The Magic City. Miami as a global innovation ecosystem hub.
- miami
- innovation
- ecosystem
- crypto
- entertainment
This article comes as the 3rd in the series of takeaways from a European's 5 year exploratory journey on both coasts of the U.S. The first, the intro and why, discussed some biases related to different parts of the U.S., while the 2nd article kicked-off the exploration with Los Angeles as the first hub to zoom in. It might come as a surprise, as usually the top-of-mind locations to engage in an open innovation are San Francisco (and its Bay Area), Boston, or New York City. Here comes another surprise, with Miami following Los Angeles. For starters, here are some stats. From 2021-2022, over 50 000 Californians moved to Florida, while the opposite flow involved a bit over a half of the number. One of the globe's largest investment firms, Blackstone, with its portfolio companies also in Europe, Lockheed Martin Space - the aerospace and defense manufacturer, payment processing provider Paysafe, VC firms as Blumberg Capital have joined many other multi-nationals and smaller companies to relocate their headquarters to Florida. Even Jeff Bezos, the father of Amazon, has recently announced his move to Florida, just a bit north of Miami, followed by Amazon's new office space set to open in Miami-Dade County. What attracts companies to the Sunshine state is not only the sunny and warm weather and the competitive tax system, but also the state's efforts to become an attractive place to start, grow, and expand business. Florida's diverse cultural mixture along with its geographical location next to the Mexican Gulf and Central America, and its cities and towns still more affordable than those in California, New York or Massachusetts, makes Florida a desired state to pursue your life. But that's enough with Florida. Let's focus on Miami.
Miami as an entertainment epicenter
I was just sharing the story about Los Angeles and its historically established and protective entertainment industry. And here is Miami, considered one of the best places to spend money. Think posh yacht parties, beach festivals, exclusive restaurants, and celebrities. But that is not it with what Miami can offer.
Yet Miami is a popular destination for entertainment, with the county's heads, entrepreneurs and individuals cultivating this image. Inter Miami CF and Nu Stadium with Lionel Messi, curated by the British football star David Beckham, DJ Khaled with his $26 million waterfront mansion and hosted parties, even Kanye West, now Ye, with his album's listening party during Miami Art Week™ (Miami Art Basel) - popular people and events are crowding Miami and attracting even more familiar faces along with millions of tourists.
Sport is in Miami
While Los Angeles boasts its Muscle Beach, considered a birthplace of the U.S. bodybuilding popular movement, Miami South Beach is crowded with those not missing a day of weightlifting, running, or other gymnastics. Miami Beach is one of the places that pushes you harder to exercise. It is as if you thought that you are doing enough of sports while being elsewhere and then you end up in the South Beach and realize you are doing barely nothing compared to the people strolling at one of the free outdoor gyms or calisthenics spots found next to the sandy beach.
Financial powerhouse
Miami Brickell is a growing financial center of the East coast, with banks, VCs, PEs and fintech scale-ups crowding the skyscrapers next to the Biscay Bay. Also the area where my bicycle was stolen during daytime, from all the places in the U.S.
While the rest of Miami is somewhat relaxed, with people strolling the streets in casual or even holiday looks, Brickell is always in the style of New York's Wall Street. Business jackets, black suits, European premium and luxury cars, along with fusion seafood restaurants on top floor poolsides are setting the tone of Brickell. The people working in Brickell were not ready to leave their cars behind even on the worst weather, when streets were flooding and the luxury cars got swept away or stuck on crossroads, just because the drivers did not want to take a taxi, or try and wait until the weather calms. For people in Brickell, business seems to be their top priority, and keeping their identity of being a Brickell-man (driving the luxury car, always driving own car, even in the worst weather or traffic jams, requesting the car driver in front of you to drive faster by signaling relentlessly), seems the most precious thing to them.
Mayor of Miami, Francis X. Suarez has famously declared Miami as the capital of cryptocurrencies. He has his reasons as he even gets paid partially in cryptocurrencies. Not by Miami city. The city of Miami launched its cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin, 3 years ago.
