Atlanta Tech Village as Perceived Startup Employment Stability

Yesterday I was meeting with a very successful entrepreneur in town at the Atlanta Tech Village. As we were talking about the facility and community, he cited an important observation I hadn’t previously heard: people who join startups at the Village feel they have more stable employment, all things equal, compared to working for a startup in a traditional building. Right or wrong, there’s some truth to it. One of the more difficult things to do is to recruit someone from a non-startup to a startup, especially if it’s an area of the country that has a limited startup scene (which is most of the country).

Here are a few thoughts on the perceived startup employment stability in an entrepreneurship center:

• Strength in numbers provides comfort with the idea being that if the hundreds of people around me are working for startups, there must some societal acceptance to it
• High highs and low lows are a routine part of startup life, and mentally removing some of the stability nervousness also helps with modulating the other fluctuations
• Relationships and personal networks still drive the majority of startup hires, so being in a large community of like-minded individuals increases the size and growth of individual connections, making the prospects of finding another job higher in the event the current startup doesn’t work out

Time will tell if startups at the Atlanta Tech Village have a higher success rate and therefore more employment stability. Regardless, I’m confident in the importance of inter-personal relationships to find a new job, and the Village will result in a shorter time and more opportunities for someone when a startup doesn’t work out.

What else? What are some other thoughts on the Atlanta Tech Village as perceived startup employment stability?