State of Entrepreneurship – Interview with Steve Millaway, founder of TechFarms
BY VAL SCHOGER PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE FENDER
Serial entrepreneur Steve Millaway has guided the success of several businesses throughout his career in the semiconductor and communications sectors in Tucson, Arizona. He experienced the emergence and rapid growth of technological innovations and their impact on worldwide markets. After the successful growth and sale of two of his businesses, he returned to his hometown of Panama City and recognized the need and potential of helping other entrepreneurs succeed.
Steve Millaway founded TechFarms, a Panama City Beach-based technology incubator in 2014 and in just a few short years, TechFarms has become synonymous with entrepreneurship and innovation in Northwest Florida, with its founder as one of the strongest ambassadors and advocates for the growth of the technology sector in the southeast.
With the ongoing mission of helping technology-based businesses define their goals and grow, Millaway sat down with Panama City Living Magazine to share his insights about Northwest Florida’s tech landscape that reveals his vision as much as his ultimate entrepreneurial spirit.
- What attracted you back to your hometown and what does entrepreneurship mean to you?
My wife and I returned to Panama City in 2007 to help take care of my parents who were experiencing health problems. As I became reacquainted with the community I quickly realized that Panama City and Northwest Florida were still heavily dependent on tourism and the military and were missing out on the private sector technology boom www.PanamaCityLiving.com • January–February 2020 • 51
that was taking place across the country. I decided to get involved and help grow our entrepreneurial ecosystem and skilled workforce so that it would be easier for us to attract larger established firms.
After 16 years as an integrated circuit (silicon “chips”) designer for Burr-Brown Corporation in Tucson, Arizona, I finally had the courage to quit and become an entrepreneur. For the past 25 years I have been an entrepreneur and it has been both the most difficult and most rewarding experience I’ve had. To me, being an entrepreneur means controlling your own destiny (good or bad), taking risks, and lots of sacrifice and hard work. I’ve always believed you only fail when you give up. An experienced entrepreneur knows that failure is part of the process and you need to acknowledge it, figure out what went wrong, devise a new plan, and move forward. Those that give up easily will probably not be successful entrepreneurs.
- Describe the work TechFarms does and how it supports entrepreneurs.
TechFarms is privately funded and its mission is to help expand the technology ecosystem in Bay County and Northwest Florida. We know that growing this ecosystem will help diversify our regional economy and lead to new opportunities and high-paying jobs for our residents. We have seen firsthand how the BP oil spill and Hurricane Michael have negatively impacted our tourism and military sectors. Establishing a third sector, private technology, can help us to further diversify.
We provide entrepreneurs with low-cost office space, access to fiber-optic internet, and an array of prototyping equipment, computers, and software. We hold regular events to help introduce entrepreneurs to other key personnel and businesses throughout the community. Most importantly, we provide onsite mentors and advisors and the opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors to collaborate with one another. Collaboration is a huge part of what TechFarms is all about. Entrepreneurs come to us looking for facilities, advice, and funding, but the ability to collaborate and connect with others in the tech ecosystem has been the single biggest contribution that we’ve made so far.
- How do you decide on the businesses you support? What phase/stage of entrepreneurship should a company or startup be in and what type of business can you support the best?
TechFarms’ primary focus is on early-stage, pre-revenue tech startups. We look for companies that have a great team, scalable business models, high barriers to entry, and the potential for rapid growth and profitability. We support both hardware and software startups and can be particularly helpful to companies in sectors such as electronic products, Software as a Service (SaS), Internet of Things (IoT), and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
We have a full-time business attorney onsite along with other experienced mentors and advisors to help startups form their businesses, develop their business models, connect with resources, locate funding, find customers, and grow their ventures. We also sometimes admit established companies if we think we can help them or if their products or services can be beneficial to other tenants. Examples are companies specializing in web design, social media, marketing and sales, software development, etc.
- What are the advantages that Bay County can offer (as a location and as a community) to entrepreneurs?
