Atlanta Tech Village Observations After 10 Weeks

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The Atlanta Tech Village has been open for 10 weeks now and we’ve been having a great time. Real estate and community building, as an entrepreneur, are very different from enterprise software, but still the same regarding the need to constantly learn, talk with customers, and iterate.

Here are some observations and lessons learned after having the Atlanta Tech Village open for 10 weeks:

Community support has been phenomenal and hundreds of people have reached out to see how they can help
102 paying members have joined so far (a paying member is someone that has a membership with a desk)
To have greater density of people, and drive down the per person costs, parking is going to be the limiting factor (we can get to 450 members with our current parking deck and we’re going to have 600 desks once our renovations are finished — many parking decks are in the area)
Demand has exceeded expectations for people wanting a spot to go to one or two days a week (we thought more people would be in three to four days per week)
Companies with two or more people prefer a private room instead of being in a large coworking area (we knew that was the case but we didn’t realize to what extent)
High end, locally ground coffee has been a big hit
Super short contracts/agreements are a big draw for entrepreneurs
Serendipitous interactions are already happening and creating value for the community
Simple programs like Free Food Fridays, where we have catered lunch for everyone every Friday, are some of the best ways to bring the community together

10 weeks in, the Atlanta Tech Village is exceeding my expectations and I’m looking forward to the continued enhancements and changes.

What else? What are some other observations about the Atlanta Tech Village you didn’t expect 10 weeks ago?

Comments

13 responses to “Atlanta Tech Village Observations After 10 Weeks”

March 16, 2013

Ricky Stee

CONGRATULATIONS, David, Johnson and team. Atlanta appreciates all you are doing.

Reply
March 16, 2013

Taylor Brooks (@taylorbrooks)

Is there a way to incentivize people to ride bicycles, walk or use public transport?

How do you handle billing?

Reply
1. March 18, 2013
  
  David Cummings
  
  We use Cobot for billing, room scheduling, etc
  
  Reply
2. March 18, 2013
  
  Erin Rosintoski
  
  Hi Taylor,
  
  We are super close to the Buckhead MARTA station, which is about a 10 minute walk, and will be about 5 minutes this Fall when the pedestrian bridge is complete. Also, there is a group of about 10 of us (some work at ATV and some on the other side of the mall) who bike in together at least once a week. Join us by following #buckheadcommuteclub on twitter.
  
  Erin, ATV Community Manager
  
  Reply
March 17, 2013

Luigi Montanez (@1uigi)

Looking forward to becoming a member when I move down there next month!

Reply
March 17, 2013

kenhaberman

Great post! In many areas, collaboration is replacing competition as the watchword among small businesses.

Reply
March 17, 2013

Collin Van Dyck

David, congratulations on your new venture. I’ll have to check it out the next time I’m in town.

Reply
March 17, 2013

collinvandyck

David, congrats on your new venture. I’ll have to check it out the next time I’m in Atlanta.

Reply
1. March 18, 2013
  
  David Cummings
  
  Thanks Collin! That sounds great.
  
  Reply
March 17, 2013

Dru Riley

This is great! Looking forward to checking out ATV at the next Atlanta Startup Village meetup.

Reply
1. March 18, 2013
  
  David Cummings
  
  Great, we’re looking forward to hosting the event.
  
  Reply
April 4, 2013

M. Gresham (@MeMyselfAndM)

I definitely agree about the one total day a week bit.for people like me who work in corporate but have the flexibility to work remotely and want to be around such an inspiring group of people, its the perfect offer. I’d love for I and my coworkers at Turner to be able to drop in on Fridays and co work.

Reply
1. April 4, 2013
  
  M. Gresham (@MeMyselfAndM)
  
  One to two day a week bit*
  
  Reply