The biggest names in the crypto world, headquartered in Miami, include Yuga Labs , owner of Bored Ape Yacht Club & Crypto Punks, and MoonPay, now worth over $3.4 billion, while Miami's NBA arena, run by its club, Miami Heat, was wearing the name of FTX, FTX Arena, by April 2023, when it renamed it to Kaseya Center following the ftx scandal.
Right, crypto. What about real innovative enterprises, startups, scaleups? In a few blocks of Wynwood, formerly better known for its streetart, you can find nearly everyone involved with innovation validation and development. Happy hours of local bars and eateries are attracting those working at the district as well as outside it, and the networking takes place both organized and unorganized. Still, the networkings attract quite many people who are "interested in technology" or "considering doing something innovative". So many that you start to wonder whether there are any real innovative entrepreneurs. Same happens in the central part of Miami, at other networking events. The only difference is that I meet there mostly representatives of companies that are actually not from or in Miami. More like business tourists. The truth is, there are startups, scaleups and other young innovative enterprises in Miami. They are residing in Wynwood's shared office buildings, Downtown Miami penthouses and Brickell's office buildings. At the same time, there are many other companies that are situated outside Miami, in Fort Lauderdale or other cheaper places near Miami. If you are interested what do these companies do, I can't stress one specific direction. As the real estate market is booming, I would say that it is a promising place for real estate technology and proptech. Giraffe360, a real estate virtual tour provider originally from Europe, is one of them, having secured funding from Founders Fund (FF's partner Delian Asparouhov lives & believes in Miami). At the same time, Miami should be really good for raising funds to develop anything related to crypto (again), and it must be a good place to validate and develop or kill an idea related to entertainment & tourism. I have not met such companies though.
Collaboration
"Miami sometimes feels too relaxed. I try to stay away from Miami Beach, as it is a trap. You never want to work while there, rather to enjoy the beach, restaurants, and neverending parties." said a startup founder I met at one networking event.
Miami is not SF Bay Area, that is clear. The culture of "let's make and break things together, fast" is not there (yet?), and the cultures in overall are very mixed in Miami, with Central and Latin American way of doing things taking the lead.
Ecosystem In my opinion, Miami has possibly the best marketing strategy and quality execution for its ecosystem. While many founders, investors, innovators, and just wonderers head to Miami because of this marketing trap, as I call it, I can see that Miami is getting there. It is not yet a developed powerhouse, but it will be in some 5 years, if it keeps its direction, focus and determination. There is no reason to doubt in that, with all the energy Miami's governors along with its active private advocates put in the vision. For now, too many of the ecosystem's temporary players feel just as explorers and visitors, even if they come with an intention to stay. There is too active turnover of people in Miami, too many arrive and leave in a few months, making all the relationships superficial. No strings attached, no long-term intentions, just fun, pleasant communication, and some quick business experiments. Whether this philosophy is here to stay will depend on Miami's permanent or long-term stakeholders, as universities, governors, or corporates. Today, if you come with too serious approach, as if coming from the stressed New York or collaboration-agnostic San Francisco, you would frighten off Miamians most likely, due to their own way of doing things and organizing their day. A shot of tequila or cocktail during business lunch? Oh yes, please! This round on me!
