frustrations and pain points building TerraMark here out of Miami and we weren't going anywhere. Like I said, this is our home, this is where all of the opportunities have been provided to us, and we felt, can we do something to help change or transform the future of technology in South Florida? And that's where the idea of eMerge Americas was born.

FS:
Perfect. I think that leads perfectly into my next question about, being the president of eMerge Americas, you're taking the reins on this venture. What is your mission and then what is the thesis around eMerge Americas?

MM:
eMerge Americas, which has now been around for almost a decade, which is incredible to think how much South Florida, in general, has transformed in a decade, but the mission remains very much the same, and that's to help transform South Florida, and specifically Miami, into a thriving and diverse global tech hub. And we do that through a multitude of ways.

Our first, and I'd say probably what we're most well-known for, because that's how we launched the company, is the convening that we host, which is a global tech conference that we host annually at the Miami Beach Convention Center, which this year attracted almost 21,000 people from over 50 countries from around the world. And the idea is to connect the dots between entrepreneurs, investors, global tech executives, government, and academia.

And that's the physical representation of what we do year round, which is entrepreneurial programs, we track venture activity, publish insight reports twice a year throughout the State of Florida, and we just collaborate with our hundreds of organizations and partners, still very much of that same mission. How can we help continue to tell the story, continue to solidify the fact that we believe South Florida is an incredible launchpad of innovation, an incredible place to create the next global tech hub?

FS:
Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. And it seems like it's very founder, capital, and talent-focused, and I want to focus in on that a little bit more. What we find is that founders care the most about attracting capital and talent. And as the President of eMerge, how are you connecting founders and capital and facilitating those connections?

MM:
At the heart and soul of what we do at eMerge is our work with entrepreneurs, and it's been that way since eMerge was even a concept. We said, "If we're able to help begin to transform South Florida into a tech hub, the heart and soul and the work has to be with entrepreneurs," because, if they succeed, it becomes a snowball effect. They are going to hire talent, they're going to increase their teams, they're going to scale quicker, and they're going to see that they've been able to do that through Miami.

So our programs with entrepreneurs began since the beginning. We essentially are searching for what we would call 100 high-impact organizations and startups from around the world. We do that two ways. One is we have an open call for global applications that launches every September. So the next cohort application will open now, September, 2023, and the other way we select startups is that we actually go into emerging tech markets throughout Latin America and throughout the US to host startup pitch competitions.

And with those pitch competitions, we are able to access incredible entrepreneurs and then we invite them all to be part of a seven-week virtual program that we host, and then it culminates in person at eMerge America's, the conference, and that's where there's a whole startup pitch competition, think a short tank style where the 100 pitch, they go down to 25, to five, and then ultimately there is one winner that receives a $420,000 investment into their company.

But I think the most important thing I'll say about all of these efforts is that it's so much more than just that one company receiving investment because the incredible amount of positive impact that the entrepreneurs have told us that have gone through our program that they've received has been amazing. So the success stories even of those that don't make it to the top 25, just the access that they have to thousands of attendees that they're pitching their products or services to, the fact that they are able to connect with global enterprises, which we've had success stories where global enterprises end up either acquiring or partnering with these startups, they meet with potential talent and, of course, investors, which you mentioned.

Investment is a huge, huge part of these companies scaling and growing and we know that that's always been a gap in the market and we're trying to help connect the dots as much as we can between entrepreneurs and the funding that they need.

FS:
Awesome. Hey, we'll definitely get to the success story shortly. I want to say that I've been attending the eMerge conference, myself, since 2018 and I have yet to have a bad time.

MM:
Oh, thanks. Well, you know what? You hit on something very, very interesting, which is, when we thought about the concept of eMerge, we said, "We're hosting this in Miami, and yes, we're trying to shine a light on the fact that Miami could be an incredible global tech hub," but also Miami's a lot of fun and we want to make sure that we're not shying away from that, as well. And I'm glad that you said you always have a good time because that really is part of it, as well. We want people to enjoy everything that Miami has to offer, as well, and we want to keep the energy level up, music and fun, and that's a big factor of everything that we do at eMerge, as well. And I also want to say EisnerAmper has been an incredible supporter and friend of eMerge and just thank you and the team because it's been really fun working together.

