An evening with Miami's Nancy Dahlberg

She is part of our Startup Ecosystem and – sooner or later – we all end up obsessing over email salutations, pitch tactics and open-rate tracking just to connect with her.

She is the respected startup journalist and blogger.

Startup Grind finally makes it to sunny Miami, and Jason Ibarra, the Miami Chapter Director interviews Nancy Dahlberg at The LAB Miami. Nancy is a Miami Herald business writer and editor well-known in the Miami startup crowd for her blog, The Starting Gate.

During the chat with Nancy, we found out what she really thinks about Miami’s Startup Scene, what to consider when choosing between an incubator and an accelerator, and the dos and don’ts of getting the attention of journalists.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO HERE

8 key takeaways from Nancy:


  1. Miami’s “startup energy” has grown exponentially in the past year and a half. Exciting to see what’s next as more events and entrepreneurs come together.

  2. Some of Miami’s unique offerings to entrepreneurs: link to Latin America (business and talent), lower cost of living compared to other large tech cities, and creative atmospheres such as Wynwood.

  3. Miami is coming up with a lot of programs and workshops to teach children programming –strengthening the skills and talents that await Miami’s future.

  4. Don’t underestimate the importance of having a team with complementary skills. Not everyone needs to be a programmer.

  5. Every incubator, accelerator, Launchpad and co-working space has its own personality and benefits. You should test drive the vibe, management and program before choosing who to grow with.

  6. Add journalists to your mailing lists so your startup can remain fresh in her inbox and mind.

  7. Best way to make first contact: networking events or email

  8. What Nancy looks for when writing  piece on a startup:



  • Noteworthy traction

  • Usually passed launch and beta stages

  • Passed some real milestones in its industry

  • Have a press kit ready with photos, history, press release, logos, videos, etc.

  • Offer ready-to-publish guest posts – as long as they’re relevant and not too promotional


*** Miami’s first Startup Grind event honors Google for Entrepreneurs’ campaign #40Forward, which aims to increase the representation of women entrepreneurs in our local communities.***

Post authored by Bibi Nucci (@bbnucci), Co-Founder of Kitchenest.com.