David Cummings on Startups

Tag: Entrepreneurship

  • Y Combinator for Atlanta – Costs?

    Lance Weatherby has an interesting post titled “Who Wants Seed Money?” in which he discusses the idea of a Y Combinator for the Southeast. I’m a proponent of the idea and was part of the discussions last year with the people he mentions. Mike Landman and I hashed out the idea once again today at lunch and concluded that Atlanta really needs such a program. Mike is heading up the EO Accelerator program for Atlanta which helps entrepreneurs with businesses between $250k and $750k grow to $1 million plus so as to be eligible to join EO (which I highly recommend).

    Naturally, Mike and I dove right into some of the details of doing a Y Combinator for Atlanta. We each have a couple thousand extra square feet at our respective corporate offices to provide a co-working environment. What are some of the other costs? Here are the initial thoughts on costs on an annual basis:

    • Managing Partner – volunteer (~$5k in expenses to talk at regional organizations and schools)
    • Part-time Program Coordinator – $20k
    • 5 teams in one summer class @ $20k investment per team – $100k
    • Office space (2,000+ sq feet for 20 people) – $25k (possibly less)
    • Legal – $5k
    • Accounting – $3k
    • Miscellaneous (food, infrastructure, etc) – $7k
    • Cushion (more people per team than expected, legal/accounting in future years) – $10k

    Total: $175k annually

  • Entrepreneurs’ Organization

    I joined the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) three months ago and I have nothing but great things to say about it. According to the EO website, EO is:

    The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a global network of business owners, all of whom run companies that exceed US$1M in annual revenue. We engage leading entrepreneurs to learn and grow through executive education and other tools for business owners.

    One of the most important aspects of the organization is what’s known as Forum. Forum is a group of 8 – 10 entrepreneurs that meet on a regular basis (usually monthly) and it acts as your own personal advisory board. This is an invaluable way to learn from other entrepreneurs and (hopefully) minimize potential mistakes and maximize opportunities. If you’re an entrepreneur, I recommend you look into EO.