FS:
I greatly appreciate that and we definitely will continue to work together because eMerge shares all the values that really encompass and embody Miami.

MM:
Thank you.

FS:
For anyone out there who hasn't attended, get your tickets already because it's going to go fast. And if you want to see what a real tech ecosystem looks like, attend that event because it looks like a hive of ants and bees and all these different types of animals running around and interacting. And it's amazing to see from all perspectives.

MM:
We always say, eMerge, it's not your typical tech conference. And we love that because it's not.

FS:
Nowhere near.

MM:
It's probably one of the most diverse conferences that you'll see, especially in the tech industry. We're super proud of that. And next year is actually our 10th anniversary. So we opened our doors to the first conference of May of 2014. So next year, April 18th and 19th, 2024, we have a lot of surprises in store for our 10-year anniversary, which is exciting.

FS:
I cannot wait.

MM:
So mark your calendars, for sure.

FS:
100%. All right. We've talked a little bit about the volume that you guys are seeing. You've seen a number of startups since eMerge was launched in the initial 2014 year. What are some of the top traits that you see in either the founders, themselves, or even the idea behind the startup that determined whether the venture ended up being successful?

MM:
Such a great question. And I would say my immediate answer would be, 90%, it's all about the founder. It's so much about their passion, their dedication, their energy, how much they believe in their idea or their solution, how much are they willing to really dig deep, roll up their sleeves, take the punches, because being an entrepreneur is really not easy. I know that as an entrepreneur, myself. We're still building and scaling at eMerge and we had a lot of pushback in the beginning, tons, like, "This would never work in Miami. Why are you all doing this in Miami? No one's going to come to this."

And I think part of being an entrepreneur is continuing to believe in that dream that you have, having somewhat of thick skin. And I think that spark, you see it with entrepreneurs after seeing, at this point, thousands of pitches. We've had over 1,000 entrepreneurs officially be part of our program since we launched and we've had thousands apply and thousands that we've seen pitch at events that haven't made it into the program.

And there's just something that I feel that you see in a founder when they're pitching an idea. I know it's cliche, but people say, "Oh, they have sort of an IT factor," and they do. They transmit this energy and passion. And I think, in the beginning, especially pre-seed, early stage, it's really hard to invest in the idea. There's a lot of risk involved and there just isn't a lot of validation and data to go along with it. And so it's so much about believing in that founder, themselves.

FS:
Yeah, I 100% agree. I have a friend of mine who says, "You bet on the jockey, not the horse."

MM:
Completely, right?

FS:
Yeah, and it resonates. And I think a lot of the success stories we see is where a venture had a founder, like you've said, that they had that twinkle in their eye, they were able to pivot. It wasn't about the idea, it was about the person. And when they can have that person pivot a company, you see so many successful companies come out of pivots rather than sticking with their original idea.

MM:
Huge point. Completely agree. And I think that's part of it, too, where you have to roll with the punches, but you also have to be able to say ... realize what you know and realize what you don't know, and realize that you have a lot of people that have had experience telling you, "You might want to pivot in this direction," and if they're apt to doing that, I think it'll absolutely help their journeys.

And you see a lot of entrepreneurs that stick to their guns, which is good. You have to have passion, you have to believe in what you're building, but sometimes you also have to be open to the fact that maybe there's going to be other ways to that solution or to end up with the end goal that you want and trust that other people are there to mentor you and help you and that you're receiving the advice and hopefully filtering it in a way that works for you, but there's a lot of entrepreneurs that want to continue on their path, and that's okay, too, but I think pivoting is very helpful for entrepreneurs.

FS:
Yeah. Success comes in a million different ways, from what I can tell.

MM:
Yeah. There's not one journey or one road, that's for sure, it's a rollercoaster.

FS:
It's all forks in the road. And when it comes to success, I'd like to hear maybe some of the success stories behind either companies or even individuals that have benefited from eMerge's work.

