Category: Community

One of the more common questions I get about the Atlanta Tech Village is regarding opening up other locations. My response is always that we’re focused on making our current building the flagship facility for technology entrepreneurs in the Southeast and the country, and aren’t currently looking at any other opportunities. Is there room for more high density startup buildings in Metro Atlanta? Absolutely!

Here are a few thoughts on opportunities for more high density startup buildings in Metro Atlanta:

• Buckhead – I believe ATV will satiate all the demand for open coworking, private rooms, and modular suites for tech companies and startups under 25 people while there is opportunity for another building for growth startups that have “graduated” from ATV
• Midtown – There’s plenty of opportunity in Midtown, evidenced by the ATDC having a waiting list, Hypepotamus being full, and the success of the Biltmore
• Old Fourth Ward / Inman Park – A tech co-working space with plenty of private rooms would do well in Ponce City Market or a place nearby due to all the creative professionals in the area
• Downtown – 200 Peachtree Office is a co-working space in a great location downtown with many amenities
• Perimeter – With a few MARTA stations, GA 400 and 285, as well as a number of tech companies like AirWatch, the necessary ingredients are in place to support a facility with coworking, private rooms, and some modular suites.
• Suburbs – Tech heavy suburbs like Marietta, Alpharetta, and Norcross should be able to support a small-to-medium sized facility, especially if there’s a public/private partnership arrangement

Overall, there’s an opportunity for a number high density startup buildings in the 5,000  – 20,000 sq ft range. One of the biggest challenges is that a large number of members is necessary to support having a dedicated staff, which is required for a successful community, and that makes smaller facilities often unworkable. I’m looking forward to more high density startup buildings in Atlanta.

What else? What do you think of the opportunities for more high density startup buildings in Metro Atlanta?

Quick, who’s the most famous entrepreneur ever from Atlanta? Hint: he’s been referred to as “the mouth of the South.” That’s right, it’s Ted Turner. Ted Turner understands self-promotion and is happy to speak his mind (see the book Call Me Ted). Now, beyond Ted Turner and his amazing run with TBS and CNN, who are some other famous entrepreneurs from Atlanta. It’s hard to name very many.

Atlanta, with it’s Southern culture, has too much modesty. There are so many success stories, yet they are rarely talked about. Last year Atlanta had a half billion dollars in exits alone with marketing software companies, and people aren’t shouting the story from the rooftops. Atlanta has three more marketing software companies in Silverpop, Mailchimp, and WhatCounts that are easily worth over a half billion dollars combined — there’s no national press about the marketing software cluster in Atlanta.

I don’t have the answer but I can see the problem: Atlanta has too much modesty and needs to get better at self-promotion.

What else? What are some ideas to help with promoting the city and its successes?

Seven years ago we started doing a weekly Friday lunch for our employees as a way to break bread as a team and to get to know each other on a personal level. It worked so well as a small company, we thought to try it out for the entire startup community with the large event space at the Atlanta Tech Village. So, 10 weeks ago we kicked it off with a good turnout and it’s grown ever since. For the last five weeks, we’ve had well over 100 people per week attend and we’ve even branded it as the Startup Chowdown.

Here are a few notes on the startup community weekly lunch idea:

• Charge a nominal fee (Startup Chowdown is $10 for people that aren’t a member of ATV) so that people who sign up are more likely to attend as well as to defray some costs
• Find a sponsor, whenever possible, to pay for the food and drink in exchange for getting to talk for five minutes in front of the group
• Cater the food and drink to keep the quality high and effort low for the people coordinating the event
• Provide name tags or badges with different color labels to promote interaction (e.g. random groupings of people based on their badge color to help people meet new people)
• Make the event open and inclusive but include a strict no solicitation rule so that people aren’t trying to sell during the event

The weekly Startup Chowdown event is a great low-key way to bring a startup community together and would be successful in many cities.

What else? What are some other ideas on having a weekly lunch to bring the startup community together?

In Atlanta there’s an ongoing discussion about the lack of early stage risk capital for startups. One side argues that if more capital is present, more deals will get funded. The other side argues that there aren’t enough talented entrepreneurs yet, and that when the entrepreneurs are here, the money will follow. From my perspective, capital is mobile and entrepreneurs with a good market, team, and idea will be able to get funding, locally or otherwise.

