Recently I saw the movie Hunger Games after it showed up as a recommended item on Netflix. In the movie there’s a scene where the leader asks another character why they don’t kill all participants and instead have a single winner that gets to live. After an insufficient answer is given, the leader responds: hope. People need hope otherwise they won’t care and won’t be as involved and committed.
Startup communities need hope as well. The Atlanta startup community is at an all-time high due to amazing progress and hope. Here are a few examples:
- AirWatch – raised a $200 million Series A round two months ago and is valued at over a billion dollars
- Atlanta Startup Exits in 2012 – Atlanta was ranked #8 in the country for the most number of startup acquisitions in 2012
- Atlanta Tech Village – the largest tech entrepreneurship center in the Southeast is now open and humming along
Hope is an important ingredient to push things forward and do things never thought possible. Startup communities need hope just like anything else.
What else? What are your thoughts on hope and startup communities?
Another way to look at it is that the opportunity cost of staying in Atlanta (vs moving to CA) is rapidly going down. Thanks for being a contributor to that shift!