Miami just jumped 6 spots in the @StartupBlink global rankings for startups.
We are now #22 in the world and have the 9th strongest startup ecosystem in the 🇺🇸!!
So much more work lies ahead.
Big shout out to the founders who are continuing to build here.
NEW RESEARCH from @SamLyman33: China is interfering with US data center development in a campaign to slow the American AI buildout.
In this groundbreaking report, we document 3 vectors of foreign influence: Chinese state media, the Singham network, and foreign billionaires.
The vibes in Miami feel pretty fantastic right now. The outcomes is the best I’ve seen.
Founders are getting funded. Companies are getting built. Investors are showing up. People are taking real swings.
Most importantly, founders are helping each other.
That part matters the most.
Miami tech has always had a chip on its shoulder. For years, people asked “is there actually anything happening there?” and the answer was annoying because there was, it was just early, uneven, and hard to explain without sounding defensive.
Now you can feel the compounding.
A founder raises and immediately starts making intros for the next founder.
Someone gets a customer and shares the playbook.
Someone meets a great operator and passes them to three other companies.
Someone writes a small angel check into a person who probably would have been ignored by the traditional network.
That’s how ecosystems actually get built.
People helping people climb.
As a result:
1. The ladder here feels more open.
In a lot of places, tech feels like a prestige maze. Right school, right company, right fund, right dinner, right group chat.
Miami is still messy enough that the doors are not all locked yet.
A kid from FIU can meet a founder.
A first-time founder can get in front of angels.
An operator can become a founder.
A community builder can become the connective tissue for an entire scene.
That’s special.
2. The energy is ambitious without being miserable.
People are working hard, and it doesn’t feel like everyone is trying to win by making everyone else feel behind.
There’s less “I missed the last wave” energy.
More “what can I build, who can I help, and how do we make this city more legit” energy.
That is a much healthier default.
3. The wins create mobility.
When a Miami company raises, hires, exits, or even just survives long enough to become credible, the whole city gets a little stronger.
Employees learn.
Founders recycle capital.
Operators level up.
Angels get created.
Customers become references.
People outside elite tech networks get a shot.
This is the part I care about the most.
Tech should be one of the last great engines of social mobility.
Miami still feels like a place where that can be true.
4. The best people here are still accessible.
There is ego everywhere. It’s tech. Let’s be serious.
Most of the newly transplanted rich folks are meeting local founders (Larry Page had the founder of an AI co over recently) & investing heavily in Miami (ie Citadel, Palantir grants).
That is new.
And fragile.
The second an ecosystem becomes too status-obsessed, it starts eating itself.
Miami has a real chance to avoid that because the culture is naturally relationship-driven. People here remember who helped them. They remember who showed up. They remember who was around before it was obvious.
People will still roll their eyes at Miami tech.
That’s fine.
They rolled their eyes at crypto.
They rolled their eyes at remote work.
They rolled their eyes at Florida.
They rolled their eyes at half the people who ended up building real things.
Miami does not need to be SF.
Miami has its own edge: immigrant ambition, sales culture, hospitality, finance, crypto DNA, Latin America access, weird builders, local pride, and a community that still feels small enough for one generous person to make a meaningful difference.
That is a very good setup.
The outcomes are getting better.
The founders are getting sharper.
The capital is getting more serious.
The network is getting denser.
And the best part is that it still feels early enough that anyone serious can show up and matter.
Pretty fantastic vibes tbh.
Sanders and AOC introduced a bill to pause ALL AI data center construction. 300+ local bills filed. Half of planned 2026 data centers facing delays or cancellation. Each one brings billions to local economies.
The people who say they want American jobs are trying to block the biggest job creation engine since the interstate highway system.