Category: Community

When we started the Atlanta Tech Village we thought that there would be more demand for coworking space, with the idea that entrepreneurs and tech-related service providers wanted to be in large, open areas together. In reality, the initial private rooms sold out immediately — entrepreneurs want private space combined with community.

Here are a few ideas around private space combined with community:

• Entrepreneurship can be lonely, especially in the early days if things aren’t working out, so community is important
• Absent coworkers, community provides for more social interactions
• Private space provides more options for branding and customizing the furniture, pictures, etc
• Private space makes it easier to lock things up and leave personal effects behind

Of course, private space is more expensive than individual space if you don’t have the requisite number of people to fill the room, so it’s good to have a variety of options.

What else? What are your thoughts on entrepreneurs wanting private space combined with community?

One of the interesting parts about the Atlanta Tech Village is that the more successful we are helping startups grow, the more turnover we’ll have due to startups graduating out of the building. We don’t exactly know what size company that will be but we’re guessing somewhere in the 30 – 40 employee range. Of course, most of the startups in the building will be much smaller, usually with 1 – 5 employees, and will have substantial room to grow. 

Thinking about growth, here’s the ideal four year startup trajectory at the Atlanta Tech Village:

• Year 1 – Two entrepreneurs with an idea rent coworking desks, build a minimum respectable product, and raise some money and / or sell their product.
• Year 2 – Early in the year, the entrepreneurs move up in the building from the coworking space on the 1st floor to a private five-person office on the 2nd floor. Product traction is coming along nicely and product / market fit has been achieved (stage one is complete).
• Year 3 – With revenues growing nicely, the startup moves up to a 10-person modular suite on one of the upper floors. By the end of the year, it’s clear there’s a repeatable customer acquisition process in place (stage 2 is done), the startup raises a solid Series A round of financing, and takes an additional 10-person modular suite next to the first one.
• Year 4 – As the customer acquisition machine hums along, revenues grow substantially. Mid-year, the startup takes a third 10-person modular suite and has contiguous space for 30 people. With full on growth mode in effect (stage 3), and north of 30 employees, the startup graduates and moves next door to Tower Place or Piedmont Center. The cycle is complete.

Startup journeys are much more messy than outlined above, and that’s why being in a strong community is so important.

What else? What are your thoughts on the ideal four year startup trajectory at the Atlanta Tech Village?

Entrepreneurs have always had a history of giving back to society and other entrepreneurs. Step into any public library in America and there’s a good chance it was initiated by the entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie (2,509 libraries). Step into the Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the world, and know that it came from a $250 million donation via Bernie Marcus, the cofounder of Home Depot. Step into an entrepreneurship program and there’s a good chance it is from or influenced by the Kauffman Foundation, a multi-billion dollar foundation dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship.

With more societal focus on social entrepreneurship, initiatives like the Giving Pledge where billionaires give away at least half their fortune, and more focus on small businesses as the net new job creators in the country, we’re going to see even more entrepreneurs giving back to help others, especially other entrepreneurs.

Here are some examples I’ve seen of entrepreneurs giving back to help other entrepreneurs:

• At the ATDC and Flashpoint, there are always a number of volunteer entrepreneur mentors available
• The Nashville Entrepreneur Center is getting ready to open after raising $5 million from public and private groups, including many entrepreneurs
• The Greenville Next Innovation Center came about from a small group of entrepreneurs that wanted a facility to be around each other and to help future entrepreneurs
• Members of EO Accelerator are mentored by EO members and consistently say that’s one of the best parts of the program

I expect entrepreneurs giving back to help other entrepreneurs grow to increase and become more commonplace.

What else? What are some other examples of entrepreneurs giving back to help other entrepreneurs?

Today, two separate entrepreneurs mentioned to me another category I had missed in my post on Developing a Rhythm for Life: community service. Each entrepreneur presented it in a different light.

The first entrepreneur said as part of a life rhythm he’d recommend volunteering on the front line of a non-profit. His point was that as a successful leader it’s easy to serve on non-profit boards and be abstracted from the real work. Rather, by serving in the trenches of a non-profit, you get an opportunity to experience the gift of giving back in a more meaningful, personal manner.

The second entrepreneur, completely unrelated to the first, offered up that being heavily involved in a large non-profit, and serving as the board chairman, is food for his soul. He talked about his excitement and sense of fulfillment seeing positive change in peoples’ lives. As an ambitious entrepreneur, he’s done very well for himself, yet he spends a significant amount of time giving back.

So, when thinking about the rhythm of your life, consider community service and non-profits in there as well.

What else? What are your thoughts on food for my soul and help by volunteering on the front line?

Last month I attended a behind-the-scenes family event at the Atlanta Zoo. There were about 30 business leaders with their families and we were divided in five groups of six to be lead by an experienced tour guide. After 90 minutes with the guide, I had a new found appreciation for many of the exhibits as well as the effort required to make the zoo run smoothly (seeing a variety of frozen animals that were food for other animals was especially eye opening).

After the zoo event, I began thinking about my role as one of many tour guides of the startup world with the Atlanta Tech Village. So many community leaders and entrepreneurs have reached out to see the facility that I’ve been honored to walk them around and explain how we’re actively changing the trajectory of the entrepreneur community in a great way. For many of them, it’s the first time they’ve seen startups in the wild.

Here are some of the comments and questions I hear as a startup world tour guide:

• Wow, the energy and excitement is palpable
• People are so happy and friendly
• I didn’t realize there were so many startups in Atlanta
• What’s the average age? Answer: 30
• How does any get work done with all the ping pong tables, Xboxes, and scooters? Answer: work hard, play hard
• How many members are there? How many startups do they represent? Answer: 250+ / 80+
• How big of a startup does the facility support? Answer: 30+ people

As expected, life as a tour guide of the startup world is pretty special. Being surrounded by people chasing their dreams, and acting as a conduit to the non-startup world, makes for a great experience.

What else? What are some other thoughts on life as a tour guide of the startup world?

Atlanta is the health IT capital of the United States with 200+ health IT companies and nearly $4 billion in revenue (source). At the Atlanta Tech Village, we have several health IT companies like Rimidi Diabetes, DocTime, and Digital Assent / PatientPad. As part of our theme of playing to the existing strengths of our community, we see an opportunity for more health IT at ATV.

Here are a few ideas around health IT and the Atlanta Tech Village:

• Find a partner to run a health-related accelerator program like Rock Health or Healthbox
• Help someone create a health IT variant of the Atlanta Startup Village and have open monthly or quarterly events where health IT entrepreneurs give their five minute pitch followed by audience Q&A
• Encourage health IT groups and associations to use ATV facilities and help grow the number of active participants in the community

Health IT is a big part of the Atlanta tech and startup communities. ATV wants to do what it can to help.

What else? What are some other thoughts on health IT and the Atlanta Tech Village?