Startup Club Endorses Byron Donalds for Governor of Florida

Fort Lauderdale, FL, Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Startup Club, a global community of more than one million members, including entrepreneurs, founders, investors and business leaders, today announced its endorsement of Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for Governor of Florida. The endorsement marks the first time in Startup Club’s history that the organization has endorsed a candidate for public office.

Pictured left to right: Michele Van Tilborg, Byron Donalds, Jeffrey Wolf and Colin C. Campbell.

Startup Club founder Colin C. Campbell met with Donalds at a Fort Lauderdale roundtable and luncheon in January. During their conversation, Campbell told Donalds about a local CrossFit gym that had become a good example of the pressures facing small businesses in Florida.

“The gym is healthy. People love it. The owners are doing what entrepreneurs are supposed to do. But they are getting squeezed by rising insurance costs, rent and high interest rates,” Campbell said. “That conversation stuck with me because this isn’t an isolated story. We are hearing versions of it from entrepreneurs across Florida.”

Campbell said the decision to endorse Donalds was made specifically through the lens of entrepreneurship and small business, with particular attention to the rising cost of operating businesses in Florida, property insurance, access to capital, housing affordability and the time and expense involved in navigating government permitting and regulation.

“Florida has become one of the most exciting places in America to start a company, but it has also become a much more expensive place to run one,” Campbell said. “Entrepreneurs can handle risk. We deal with it every day. What is much harder for a small business to absorb are structural costs and government friction that have little to do with how well that business is actually being run.”

Campbell, a registered independent in Florida, said Startup Club’s endorsement is not based on party affiliation. Startup Club is not affiliated with any political party, and its mission remains focused on entrepreneurship.

“Startup Club has Republicans, Democrats, independents and plenty of entrepreneurs who would rather talk about customer acquisition costs than politics,” Campbell said. “Our mission has always been entrepreneurship. We looked at this race through that lens.”

Among the issues highlighted by Startup Club are Donalds’ proposals to increase transparency and competition in Florida’s insurance market and his “Florida Means Business” agenda, which calls for greater transparency around permitting timelines, faster government approvals and a reduction in regulatory friction for businesses.

Startup Club also pointed to the importance of maintaining Florida’s growing position as a destination for entrepreneurs, investors and capital.

“Over the last decade, Florida has made enormous progress attracting entrepreneurs and investment, particularly here in South Florida,” Campbell said. “The next challenge is making certain we create an environment where those entrepreneurs can stay, build companies, hire people and continue investing in the state.”

Campbell said access to capital remains particularly important for Florida’s startup ecosystem. While the amount of investment capital available in the state has grown considerably, Florida continues to compete with other major entrepreneurial centers for founders, investors and high-growth companies.

“Capital is mobile, and so are entrepreneurs,” Campbell said. “Florida’s next chapter can’t just be about attracting people. It has to be about keeping them and making this a place where entrepreneurs can start, build and scale companies.”

Startup Club has published a longer editorial by Campbell explaining the reasoning behind the endorsement and examining the gubernatorial race specifically from the perspective of entrepreneurs and small business owners.

“This endorsement doesn’t mean every Startup Club member will agree with me, and it doesn’t mean we’ll agree with Byron Donalds on every issue,” Campbell said. “It means something much narrower. We looked at this race through the lens of entrepreneurship and small business, and Startup Club has decided to endorse Byron Donalds for Governor of Florida.”

About Colin C. Campbell

Colin C. Campbell is a serial entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author and founder of Startup Club. He is the author of Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat., an award-winning entrepreneurship book that has received more than 40 global book awards. Campbell has spent more than 30 years starting, scaling and investing in companies and has founded and built businesses across the internet, technology and consumer sectors.

About Startup Club

Startup Club is a global community of more than one million members, including entrepreneurs, founders, investors and business leaders. The organization is focused on helping entrepreneurs start, scale, exit and repeat. Through live discussions, podcasts, events, educational content and its online community, Startup Club connects entrepreneurs with ideas, expertise and opportunities designed to help them build and grow companies. Startup Club is not affiliated with any political party.

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