MM:
Yeah, I think one exciting one that I'd love to share, there was actually a story about it on MSNBC just a little over a week ago, where they followed the journey of this founder. His name is Francisco Cornejo. He's from Ecuador and he founded a company along with his wife called Storybook. And the journey of Storybook actually began when eMerge hosted a pitch competition in Ecuador back in February of 2020. So March of 2020 is when the world shut down, but essentially, as I mentioned before, we host pitch competitions in emerging tech hubs to source incredible entrepreneurs. Storybook, Daniella and her husband, Francisco, were the winners of that pitch competition in Ecuador.

So the next step was for them to be in Miami for the conference in 2020 to finish the program and to be able to pitch in front of investors and judges, but of course, because of COVID, the conference had to be postponed. But that being said, they were already part of our network. So our relationship began in February of 2020 and we remained very much in close contact with them. They reached out to us to let us know, because of COVID and strenuous circumstances, they were actually thinking of making a move to South Florida.

So we helped them and guided them through that process, as well, and they were finally able to pitch in person at eMerge two years later, when we were finally able to host the conference in April of 2022. And with that conference, they received hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment. They received a grant from the Google Latino Fund, the first ever grant for that fund for $100,000. And they didn't win the competition, per se, but they made it to the finals and they made so many incredible connections. We personally invested in them because we believed in them, as well. So we are current investors of Storybook, as well, and several of our investors have met them through us and have invested in them, too.

So it's been this full circle moment with Storybook and they're scaling incredibly and we're super, super proud of them. And now, they're getting national coverage and eMerge definitely played a role, whatever that role is, in helping them, and that's what we're proud about. And obviously, this couldn't happen without incredible entrepreneurs like Francisco and his wife, but they definitely, I think, are incredible examples of just leveraging the access that they're given and making the most of it, and incredible, incredible story.

And just like them, we've had other amazing, amazing success stories. Our first ever winner of the eMerge America Startup Showcase, which was in 2014, is a company called Modernizing Medicine, which is now considered a unicorn. They're in the medical health industry. They're based in South Florida, too. And it's incredible. It's just incredible to see their journey over the last 10 years and that we could've played some small role in their growth.

FS:
I love hearing that. I love hearing that the success of some of these companies came directly from not handholding, but hand in hand, going down the path together to success.

MM:
Absolutely.

FS:
And that's the next thing I want to touch on, is eMerge's success, not just your founders and your entrepreneurs that you guys host, but how do you guys measure your venture's success and how do you plan to expand that impact of eMerge's efforts?

MM:
The way that we measure our success is, one, we quite literally measure the data. So we're tracking the venture dollars that have gone into our state year after year. And it's really exciting to see that Florida now has close to $5.5 billion invested in venture capital, where we would've never seen that within the last-

FS:
And growing.

MM:
Oh, yeah, and growing and accelerating. While, actually, the rest of the nation is contracting in venture dollars, we're seeing, in South Florida that we're actually still in that J curve, which is super exciting. And then another way is that we have third-party organizations, like the Washington Economics Group, actually do an impact study. What is the actual impact that eMerge is having on our state in South Florida? We haven't done one since 2018, but in 2018, so this is pre-pandemic, we had almost a $1.4-billion impact in the state of Florida. And so I can only imagine-

FS:
That's incredible.

MM:
... post-pandemic, where there was this global lens given to South Florida, and we had this tech talent influx that our numbers have, I think, safe to say, at least doubled, but we're going to be doing another impact report with them soon. And then also, just anecdotally, anecdotally, we don't really have to explain anymore why Miami. And for us, that's a huge win. In the beginning, it was like, for many, many years, "Why Miami? Why are you doing that in Miami?" or investors saying, "Is there really entrepreneurs there? Am I going to find deals there?" And now, the narrative has really changed. Investors are asking us, "How can we get first access to the founders that are within your network? How can we be there? How can we play a formal role?"

And so we're seeing, anecdotally, just the storyline has changed and it's not so much why Miami, just how can we be involved, how can we be a part of the story? How? And I think that's been the most exciting part about this incredible growth and acceleration that we've seen since the pandemic, is that all these new companies, all this new energy and influx, everyone can be part of creating the next 10 years or 20 years of South Florida and be an author in that story. And that's exciting because we've only begun to scratch the surface, in my opinion.

