Founder: Farrukh Siddiqui

Company: Defynance

Thoughts: Bootstrap for as long as possible! It’ll be difficult and frustrating, but it fuels innovation, creativity, and aids in recruiting a core team that believes in the values and mission of the company.

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Video Marketing Workshop + Dinner
Camera Confidence for Your Business
Presented by Startup Sisters
Tuesday, June 18 at 6PM - 8PM
Use Code: STARTUPTPA for 20% Off


State of Innovation Meetup: Next Gen
Panel with John Wagner of CoLabs and Bill Shaw of Tampa Bay Hackerspace
Presented by Tampa Bay Inno 
Wednesday, June 19 at 5:30PM - 8PM


Sharpen Your Negotiation Skills
Presentation from Satish Mehta, Entrepreneur, Executive and Author
Presented by TiE Tampa Bay
Thursday, June 20 at 6:30PM - 9PM


Grow Financial Agile Tour
Tour of Grow Financial's Agile Work Spaces
Presented by Tampa Bay Agile
Friday, June 21 at 11AM - 12PM

KnowBe4 Breaks into Billion-Dollar Value After Latest Investment
Fortune • Clearwater-based startup KnowBe4 received a $300M investment from KKR, a leading private equity giant. This is a follow-on investment from KKR's initial $50M investment three months ago. Securing this additional funding takes KnowBe4's valuation to $1B bringing it to unicorn status. KnowBe4 plans to use the investments to continue international expansion, with eyes set on Japan next.


Venuetize Platform Lays Groundwork for In-Venue Mobile Experiences
Sports Video • Tampa Bay startup Venuetize is a platform-as-a-service that allows venues to consolidate their digital app services into one place for their attendees. The startup has worked with District Detroit — home to venues like Ford Field, Little Caesars Arena, Fox Theater and more — to launch the District Detroit Mobile App. This single app allows attendees to manage ticketing, food purchases, and navigate the district.


Announcing First Cohort Of Ecosystem Grants For New Block Explorers
Tezos Foundation • Pocket Network, a Tampa-based startup that offers a platform for developers to connect any app, on any block chain, to any device with a single line of code, has been accepted to The Tezos Foundation's Ecosystem Grants Program. As part of the program's first cohort, Pocket Network along with Tezos Baking Bad, Papers, AirGap and KidTsunami will work on making Tezos more accessible through developer tools and block explorers.

Company: Molekule

Elevator Pitch: A science and clean technology start-up that has completely reinvented the air purifier using a revolutionary new technology.

Position: Human Resources Manager

Position Highlights: As a Human Resources Manager, you will support all HR and recruiting-related coordination activities for Molekule's Florida and Costa Rica offices including: candidate interview scheduling, benefits support, HR-related topics, supporting on-boarding and off-boarding procedures. Additionally, you will serve as a key link between the Molekule teams in Florida, Costa Rica, Taiwan, and San Francisco.

Apply Here

Building Diverse and Inclusive Recruiting and Hiring Practices
Building diverse and inclusive practices into your hiring and recruiting process is an effort that will continually need support and iteration to be successful. We invited Alex Rose, Founder of ResumeRx, to hold a session for startup members of Embarc Collective on how to develop these practices early in your organization's development and the best methods to communicate your goals and culture to potential candidates. From that session, we pulled the key takeaways startup teams can reference as they build out diverse and inclusive teams.


Why Qualitative Market Research Belongs in Your Startup Tool Kit — and How to Wield it Effectively
Qualitative data is often misunderstood and not used often enough by founders and their teams. Jesse Caesar, a qualitative market researcher who's worked with brands like PepsiCo, Amazon and CreativeMarket, wants to rebrand this research tactic as he believes "qual isn't for watering down ideas. It's for inspiring them, vetting them and optimizing them." In this exclusive interview with First Round Review, he gives a comprehensive overview on research techniques and the kinds of questions qualitative data can unveil. He also outlines practical advice startups can use to choose the right methodologies to improve their product.

SAP.iO Foundries Miami HealthTech Pitch Night Applications
Exceptional early-stage enterprise health tech startups led by diverse teams that are either helping hospital systems, providing innovative health and wellness solutions for enterprises, or targeting life sciences are encouraged to apply.
Deadline June 20
Apply Here


YC Online Startup School Enrollment
Startup founders can apply for free to gain access to a network of 15,000 founders, virtual group sessions, and exclusive deals.
Deadline July 15
Apply Here