Jun, 2022

Techstrong Group’s Alan Shimel on the state of South Florida tech

on June 25, 2022 / by Riley Kaminer ,

Read Time 3 Minutes

Alan Shimel, founder and CEO of the Techstrong Group, has seen his fair share of economic ups and downs in the more than three decades he’s been involved in the tech world. “I’ve been through the boom and bust cycles,” he told South Florida Tech Hub. “There’s no doubt that what we’re going through now is some sort of recession or correction. The market has changed in the last couple of months.”

How long this volatility lasts is difficult to predict, asserted Shimel. “It could be another two, three months. It could be a year or more.”

He believes that profitable companies with cash in their coffers will have no issue making it to the other side of this period of uncertainty. “You’re going to see a shakeout,” he explained. “A lot of the companies that raised money during 2021 but don’t have sound business models and business plans are going to have a hard time.”

But it’s not all doom and gloom for Shimel. “Economic downturns are also the best time to start new companies. It’s like fresh growth in the forest. And so I’m excited to see what new companies can come out of these times.”

No matter the direction in which the economy is trending, we can trust the TechStrong group’s wide range of media entities to keep us up-to-date on it all.

The Boca Raton-based omnichannel content company is empowering people and companies to come together and learn about what’s happening in the worlds of digital transformation, cybersecurity, the cloud, and DevOps.

Under the Techstrong Group’s umbrella are media brands such as DevOps.com, Security Boulevard, Container Journal, and TechstrongTV. The company also works to bring tech leaders, consultants, and vendors together to share their knowledge and learn from each other. This includes through their Techstrong Live! division, which hosts in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.

Shimel continues to be bullish about South Florida’s tech ecosystem, contending that our region has reached a critical mass of tech entrepreneurs and innovators. “It’s like a snowball rolling down a hill: once it’s of a certain size, nothing can stop it.”

He praised the work of South Florida Tech Hub and other local organizations that have been promoting our ecosystem on national and international levels. However, he hinted at some growing pains facing our region: “The reality is that it’s not less expensive here anymore, and it’s getting more and more crowded.”

That said, Shimel highlighted the Boca Raton/Delray Beach area in particular as a bright light in South Florida’s innovation ecosystem. “We have all the things you need to build a strong community,” he said. That includes universities with top talent, ambitious entrepreneurs, a government friendly to tech, and investors with capital. Boca ticks all the boxes.

“Boca has always been very entrepreneurial, even going back to the IBM days,” underscored Shimel. And the best may be yet to come.