How businesses benefit when part of an innovative community

There’s tremendous buzz these days about innovation. Large companies try to kick-start sales with new state-of-the-art products, competing against startup businesses introducing truly groundbreaking offerings. Often, the big companies swallow the small entrepreneurial companies to get their hands on technology and gain a competitive edge in the market.

One thing is for sure; all of this is good for the economy.

In fact, many communities believe it’s the path forward for them. It seems like it’s happening everywhere, including here in Florida. Miami, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, and Gainesville have developed innovation districts, while other areas including Hillsborough County and Mount Dora are planning to roll out innovation districts.

Innovation economics is a growing idea that emphasizes entrepreneurship and innovation. Call it what you’d like -- the innovation sector, the innovation economy, or even innovation ecosystem -- it takes people with vision and dedicated gumption to make it happen. Oh, and money helps too.

Two such people are David Day and Dan Rua.

David Day, Assistant Vice President & Director of Office of Technology Licensing at the University of Florida

David Day is recognized worldwide as a leader in the technology transfer industry. Few people seem to understand the power of combining economic development and technology like David.

As the Assistant Vice President & Director of OTL, Day leads the drive to move their technologies from the laboratory to the market -- and much more.

“Licensing new discoveries is only part of our mission,” Day said. “Supporting the entire tech startup continuum is key. We are bringing together the necessary elements: inventors, entrepreneurs, resources, and investors.”

“Instead of exporting innovation to other areas of the country, all of Florida has a real opportunity to create companies that create jobs with homegrown technology,” Day added.

In Gainesville, this vision is turning quickly into a reality. For starters, it’s been a record-breaking year for moving UF technologies to market. Last year, the hard work of the tech transfer staff resulted in 122 signed licenses and options for technologies from the university, infusing nearly $2.3 billion into Florida’s economy, and the employment of more than 10,600 people.

Much of this activity is happening in Innovation Square, a 40-acre urban innovation district located between downtown and campus. It’s really a “live, work, and play” research and innovation community with all of the elements coming together that Day says need to be in place. His group, along with many other dedicated people, is driving the charge.

Day and his team are very proud of the fact that UF is ranked eighth in the nation for startups and seventh for licenses and options completed with companies commercializing researchers’ discoveries.

“Investing in our tech startups provides a great return on investment,” Day added. “Entrepreneurs are showing more interest in UF technologies than ever before. The Gainesville startup ecosystem will only get bigger and stronger as we continue to foster this innovation economy, more mentors get engaged, and investors keep stepping up.”

Dan Rua, UF engineer and entrepreneur, and his startup companies

Dan Rua is on a mission to save the free Internet. He’s an entrepreneur, investor, and a resource for other startups too.

Rua grew up in Florida, is a UF engineer, and went on to get a dual MBA/JD in venture finance, entrepreneurship and intellectual property. Then he joined forces with the legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist, Tim Draper.

In the late ‘90s Rua helped Tim launch Draper Atlantic and managed two funds that built a portfolio of over 30 early-stage technology companies. Rua then turned his venture capital sights on Florida, launching Inflexion, the state’s first true early-stage venture capital fund. He backed some of Florida’s top entrepreneurs, earning #4 Most Loved VC and #17 Most Respected VC rankings along the way.

Fast-forward to today and you’ll find Rua hard at work on something new and big: Admiral, headquartered in the heart of Innovation Square.

“There was $20 billion of lost revenue in 2015 due to ad blocking technology and it’s growing 40% year over year,” Rua said. “But, the bigger problem is that adblock growth will eventually break the Internet, putting most free websites out of business or turning every site into pay-to-read. That’s not the free Internet any of us want to leave for our kids and grandkids”

Although Admiral’s advanced adblock analytics and revenue recovery platform targets publishers, in many ways it’s really for the web surfing public. Think of it as a bridge between web publishers and users to improve ad quality and build a sustainable Internet.

“We believe that Internet users value a free Internet and want to be part of the solution,” Rua added.

In the relatively short time that Admiral has launched, they have raised $2.5 million in venture money and secured some of the largest publishers in the industry as customers. Rua credits Admiral’s founding team of world-class engineers for Admiral’s anti-adblock platform and rapid growth.

When asked why Florida, Rua was quick to say that it’s now easier to build a lean startup in Florida. Talented engineers that previously built companies like Grooveshark with 100 million users are here and funding continues to expand.

“Plus, Innovation Square is a big advantage,” Rua said. “It’s unique. Everything we need is within walking distance. Yet, it’s goes beyond the resources and services that are here. A defining characteristic of a Gainesville entrepreneur is that they find a way to ‘pay it forward’ helping and supporting the next entrepreneur. It also doesn’t hurt that cozy, diverse, super-smart college towns are a wonderful place to raise a family.”

These are lessons to be learned for any organization, city, and region trying to plug into the innovation economy. Partnerships between community leaders and universities make innovation districts possible, even make them thrive. However, it takes a lot of dedicated and unselfish people to make it happen. In a nutshell:

• Create a community of smart, like-minded people.
• Bring together all of the essential ingredients together.
• Line up needed resources, facilities, and support.
• Approachability and convenience is key.
• Move fast.

Sounds simple, but it is hard work. To be effective, it requires leadership, a vision, and a willingness to collaborate on action.

Are you involved in an innovation community? Tell us about it and the great things happening there!

Ron Stein is founder of More Customers Academy, helping business leaders build strategic messaging and positioning that cuts through the competitive noise to grow revenue. Ron has developed his own highly successful 5-step Stand Out & Sell More approach to winning new customers as a result of his twenty-five years of business development, marketing, and selling experiences. He works with a range of businesses, from startups to large corporations across industries including technology and healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services and banking. Ron conducts workshops, leads company meetings, offers keynote talks, and consults. He can be reached at 727-398-1855 or by email.