Today wrapped up the 2014 Venture Atlanta conference at the amazing Georgia Aquarium. With 30 startups and 700 attendees, it’s one of the largest venture conferences in the country. The presenting companies did a great job and should be commended for their excellent work.
Here are a few takeaways from the event:
- Big data and predictive analytics are the popular buzzword phrases
- Most of the venture capitalists in the audience were focused on growth stage startups (e.g. at least $3-5 million in recurring revenue)
- Out of town investors enjoy the annual Venture Atlanta trip and have been coming for years
- Atlanta is a B2B tech town (we already knew it but the event really drives it home)
- ATDC and ATV were extremely well represented with over half the companies
- Having 25 Atlanta startups and five out of state startups was a mixed bag (the out of state startups presented well but as a city we should field 30 quality startups every year)
Overall, there’s a general level of excitement and interest around tech startups in Atlanta. Venture Atlanta acts like an annual pep rally for the city and is a worthwhile event.
What else? What are some other takeaways from the 2014 Venture Atlanta conference?
David Cummings on Startups 
5 out of state? Really? You’re telling me Georgia can’t find a worthy 30? Shame on Georgia.