The Culture of Anchor Technology Companies Influences Future Startups

Earlier today I was at a meeting with two dozen of Atlanta’s startup community leaders. After talking for an hour, the topic of anchor technology companies came up and how as a community they are tremendously influential (Atlanta has several including AutoTrader.com and AirWatch). One of the things that wasn’t mentioned, but struck me on the drive home, is how the culture of the anchor technology companies influences future startups that come from employees of the anchor company.

Back in the 1970s, Atlanta had the largest software company in the world — MSA. MSA provided accounting and ERP software for mainframes, and was known for having an extremely sales-oriented and competitive culture. Fast forward to the 1990s and several of MSA’s past employees, including some of their sales professionals, had started very successful tech companies in Atlanta. Being immersed in a sales-oriented culture influenced how the MSA alumni ran their startups.

Some companies are sales-oriented, others are focused on engineering or customer service. It’s not that one focus is better or worse than another but that the culture of the anchor technology companies influences future startups as people take cues from their previous employer.

What else? What are your thoughts on how the culture of anchor technology companies influence future startups?