There’s another tightly related topic that needs more discussion as well: startups in Atlanta and other places outside the major startup centers have a higher bar for an exit. Here are a few thoughts on exits in Atlanta:

• Historically, 4-6 total tech startups get acquired per year for more than $10 million, meaning it’s a rare occurrence
• Strategic acquirers, in order to have a new remote office, need to have meaningful scale to be worthwhile (e.g. 50+ employees)
• Press and PR is harder to come by when bootstrapping or raising limited capital, making awareness by potential acquirers less likely
• Acqui-hires, regardless of being good or bad, almost never happen

For a startup, the best approach is to build a successful, sustainable business and not focus on an exit. As for exits, in Atlanta and most other places, the bar for an exit is much higher than expected.

What else? What are your thoughts on Atlanta startups having a higher exit bar?

On Thursday morning I’m honored to have the opportunity to share my personal story and thoughts on the Atlanta startup community with the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Atlanta has a strong business community that’s well-known for getting involved and making a difference. For their most recent strategic plan, fostering entrepreneurship and startups were identified as key priorities.

Here are a few notes on the Atlanta startup community:

• Atlanta has all the natural resources to be a top 10 tech startup city
• Startup strengths include technical talent, low cost of living, abundant young professionals, and great quality of life
• Startup weaknesses include experienced entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial density, and risk capital
• Atlanta needs to focus on companies that generate revenue from outside the region thereby creating net new jobs
• Georgia Tech has significant untapped entrepreneurial potential
• Atlanta Tech Village is the largest tech entrepreneurship center in the Southeast with a goal of creating 10,000 jobs in 10 years
• 2012 marked nearly half a billion in exit value for marketing software companies in Atlanta
• Atlanta has another handful of marketing software companies currently worth over half a billion in value
• Atlanta’s startup energy is at an all-time high with no signs of slowing down
• Atlanta’s startup community needs more support from the large, local companies by way of mentoring, investments, and doing business together
• Seed stage risk capital is scarce while capital for fast growing tech companies with modest scale is readily available
• Metro Atlanta Chamber has an opportunity to help strategically with industry introductions as well as capital sources

I’m looking forward to talking to the Metro Atlanta Chamber on Thursday and getting them excited about changing the entrepreneurial trajectory of Atlanta.

What else? What are some other thoughts to share on Atlanta’s startup community?

At the Atlanta Tech Village we’ve had a number economic development agencies come through for a tour. As a new initiative for Atlanta and the Southeast, there’s a significant amount of interest and curiosity. Several of the economic development people have mentioned how they’re working on co-working space for startups in their own cities and neighborhoods.

Co-working space is great for the freelancer and entrepreneur starting a business, but there’s another, more important issue not being addressed: innovative vs replicative businesses. Not all companies are created equal. Most companies are replicative businesses where they are replicating something that is already well defined and a known quantity, like a law firm or accounting firm. Innovative businesses, on the other hand, are building something new and trying something that hasn’t been done before. With innovation comes a high rate of failure, but also an opportunity for net new jobs due to being able to generate revenue from outside the region.

In the context of job creation, it’s important to recognize that innovative and replicative businesses are two different things. Innovative businesses have greater risk, and greater reward. Co-working spaces often have both types of businesses, but their needs and challenges differ, such that one approach isn’t right for both types. To excel, it’s best to choose a focus and be the best in that target area.

What else? What are your thoughts on co-working, job creation, and innovative vs replicative businesses?

Tonight the Atlanta Tech Village hosted the eight edition of the Atlanta Startup Village. Being the second ASV at ATV it was much smoother with more chairs, more TVs, more food, and, of course, more drinks. With 263 people signed up and well over 200 attending, it’s the largest monthly startup event in the Southeast.

Here were the five presenters:

• Deductmor – Expense management focused on independent contractors
• QGenda – Physician scheduling software
• Kevy – Cloud integration middleware
• PeachDish – Weekly meal ingredient delivery service
• BitPay – Bitcoin payment processing platform

The companies did a great job and I’m looking forward to tracking their success.