Tough times call for time-tested strategies

By Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer
In print: Saturday, March 29, 2008

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Sorry, tech entrepreneurs. There's no sugarcoating this.

Getting investors keen on that blazing tech idea now is pretty much like waiting for Godot. You can wait. But it ain't happening.

If it makes you feel any better, you can dump some of the blame on the housing slump.

"The market is a little bit schizophrenic," said Thomas W. Cardy, managing director of Tampa's Hyde Park Capital, addressing a panel this week at the Star Technology Enterprise Center 2008 entrepreneurship conference at the Hilton in Carillon Park, St. Petersburg.

"After the condo dive, they don't wanna catch falling knives," Cardy said.

Not that we aren't attracting retired Richie Riches yearning for some local firm in which to invest their megabucks. Many still patronize fledgling companies. But unlike Boston and Silicon Valley, there's not much of a tech appetite here. Or, if there is, it's spread out and diluted among Florida's sprawling metro areas.

So, do you pack your bags and move to that other sunny state?

Some tips investors at the panel doled out were the tried-and-tested mantras of networking, building good credit and having realistic business plans. Not very comforting after the gloom-and-doom portrayal. But, Robin Kovaleski, of the Florida Venture Forum, says there's hope. Her optimism is partly rooted in the forum's scheduled May 16 conference to raise money for early stage or fledgling companies in the state.

Buckle up, techie friends. You at least have a shot at the pot in two months. If you miss that, there's always that loaded college friend or wealthy distant cousin to fall back on.

Madhusmita Bora can be reached

at mbora@sptimes.com

or (813) 225-3112.