Nod from Stripe co-founder shows that five years later, Miami is still posting

Five years ago, Miami was a punchline on tech Twitter.

The pandemic had just scattered founders, investors, and operators across the map. Miami seized the moment with a slogan, a mayor who knew how to tweet, and a flood of optimism that quickly got labeled “Miamiposting.” Our city became shorthand for a vibe shift, for crypto bros, for sunshine and hype.

But, over time, the “How can I help?” narrative cooled. Until this week, that is. A single post set the whole thing off again.

Patrick Collison, the co-founder and CEO of Stripe, dropped a simple observation after visiting Miami: It felt like a boomtown in a way no other American city had in years. He even compared it, cautiously, to Chinese cities known for rapid growth.

The replies and reposts came fast. Hundreds of them. Founders, investors, operators, locals, transplants, skeptics, boosters. The full spectrum of Miami, compressed into a comment thread with around a million views (as of this writing, Tuesday morning).

In other words, Miami posting again.

The love letter replies

Some responses were pure hospitality. Miami’s instinct, when noticed, is still to invite you for coffee.

Francis Suarez, the former mayor who fueled Miami tech’s ascent, thanked Collison for visiting and wished he’d known he was in town. Others immediately offered introductions to founders, investors, and ecosystem builders. “DMs open” showed up more than once.

This reflex says a lot. Miami’s tech scene has never relied on density alone. It runs on access, warmth, and an unusually low barrier between people who want to build things and people who can help them do it.

The transplant testimony

Then came the migration stories.

Harlem Capital’s Henri Pierre-Jacques talked about leaving New York after a decade and spending the last five years in Miami, acknowledging the city still has work to do but calling the growth real and meaningful.

Longtime VC Jalak Jobanputra offered a longer view: decades split between New York, San Francisco, and now Miami. Each city had its moment, she said, and “Miami is on an upswing now with energy that keeps growing.”

This is the throughline you hear most often from people who actually stay. Miami isn’t finished. It isn’t polished. But it feels alive in a way that reminds people of earlier chapters elsewhere.

The pushback

Not everyone was buying the comparison to Shanghai.

Some pushed back on the scale. Others on the structure. A few pointed out the obvious limits: geography, infrastructure, talent depth. Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures, put it plainly. Miami is great, but it probably won’t be the next San Francisco or Singapore.

In a separate tweet, Carter added: “When I see people posting about how Miami is the next Singapore, I think about the drawbridge on Brickell Ave which goes up and stops traffic whenever someone wants to sail their yacht up the river. Including at rush hour. That’s how priorities work here.”

Commenter Megan Nyvold joked that comparing Miami to Chinese cities was a stretch, but added something more telling: living somewhere healthy and warm changes how you show up every day.

A reply from comms vet Ted Miller laid out the tradeoffs clearly. He noted that Miami lacks some traditional tech talent density but makes up for it with entrepreneurial drive, cultural diversity, and capital. It’s building from the ground up, with universities, community colleges, and employers working more closely than they used to.

That mix is still uneven, but the scaffolding is visible.

The return of a familiar feeling

What makes this thread interesting isn’t that it proves Miami “won.” It doesn’t.

What it shows is something more subtle: Miami no longer needs to shout.

Five years after “How can I help?” became a meme, the city doesn’t feel like it’s auditioning anymore. People are here. They’re building. They’re arguing in public, which is a sign of confidence, not insecurity.

The hype cycle came and went. The work stayed.

And now, without trying very hard, Miami finds itself posting again.

Nod from Stripe co-founder shows that five years later, Miami is still posting

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