As entrepreneurs, many of us get "stuck" coming up with creative and original solutions to nagging problems. In the book Made to Stick, the Heath brothers reference a study of brainstorming. Groups were supposed to create the marketing ideas for a product.

    Group 1... just started creating ideas 
    Group 2... was given two hours of training in brainstorming methods 
    Group 3... was given two hours of training in the six most successful 
                   templates for ads.

All ads were evaluated by a marketing director and tested on customers.

    Group 1 results: ads were considered annoying by customers. 
    Group 2 results: ads were considered less annoying but no more creative. 
    Group 3 results: ads were considered 50% more creative and generated a 
                           55% better response from customers.

In other words, brainstorming is useless unless you know what you're looking for or already have a template for success. Now, go ideate correctly because the world needs your breakthrough ideas ;)

To use a very simple analogy, I think startups (and their founders) are like flowers that are planted, nourished and grown in one garden but can be RE-PLANTED in another (for example, my back yard).

To think that a group of startups ARE the ecosystem is like thinking that a group of flowers ARE the garden… this is incorrect.

"Successful startups are the output of a successful entrepreneurial garden (an ecosystem made up of a culmination of incubators, coffee houses, accelerators, mentors, sources of capital, etc.)."

I think the sooner we can aggregate all of these resources under one roof (and show them how to add value to each other, while still getting what they want)… the sooner we can create the “stickiness” needed to keep more local startups in Tampa Bay.

As always, I could be completely wrong ;)