David Cummings on Startups

Atlanta Tech Village as Instant Community

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David Cummings

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Recently I was talking to an entrepreneur that was excited about moving into the Atlanta Tech Village. Me being naturally curious, I asked the entrepreneur what made it so exciting. Immediately, the entrepreneur said that it provided instant community for their employees. I probed deeper and quickly found that by having a small number of employees, it’s hard to have a critical mass to do programs, events, and build community.

Here are examples of instant community at the Atlanta Tech Village:

  • Weekly Friday lunches at Startup Chowdown
  • Running club
  • Weekly huddle groups for subjects like sales, marketing, and software engineering
  • Frequent happy hours
  • Regular office hours with subject matter experts
  • Multiple events and programs each week

The idea is that when you join a larger company, there are so many people and resources that help create community. Startups don’t have the same luxury, until now — Atlanta Tech Village provides an instant community.

What else? What are your thoughts on an instant community for startups?

Comments

4 responses to “Atlanta Tech Village as Instant Community”

  1. Ted Alling Avatar
    Ted Alling

    Those are some great ideas. We have seen a lot of the same things happen here in Chattanooga, TN. at Lamp Post Group. We also have the weekly tech meetings and social meet ups. A couple other things, that we have seen work.

    -Our entrepreneurs have turned part of an unfinished part of our office into an old school gym called “Fast Eddies”. Fast Eddies is used throughout the day with programmers taking 20 minute breaks to crank some reps out. They also have nightly crossfit work outs.

    -Jam sessions- we had bring your instrument to work day. For a couple hours, we probably had 30 people show up with an instrument and people crushed it together. It was incredible.

    -The entrepreneurs also pooled their money together and bought a used pontoon boat together that they keep on the Tennessee river and use very frequently.

    The thing that is really happening is that our companies are forming bonds that they care deeply about each other, love each other and are becoming each other’s biggest fans.

    Reply
    1. David Cummings Avatar
      David Cummings

      Awesome, thanks Ted for the comment. Charlie speaks highly of you and your group. It’s exciting to hear about all the great things going on.

      Reply
      1. brian trautschold (@BTrautschold) Avatar
        brian trautschold (@BTrautschold)

        David – anytime you have a free weekend, make a trip up to Chatt. We’ll have the boat ready to go. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

  2. Lisa Calhoun (@lisa_calhoun) Avatar
    Lisa Calhoun (@lisa_calhoun)

    Not just any old instant community–but a positive, self-starting, supportive one–to name just three of my favorite core values I learned somewhere. Write2Market is among those entrepreneurial companies looking forward to making our home at ATV and it’s not just the instant community that should be so elevating, but the kind of community being built there that attracts us to “come home.” Communities can be organized by any number of core values–so alignment is key. Also those guys up in Chatt–definitely part of the larger community that embraces us all of entrepreneurs making a difference. Love the vibe at Lampost.

    Reply

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