David Cummings on Startups

Thinking about Shotput Ventures 2.0

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David Cummings

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At the end of last week we made the announcement about Shotput Ventures 2.0. The general idea is that we’re doing the same type of investing in new, capital-light web services companies, but are no longer having a single class each summer, like last year. Instead, we’re having an always-open application where teams can apply at any time. Teams that are accepted, and thus turned into companies, get 12 weeks of mentoring, learning, and introductions from the Shotput partners.

Here are some of the reasons behind the changes:

  • We proved last summer that we could get eight great companies to move to Atlanta for the program, but the challenge was keeping them here (three stayed and five moved)
  • Great teams and ideas don’t want to wait for the summer to get going, and thus making Shotput a year round program opens us up to more opportunistic funding
  • We thought there was more pent up demand in the Southeast for a program like Shotput, but the majority of applications both years were from outside the Southeast

Atlanta no longer has a Y Combinator clone but still has a fund committed to the spirit of it, and will invest in 3 – 5 companies per year.

What are your thoughts? What do you think of Shotput Ventures 2.0?

Comments

3 responses to “Thinking about Shotput Ventures 2.0”

  1. Stephen Reid Avatar
    Stephen Reid

    Marketing will be one area that will suffer. Last year in Atlanta everybody was talking about the deadline to apply and how neat it is that Atlanta would have something like that.

    With rolling admissions, you have this effect of lessening excitement and lessening senses of urgency to get a team / idea together.

    Reply
    1. davidcummings Avatar
      davidcummings

      Thanks Stephen. A counter argument to your point is that teams shouldn’t be assembled for deadlines, but rather when they are ready. Local entrepreneurs are thinking of ideas and putting teams together all time — now they have a place to go as soon as they are ready.

      Reply
  2. Kevin Vogelsang Avatar
    Kevin Vogelsang

    I’ve been meaning to send everyone some feedback on the program. I’ll add it to my list of things to do.

    A lot of people are starting these incubation programs, but I think everyone involved in these efforts needs to understand that they’re designed for a specific type of company, a specific stage of company, and work best in a specific context. Just because it works great in YC in Silicon Valley, doesn’t mean it will work elsewhere. In fact, I think YC has lead to a bit of a myth that a real business can be launched and made ramen-profitable in 3 months.

    One thing that this new model takes away is a real sense of community, and I think this is the most important aspect of the incubator model.

    There is definitely room for innovation around this model. Hopefully, I can send you guys some more thoughts soon.

    Reply

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