David Notik, Founder of Woven and Creator of #MiamiTech
Welcome to Part 4 of my 4-part series, “#ThankYouMiami for Our Growing Start-Up Scene", where I recount my conversations with Miami entrepreneurs about what Miami is doing right for its entrepreneurial movement, where there is room for improvement, and why they each say #ThankYouMiami. Today, I share with you a summary of my interview with David Notik from Woven and #MiamiTech. Access the rest of the series here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
The Start-Up
David Notik is the Founder of Woven, an online platform that makes it easier for individuals to access and get involved in the communities that interest them. Woven organizes all of a community's news, messages, events, resources, etc. in real-time on one page so users can efficiently find, search for, and filter this information to best meet their needs. Simultaneously, it strategically connects the businesses, organizations, and members in each community to their target audience.
You can see the Woven platform in action at MiamiTech.org, the page for Miami's tech and start-up community. Additionally, Woven recently debuted its new live event activity support feature at Social Media Club South Florida's 5th Anniversary Meetup event.
Miami entrepreneur David Notik says Miami is "an intimate community that makes it accessible for locals to form relationships that empower them to make an impact".
The Miami Benefits and Challenges
Miami chose David. He met his wife, Rebecca, here while visiting with his family and decided to make the move from New York City 4 years ago. When he first arrived, David saw Miami as a relative desert for tech and start-up, particularly in contrast to NYC and Seattle where he previously lived. However, he wanted to surround himself with like-minded people so he began attending Refresh Miami meet-ups in hopes of tapping into the local entrepreneurial and tech communities.
In the past two years, David has observed a blossoming of those communities. He is currently working out of The LAB Miami, an "entrepreneurial campus" powered by the Knight Foundation and one of the co-working spaces mentioned in Part 1 of this series.
David mentions that Miami's welcoming nature, as well as its young pioneering community are its greatest strengths. These qualities, combined with a lower cost of living, make Miami an accessible area for growing a business. At the same time, he stresses that the ability to make money, rather than spend less, is critical for drawing talent to the area.
David offers a unique perspective to the funding and talent acquisition question carried throughout this series. Will, featured in Part 2, and Brad, featured in Part 3, started by first thinking about local solutions to these challenges. Conversely, David primarily took a global approach.
For example, Woven's one full-time employee, Kai Sellgren, lives and works from Finland. And, while David is open to hiring local talent, he does not think it is necessary to limit his search to his backyard. He takes full advantage of existing technology, like Skype, which allows him to hire and work with someone who meets his needs anywhere in the world.
David has a similar outlook regarding future investments. He is cultivating relationships with local investors, but will not limit himself to local sources of funding. David is confident in the strength of his business and believes it to be a more important factor in getting funded than the location of his potential investors.
Despite his more global outlook, David's investment in the local community is evident through his involvement in Miami's start-up and tech community. Not only does he regularly participate in community events, but, through #MiamiTech, he has also given this community an innovative tool through which all its members can get on the same page.
The #ThankYouMiami Statement
So what is this hard-working visionary most grateful for? David said "#ThankYouMiami for keeping it real - for being accessible, supporting and ambitious as a community".
Are you a part of the Miami entrepreneurial movement? What do you think Miami is doing right to support its future growth? Where do you see room for improvement? Which local entrepreneurs would you like to see give their opinion on this subject? Leave a comment below or send me a tweet @ThankYouMiami!