A Bit About Me and Much Ado About Nothing.
TL;DR In short, I’m a technology entrepreneur, software engineer, a tech-geek, musician, Army veteran, and more importantly, a husband and a dad. I’m fairly involved in the Atlanta technology and startup community. I love worthy causes and good fights.
WWWWW
Who Scott Burkett
What Technology entrepreneur, gadfly, software engineer, tech-geek, musician, Army veteran, husband, dad
Where Atlanta, Georgia 
When 1969 — present
Why Passion
Cool Stuff I’ve Done
Married White Male Seeking Kick Ass Adventure. Not sure what I’ll do next once I wrap up my MFG.com engagement. Maybe I’ll start another company, or help turn one around, or help take one into overdrive. Who knows?
As a contractor/CTO for MFG.com (a Jeff Bezos portfolio company), I had a blast in helping Mitch restructure and scale up their technology team. MFG.com is the largest global online marketplace for manufacturers looking to source custom parts, standard components, assemblies and textiles. Since 2000, over $14B (billion) in sourcing opportunities have been facilitated by MFG.com.
I spent a little over 3 years as the Chief Operating Officer at StarPound Technologies, an open-source software company that provides a platform for call centers, PBXs, and other voice applications. We launched new products, scored our first customers (including a Global Fortune 50 company), and had a ton of fun along the way.
Prior to StarPound, I was the CEO/Chairman of PlayMotion, Inc. We were controller-less gaming, on a grand scale, years before Microsoft Kinect came along. Fun uber-early stage turn-around adventure. We built a profitable-yet-fun business, with a customer base that included Walt Disney, Cartoon Network, NASCAR, Bravo TV, Sanofi Aventis, SEGA, and AMC Theaters. We also earned a Top 10 Innovative Company award from the Technology Association of Georgia. I really miss this team – they rocked! :)
After we all flushed our worthless dot com portfolios down the toilet, I founded Incursio, which was a technology incubator/IP farm. We created 12 properties, sold 6. Included in this was the largest online community in the visual arts space (at the time), which is now owned by one of the largest privately-held publishing/media companies in the United States.
Back in the dot com haze, I was VP of Technology & Development for MetalMaker, Inc., a venture-backed startup B2B exchange on the supply side of the steel industry. I helped incubate the company as a consultant, and later joined the team proper. We raised a boatload of money from Lehman Ventures, then ran into the dot com wall at 100 miles an hour. It hurt, but we all learned a lot. In that regard, probably the most successful thing I’ve done.
Community Involvement
I co-founded StartupLounge.com, which provides a focus on entrepreneurship and venture capital in the southeast. We publish a professionally-produced podcast which gets far more listens than we ever imagined it would. We also do a boatload of free events for entrepreneurs and investors, including our main StartupLounge/Atlanta event (which draw hundreds of fast-growth entrepreneurs and investors) and PitchCamp, which is a free interactive workshop session aimed at helping entrepreneurs refine their elevator pitch. You can read about my partner-in-crime Mike Blake here.
Through our efforts individually, and via StartupLounge, Mike and I are involved in all sorts of exciting things here in Georgia, such as:
- Serving as mentors and judges for the Georgia Tech/Emory TI:GER Program, the Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition, and the Technology Association of Georgia’s Business Launch Competition
- Lecturing from time-to-time for the University of Georgia’s MBA Program in Athens, GA
- Even scarier than the above one, guest-teaching at places like Wheeler High School’s Magnet Program
- Pitching in to help folks like the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce, the American-Israeli Chamber of Commerce.
- Occasionally, we have the need to bail each other out of jail. Thankfully, we know most of the attorneys in town (and the judges that matter).
Goofy Stuff I’ve Done
I Pitched the Most Successful Startup EVER!
Wifi Cat is the new cloud. The cloud is the new web. The web is the new superhighway. Thus, Wifi Cat is the superhighway to the web cloud. Tell your friends. You can also read the full story on this spoof.
While watching the video above, play the slides below:
I Discovered The Meaning of Life
At Ignite! Atlanta (2009), I was asked by Paul Freet and Keith McGregor at VentureLab to get up and do a blind presentation – in other words, present an automated/timed deck of slides that I’d never seen before, on a surprise topic. Unfortunately, I agreed. Enjoy “The Meaning of Life.”
Corporate and Consulting Background
Before all of that, I spent a great deal of time in the corporate consulting space. Through stints at CAP Gemini, Cambridge Technology Partners, and DCI, I worked with a lot of huge enterprises, including the ones shown below. I was involved in all sorts of technology-related engagements, from re-tooling legacy mainframe developers to client/server and web technologies, to developing really cool new products. Note to young entrepreneurs – if you want to find some big industry problems that need to be solved, throw a dart at a Fortune 1000 listing and go apply there – then keep your eyes and ears open.
Personal Tidbits
I joined the Army right out of High School, and trained at the Armor School at Ft. Knox, Kentucky (M1 Tanker). I then shipped out overseas, and was stationed in cold-war era West Germany – 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), 1st Raider Brigade, 3d Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment. Rock of the Marne!
I live in Atlanta, Georgia with my wife and two daughters. We collect art, are patrons of Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, and we’re involved in a number of charities, including the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and the Humane Society.
I have a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a double major in Computer Information Systems from Thomas A. Edison State College.
Oh, I was also in a rock band. We cut a record once.