Yesterday, I did something I haven’t done since the dot com flameout – I pitched to a west coast VC (Norwest). Refreshing. Invigorating. And they didn’t bounce us out on our rear-ends, which is a good thing. In fact, we did several pitches this week, which was both exhausting, and exciting. All of our efforts got me thinking about pitches in general, and I decided to put down some of my thoughts.

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I have been working on this post for some time now, and for a variety of reasons, simply have yet to finish it. However, after reading today’s offering by Alex “Semper Fi” Muse over at the Texas Startup Blog, I am scrapping my efforts on this front. He has managed to summarize my thoughts in a way that has eluded me; so instead of mirroring his efforts, I will simply add a few comments.

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iVivity just announced another raise of $10M (details below). According to the release, all current investors participated. If this is true, that means that some Atlanta investors (H.I.G., Kinetic, Cordova) were in on the deal, which is good news. iVivity could be one of the great success stories to come of the ATDC in some time. We’ll see. Good luck to Tom Burniece and his team! Click for details.

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Wow.  Mercury must be in some strange alignment with Jupiter and the capital markets. FATS (Firearms Training Systems), another storied Atlanta success was just gobbled up by a European buyer.  Scientific-Atlanta, JBoss, ISS, Moxie Interactive, at least a dozen other smaller deals, and now FATS.
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Atlanta – Firearms Training Systems, a provider of technology company providing fully-integrated, simulated firearms training technology for professional military and law enforcement personnel, has agreed to be acquired by Meggitt, a U.K.-based defense contractor. Terms of the deal include $1.08 a share, or a total of about $144 million. “A strategic merger with Meggitt significantly advances our continued strategy of expanding our worldwide customer base, leveraging our strategic partnerships, and otherwise growing beyond our historical roots as a small arms training company to lead the industry in virtual training solutions,” said Ronavan Mohling, president and CEO of FATS, in an announcement of the deal on Thursday.
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Cheers.

Hot off the wire. ISS now joins Scientific Atlanta, Moxie Interactive, and a host of other Atlanta companies that have been gobbled up this year:

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Atlanta — Information technology giant IBM has agreed to acquire Internet Security Systems (ISS), an Atlanta-based provider of information security technology, for $1.3 billion in cash. ISS software, appliances and services are designed to monitor and manage network vulnerabilities and exploits and respond in advance of potential threats. ISS has more than 11,000 customers worldwide including 17 of the world’s largest banks, 15 of the largest governments, 11 of the top public insurance companies and 13 of the world’s top IT organizations. IBM’s said that the acquisition bolsters its position in the growing market for managed security services.

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Cheers.

Right before I went to bed last night (er… early this morning, around 1:30am), I had a thought. Earlier in the day, I had conceived of another potential revenue stream for our new startup. However, I had yet to make a note of it in our business plan. As I was walking down the hall, I thought to myself “I have to remember to put that in the business plan tomorrow.”

When I awoke this morning, I literally sat up, put my feet on the floor, and immediately thought “I need to put that new revenue stream in the business plan this morning.”

Sleep just gets in my way. But you have to love the consistency and continuity of the entrepreneur’s thinking patterns! This is a great example of how the idea can quite literally consume you.

Cheers.

Entrepreneurship isn’t something you fall into and out of like a bad habit. It isn’t something you turn on and off at will. Rather, it’s more like a special “E” chromosome that certain people begrudgingly accept when they’re born. You either have it, or you don’t. As humans, we are capable of putting entrepreneurship into a state of dormancy (much like my personal battle, being addicted to Smarties), but rest assured, it will rear its ugly head again sooner or later.

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