Is there any particularly good reason why O-Rock and 740 both disappeared?

Surely, it's a money thing.. but man oh man.. Orlando local radio suuuuucks. Real radio during the day is okay, but then you have a poor mans love line mixed with stereotypical dj cliches at night. It's like listening to an ongoing family guy joke. My brother and I were reminiscing about how Monsters used to make fun of those idiots all the time.. now they're the night time show. Awwkward.

And yes, 101.1 is still around, but if I wanted to listen to Nickelback... wait.. What am I saying.. I'd never want to listen to those hacks, nor do I want to listen to any of the other corporate trash that WJRR plays.

Do the radio station corporations own a chunk of satellite radio? Are they trying to make FM radio die a painful death? Or has Orlando just rapidly changed its demographics to the point where only Spanish, manufactured pop and cheesy over-produced lameo-rock stations are able to survive?

I guess I just don't understand the business behind local radio. I'm sure margins are tight and everything is pre-planned and digital now. It just sucks, that's all.

Thank god for my iPod and my tape deck connector.... New school meets the old.

Orlando Improv has closed it's doors. I know it has something to do with the sale of the building after the Lou Pearlman debacle. Anyone know the details?

Absolute shame. I hope this place doesn't end up off I-drive like howl at the moon. Never fun seeing downtown lose some of it's more cherished venues.

UPDATE: According to Orlando Metromix, Improv has closed due to disagreements with Cameron Kuhn, the new owner of the building.

"[Bob] Joyce [tampa general manager] says they are seeking a lawsuit against Kuhn for breaches in contract, one of them being not renewing the club's liquor license. He wouldn't comment any further but to say an official press release will be sent out on Monday and the Orlando Improv is actively seeking a new location."

Etan Horowitz, technology reporter for the Sentinel, commented with a link to today's paper discussing a new restaurant that will be entering the space. Some sort of rustic steak house concept. At the end of the article though, it's suggested that Kuhn, who purchased the building from bankrupt mogul Lou Pearlman, may be facing his own financial difficulties: a legal battle with one of his lenders, tightening credit, and, well, evidently a new lawsuit with the Improv.

Great.

At this pace Church Street will end up with a "rustic" philly cheese steak hut and a big lots.

Best of luck to the Improv, and please, if at all possible, find a new place downtown!

UPDATE #2: Cory has a write up worth checking out with more detail on the Kuhn-Improv situation.

While I was away, John Rife posted an excellent assessment/announcement over at his blog FindingJohn. I've been friends with John for about a year now. He has a lot of passion for both Orlando and for technology, and a ton of experience when it comes to investing. We've had a number of conversations over the last couple of months sizing up the local tech scene and trying to determine our collective needs. It's great to see him moving in this direction, as I think it will help our community a great deal.

Why More Local Venture Funds are a Good Thing

As most of you probably know, Gavin and I have so far chosen to self fund Emurse.com and our other web products (hoping for a new yet-to-be-announced-product to launch soon, possibly barcamp?) The #1 reason for doing so is, well, because we can, but a close second is the lack of available options locally. We do not intend to leave Central Florida. In fact, I moved back to Central Florida from DC largely because of our growing company. The idea of packing our bags and heading west feels like we'd be selling out. We don't particularly have a problem with the west coast, but we don't particularly love it either. Orlando, we love.

Many of the issues entrepreneurs have with outside investment (besides the obvious equity exchange) revolve around losing control, losing corporate identity and risking their culture. When there are a plethora of options available, these risks are minimized by the presence of choice. If you don't like the investors, don't work with them -- there are others to choose from.

To give you an idea of what goes into choosing an investor.. I can't speak for everyone, but in our case, it's not so much the money that would be important as much as the connections the money might carry. Being on the east coast, someone with west coast ties would be appealing. We're in the HR space, so someone with strong local ties would be nice (easier to pilot beta products with someone right down the street). Then there are other questions, like what are the other companies in the investment groups portfolio? Are there in house partnership opportunities? How does the web industry view the investment group? Are they well received, controversial, or flat out hated? This might all come across as being picky, but investment is more than just money, it's an added business partner.

No one investment group will appeal to everyone, and thats where the necessity for multiple firms comes into play. Off the top of my head, Dan Rua and Inflexion comes to mind. There is also the option of the UCF incubator, but from what I've been able to gather, it wouldn't necessarily address our particular needs. The EDC can also help match up investors with investments, but I'm not sure their capacity. All in all, the Central Florida region desperately needs choice. We're far from establishing our own version of Sandhill Road.

Why Orlando?

I get asked pretty often why we chose to base ourselves out of Orlando. In most folks eyes, it's the tourism capitol of the world and not much more. What is sadly overlooked is the rapidly growing $10 billion a year technology industry that resides here in Metro Orlando. The fact that the metro area has 7 airports gives us easy access to other markets when we need to be there. Florida has an extremely friendly business tax system (Tax Foundation named us 5th in the nation), and no state income tax. UCF, UF and USF are all within a hundred mile radius of Orlando. UF is the 3rd largest school in the country, UCF is the 6th largest in the country, and USF is the ninth. All in all there are more than 25 colleges and universities in metro Orlando, and more than 50 technical schools. There's plenty of talent here, and it's cheap talent, because our cost of living is so low. In the last couple of years, more than a few leading business magazines have echoed the same sentiments -- Orlando is a great place to be an entrepreneur and a great place to live.

We have a great community locally that's finally starting to come together. Ryan's done amazing things with Florida Creatives, and Gregg appears to be organizing the barcamp to end all barcamps. Josh's blogOrlando format has not only taken root here, but all over the eastern seaboard. There's a ton of money here in Central Florida, and more choice in the venture arena can help get financing into the hands of people who need it. The success of our area's new companies will help create even more mentors and knowledge locally, and that will help create even more success.

Orlando's monstrous growth rate, local wealth, ample qualified talent, great weather, low taxes and creative spirit make it an amazing place to live and work. All that's left for this town is for the startup scene to start connecting the dots.