Getting there and around Miami is really well connected with the rest of the U.S. as well as Europe and Central America. Flights are frequent and cheap. Miami airport is not the fastest for getting in from overseas. I have not tried the other, Fort Lauderdale airport which is popular for low cost air carriers, as it is set a bit farther North. Train and bus links are easy to the city and beach, even at night, and getting a Chevrolet Suburban Uber for a decent price is always an option, too. Still, the public transport in Miami is not the most reliable, and not that popular either, as everyone likes to drive their (or rental) cars. For rental cars, you can get all the possible options, including some quite exotic options priced decently. I did cycle as well, and the beach is very convenient for that, same as everything outside the center. I also loved cycling between the beach and the downtown, especially the Venetian Way crossing Venetian islands. You can cross it by foot, too. At the same time, I would suggest to execute cautiousness while cycling, driving or walking, as Miami is not among the cities with the nicest or most gentle drivers. Instead, be ready to end up saving your life by running from a car while crossing the street, or wait 5 minutes next to a crosswalk while someone finally stops (and the next driver signals impatiently). Miami is set far in the South of North America, and there are only 2 major roads leading to it, one from the North, the other from the West. You have crocodile swamps all around Miami. So the easiest way of traveling to and from Miami is by air. If you are too much concerned about carbon emissions, or if you love driving too much and have to go to other states too often, that's something to consider.
Residing in Miami
Miami is a perfect place for young and single. But also loved by couples, families, and retired individuals (or couples). Miami's capacity is limited by swamps around it, while Miami Beach is already packed with resorts in the North and protected historic houses in the South. Quite many of them are too old to provide a healthy, comfy and pleasant accommodation.
At the same time, new apartment buildings are being built at a speed that competes to mushrooms growing in a forest after the rain. As one acquaintance once said, getting a construction permit in Switzerland takes longer than finishing a house in Miami. At a usual construction site, working hours are so much optimized that even breakfast or a lunch break takes place at the site, with a taco van arriving to serve the lining workers. Another van takes the workers to the site and back to their homes or camp.
When choosing between parts of Miami to reside, you should consider your interests, needs, and habits. There are party districts as Wynwood, calm parts as Little Havana (away from Calle Ocho (the 8th Street) - one of the most popular tourist attractions in Miami), busy blocks of the central Miami or posh Design District, or relaxed (and party) parts of Miami Beach, the South Beach. You can venture to farther parts of Miami as Little Haiti, but consider safety. I left a chained up bike next to a record store, went in for a few mins, and found my bike's chain tried upon return. I had a walk in some other parts of the city where I would not venture at night. Many those calling themselves Miamians actually live outside Miami. Many of my acquaintances like Fort Lauderdale and anything in between Miami and F.L., but consider travel times as traffic can get naughty to the North, as well as when you need to cross the bridge from South Beach. Interestingly, Adam Neumann's new venture, Flow, funded heavily by Andreessen Horowitz, launched its first location exactly in Miami and is planning to invest over $300 million in further development in this Southern Florida's city. Food scene is great and diverse in Miami while quite pricy. You get 1/2 of the size for 2x the price if compared to Houston TX, or in some cases even LA, covered in my previous story. But you get everything not just burgers, wings, or nachos. When attending networking events or especially if inviting someone for a drink, bear in mind that it is normal for 1 person to pay for everyone at a table, or standing together and chatting. Drinks are at least $15 usually at bars.
Should you go to Miami to (co-)develop innovation?
After a shorter visit, I came to Miami with an intention to call Miami a home. And I left. At the same time, I would not state that I will not return. However, as suggested earlier in the article, Miami is still on its way to becoming an innovation powerhouse. There are industries and sectors that have enough density of parties represented, as crypto-everyting or entertainment, at the same time, the culture of collaborating and co-creating, or committing to something with heart is yet to develop in Miami.
You have to love the beach, fun, multi-tasking, noise, Central American vibe (and its tasty food and drinks, of course), have a great self-discipline and be ready to commit to these features permanently if in Miami.
In return, Miami will award you with great opportunities of an early settler in this fast developing hub set to become one of the U.S. innovation ecosystem powerhouses. And a multi-cultural, diverse, vibrant daily life representing nearly everything the Americas offer.
Thanks for reading through! Please comment and add anything that feels relevant to the story of Miami. Make sure to read the intro of the series as well as the look on LA as the innovation ecosystem hub and powerhouse. The next article in the series coming up soon. Any guesses on which city and hub I will cover next?