At the Atlanta Tech Village we probably average 25 people per week coming through on a tour of one sort or another, so it’s fun to hear all the different questions and comments. I also enjoy asking the question “How did you first hear about ATV?” and most of the time it’s from a friend or via Twitter. As with anything, there are a number of misconceptions.
Here are the top three misconceptions about the Atlanta Tech Village:
- Amount of Space – Many people think the Atlanta Tech Village is one floor or one section of the building when it is actually the entire building, patio, and parking deck — 103,000 square foot building and a 93,000 square foot parking deck.
- Incubator Equity – ATV is a high tech entrepreneur center and not an incubator — members pay a monthly fee and there’s no equity component or shared services component. We do have investors in the building along with other service providers, but no equity is involved to join.
- Vetting of Ideas – We believe we can’t pick the good ideas from the bad ideas better than anyone else, but by providing a great community and holding people accountable to our four core values (be nice, dream big, pay it forward, work hard/play hard), we can increase the likelihood of success.
ATV is designed to service technology and technology-related companies that have a unique set of needs in their quest to change the world. Come join us.
What else? What other misconceptions have you heard about the Atlanta Tech Village?
David Cummings on Startups 
Great post David. I especially love number 3. Only customers can vet ideas. Let ’em all in, let the customers sort ’em out.
David, great post and I am not surprised to see you as always questing for clarity and exposing misconceptions. Thanks for all you’re doing for the Atlanta tech scene. You’ve personally injected so much energy–just the fact that people are talking about what is an ideal tech community is a revitalized conversation thanks to your ATV.
You know I network a lot in the regional tech community. One of the misconceptions I’m hearing a lot from is that ATV is an incubator or charity–and that as such, it’s surpsrisngly “expensive.” First, it’s not a charity. Second, I’m hearing that not enough people realize the rather unbelievable suite of benefits (from on site snacks to Atlanta’s highest speed internet, and plans for onsite user experience labs and isolated on site servers) that come with the head price. Just my two cents – Lisa