“[In Florida], there's an opportunity to be a big fish which is something that you don't get that opportunity to do very often. In a place like L.A. or a place like San Francisco, you pretty much have to be a multi billionaire or an actor/actress to be able to do anything or to make a name for yourself. And here in Florida, there's a lot of ways to grow. There's a lot of ways to build a network.”
When it comes to creating a new center of gravity for entrepreneurship and innovation in the U.S., Brian Kornfeld isn’t just going to stand by and let Florida be left in the proverbial dust. As co-founder and president of Synapse Florida, Brian is working to change the way we network, what stories are told, how corporations solve problems and elevating the core skills non-traditional investors need to fund burgeoning sectors like technology and healthcare. A man of massive talent, vision, and determination, Brian has big dreams for Florida.
Why take this all on? Alligators.
Florida: We’re not just hurricanes, retirees and alligators
Or - say it with me - “Florida Man.” A Florida native, Brian’s early career as an aerospace engineer with Northrop Grumman took him to Los Angeles, where he met his wife and enjoyed living across the street from the beach and having famous people (ok, at best a B-list celebrity, Brian admits) as neighbors. Yet Brian was ready to return to his family and hometown of Tampa. In talking through the imminent move with his soon-to-be father-in-law, the man sincerely wondered how Brian would manage being chased by alligators as he walked down the street. Brian serves this story up in our second episode of Innovate Jax as a real example of Florida’s image problem: although that alligator question was posed ten years ago, many still associate our state with anything but a thriving base for startups and entrepreneurs. As Brian moved here and began to research why so many challenges existed for early-stage companies, he began to understand why.
Connections have to be intentional and not left to chance
Brian continues to explain so much is happening in each part of Florida, but no one was there to pull those pockets together, present “collision” points and connect the great challenges with the great ideas, resources, and, most importantly, the great investors who could bring solutions to life. And the problem was much closer than just connecting city to city. Brian lived two blocks away from a man he later befriended and learned could have directed hundreds of thousands of revenue dollars to Brian’s own company, Popkorn Apps, had the man known of Brian and his business. Further, Brian was witnessing a flight of Florida’s top talent as students assumed nothing cutting-edge could compel them to remain and launch their careers in-state. And within his own circle, Brian knew of a local connection who managed a $10 billion R&D budget - and the individual couldn’t find a single Florida-based company to invest in.
Brian was fortunate to discover others like Marc Blumenthal who had conducted their own research and arrived at the same conclusion: if they didn’t connect all these disparate pieces, Florida could never hope to compete on the innovation stage. Their solution is Synapse Florida, a 501(c)(3) actively making those connections in three distinct ways: Synapse Connect, Synapse Challenges, and their annual Synapse Summit.
Gateway to the South with a twist
Brian perceives Jacksonville’s northernmost location in Florida as an asset in two ways:
- We can be the connector between the flourishing Atlanta and Georgia economies and the rest of the state
- We can tap into and support the thriving research and entrepreneurial efforts of University of Florida, a top-tier academic institution just two hours from our city limits.
This isn’t a “Gateway to the South” revamp. Rather, Brian suggests that with our military, healthcare and digital health resources, we can help startups scale in those fields by leveraging what is already here. Challenge accepted, anyone?
Most importantly, Brian echoes what we know is perhaps our best asset: that our climate, our people and our commitment to helping the people with a great idea thrive can be our biggest draw not just for our home-grown talent, but for the thousand+ people moving to our state every day.
The Innovate Jax podcast will introduce you to the Jacksonville change-makers who are propelling our city into a new realm of sophistication. Our goal is to connect you to the people who are leaving their mark on our city today, in hopes that they inspire you to leave your mark tomorrow. Subscribe today and you’ll have fresh new episodes delivered to you each month. And feel free to recommend a guest by dropping us a note at innovatejax@forcura.com.