FS:
Yeah. You can't build a 30-year legacy without starting today, right?

MM:
Right. Exactly.

FS:
And I want to circle back to that because I know that there's so much interest in ... There was initially the interest in, "Why are you doing this?" and now, there's the interest in, "How do I do this? How do I get involved?" And so how can individuals and organizations get involved with your mission? How can they support the efforts that you have to foster entrepreneurship and really transform Miami into that visionary global tech hub that you, your father, and your whole entire organization is so focused on?

MM:
Thanks for asking. So the best way would be through our website. You can sign up for our ... We have a weekly newsletter called The Brief and it goes out every Tuesday morning. In that newsletter, we're aggregating what we would consider are the top tech stories. And in there, you'll also see upcoming events that we find are important to our ecosystem, whether we're co-hosting, hosting, or just wanting to share events that we feel are important. Those are in there, as well. Following us on social, we're super active across all of our social channels, so on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, all of the social channels. Follow us on eMerge Americas, is our handle across those. And through social, through our newsletter, you're going to find that eMerge is much more than the conference that people talk about. eMerge is an ecosystem, it's a year-round effort, and would love to have as many of you involved throughout the year leading up to, of course, the big conference next April, as well.

FS:
Great. Thanks for sharing. I know a lot of listeners are going to be interested in how they can get involved and how they can learn more, and it's really about just awareness, I think. Those social channels, raising the awareness and getting people involved is what really helps build the snowball effect. So I'm excited to be a part of it. I know you're excited to be pushing it down the hill and growing the momentum.

MM:
I'm as excited as ever. It's been almost 10 years and I'm still beyond thrilled about the work that I do.

FS:
I love that. I love to see it. And I can definitely see the passion and that entrepreneurship twinkle in the eye with you, as you said, you see in others.

MM:
Thank you. Aw, thanks.

FS:
Of course. All right. Well, I'd like to wrap up with one question that we always include in our TechTalks. And we believe that conversations are the foundation of successful companies. So I'd like to know, what's one conversation that you've had that continues to influence you today?

MM:
I'm going to give you one personal conversation that my father had with me since I was a little girl. That's just part of, I don't know, my fiber now.

FS:
The mantra.

MM:
Yes. And he would always say, "No matter what, Melissa, always keep your word." And I think that's a conversation that I just always play in my mind. And he would tell me, "No matter how little or big of a business you build, your word is gold, your word is everything. And if you want to build your personal brand, you want people to trust you." And so that's one sort of, I guess, conversation and piece of advice that holds a lot of meaning to me and I always try to pay it forward and express it to others, as well, because I do believe that trust builds a lot of relationships and it's the foundation not only in personal, but in a professional life, as well. So that's one conversation and tidbit of information.

And then the other conversation that I feel I have over and over, and this is being ... I'm a mother of five, and between the ages of seven to 16, so what the future holds for them is always a big part of my conversation. And I'm constantly trying to build on this legacy, striving towards a brighter future for them. And so I will continue to have that type of conversation over and over, whether it means how is tech going to affect their future, what other opportunities can they have, and not only them, but the next generation, in general, that's a big part of the conversations that I have.

FS:
It's true, children are the future. Are they not?

MM:
They are.

FS:
Well, Melissa, I want to thank you for taking the time and having this conversation with me today. Incredible conversation. I'm so glad we got to do this and I really look forward to all the eMerge events and ventures that you guys are going to be taking on shortly.

MM:
Of course. Thank you again for this opportunity. So much fun. I'm smiling ear to ear. I feel like we could continue chatting for a long time, and happy to continue this conversation at any point, and excited to see you at the next eMerge event and conference, of course.

FS:
Oh, I'm sure we'll be crossing our paths very frequently, being in the same space.

MM:
Awesome. Fritz, thank you again.

FS:
Anytime. And I want to give a special thanks, as well, to our listeners for tuning in today to Tech Talk. We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on today's episode. So please leave a review, hit the like button, and most importantly, subscribe to stay up to date with the latest here at TechTalk. I'm your East Coast host, Fritz Spencer, and I look forward to seeing you here next time on EisnerAmper's TechTalk.

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