The advantages are numerous. Great educational institutions, beautiful beaches, great communities, cultural amenities, and support from government and business leaders who are strongly aligned in their desire to provide better opportunities for our residents. Hurricane Michael was devastating, but we are rebuilding and we will be stronger than before. Positive signs are everywhere—Tyndall is rebuilding, Gulf Coast State College, FSU-PC, and Haney Technical have all been repaired and have plans for expansion, and the Bay Economic Development Agency is receiving increased interest from out-of-state companies wanting to relocate some or all of their operations to Bay County.
One of Bay County’s oldest and perhaps most strategic partner, the St. Joe Company, has announced a staggering number of projects in Bay County that include multiple hotel, apartment, and housing developments. Perhaps most important, the company is moving its corporate headquarters to Panama City Beach in the spring of 2020.
- What are the biggest success stories so far for the entrepreneurs you are currently supporting or have supported?
Our most successful incubator graduate so far is Mine Survival Incorporated (MSI). MSI designs and manufactures wearable cutting- edge rebreather devices worn by miners, first responders, and other individuals that encounter toxic breathing conditions. The company’s founders, Rob Moran and David Cowgill, have spun off a second company called ATOR Labs that builds the world’s most advanced breathing simulator. The Automated Breathing Metabolic Simulator (ABMS) is used to test a wide variety of respiratory protective devices. MSI and ATOR Labs are located in Panama City Beach and are growing rapidly.
- Do you have a few tips for our readers who aspire to be entrepreneurs? What are the most frequent questions that you are asked?
We talk to lots of “wantrepreneurs,” people who want to become entrepreneurs, but for a variety of reasons never give it a try. Fear of failure is often the reason for their hesitation. What will they do if it doesn’t work out?
Being an entrepreneur these days is “cool,” and the chance to build the next Apple, Google, or Facebook is always a possibility. More likely, however, is the opportunity to sell your business for $30M or more to one of the many larger established firms that are always looking for new products and services to grow their business. These days, technology developments move at a blinding pace and it’s the smaller firms that actually have the advantage of speed over larger firms. As such, many larger firms prefer to grow through acquisition rather than trying to support expensive internal R&D efforts.
My advice to people is to decide if you’re a wantrepreneur or an entrepreneur. If you want to own your own business, set your own hours, and get rich quick, then you’re likely a wantrepreneur. If you are passionate about your idea, passionate about business, and understand that building a successful company takes lots of hard work, sacrifice, and dedication, then you’re more likely to become a successful entrepreneur.
Once you make the decision to become an entrepreneur, don’t sit at home or in your garage working on your idea in isolation. Successful entrepreneurs know that time is their most important resource and they can save time by leveraging their community’s assets and collaborating with other entrepreneurs. We strongly encourage entrepreneurs to come see what TechFarms has to offer them.
- Describe the organizations you work with to support entrepreneurs.
We work with a wide variety of individuals and organizations throughout Northwest Florida. Locally, we work closely with Gulf Coast State College, FSU-PC, and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and numerous consultants and small businesses that specialize in social media, electronics, mechanical design, software development, 3D modeling using Solidworks, machining, etc.
- What are the most important factors for entrepreneurial success?
The people. The company’s product or service is secondary. A great founding team with a good idea will often outperform a good team with a great idea. Starting a new business is difficult and requires lots of motivation, drive, and passion. If the management team doesn’t have these qualities and they don’t hire people who fit with this culture, then they are likely to fail.
- What is on your wishlist for TechFarms and what are your long-term goals?
Going forward we have two major goals. First, TechFarms hopes to greatly expand its facilities in the next several years so that we can help create many more tech startups. Growing this ecosystem will make it much easier for us to attract larger tech firms to our area.
Second, we are in the process of raising a $75M fund that will invest in promising tech startups throughout the Southeast. In particular, the southeast U.S. represents a huge opportunity for our investors since there are many promising startups and a big shortage of capital. Most of funding in the U.S. is targeting startups in places such as Silicon Valley, Austin, and New York. The lack of funding is often the single largest obstacle that entrepreneurs face. We continue to see good startups fail due to lack of capital and many are relocating elsewhere in search of funding. To solve this problem, we have established an early-stage venture capital fund called TechFarms Capital.
For more information visit TechFarms.com