I had a fun lunch with Drew Ermenc from Catalyst Magazine last week. Our office is actually upstairs from theirs, so it was pretty convenient. Among the many things we talked about was the status of “rockstar entrepreneurs” here in Atlanta. Specifically, they are working on some events for later in the year, and were trying to put together a list of entrepreneurs that would make great panelists and/or speakers.

I was asked if I could suggest some “rockstar” caliber entrepreneurs that they could engage here in Atlanta (or Georgia). Ideally, this would be someone who was currently enjoying a great deal of success, and who also had “name recognition”. Obviously, the combination lends itself to “street cred”, and the ability to draw enough people to fill a venue.

I thought about it for a few minutes, and I must admit, I was a little stuck. I mentally sifted through a few dozen names, but they generally fell into one of the following buckets:

• They satisfied one criteria (are currently enjoying success in a venture), but not the other (they bring name recognition), or vice-versa.
• They are too “new” – they haven’t had a big hit yet, although I’m bullish on them. But they don’t have the street cred yet as a result.
• They had a great deal of success at some time in the past, but are not currently doing much of anything.
• They are ultra successful (cash-wise), and do not currently face the challenges that early-stage entrepreneurs face.
• They are “tired” – everyone has trotted them out over the past 5 or 10 years as a speaker, and thus wouldn’t bring a fresh perspective.
• They are “real estate” moguls, or in some other industry which is driven more by how much cash you can deploy rather than swinging for the fences as a bootstrapping upstart.

If I were to plot this as a distribution curve, there are lots of people on either side of the bell (the long tail!), but not many people inside of the sweet spot (currency/relevant now, street cred, success, etc.)

The only name that really jumped out at me was Mitch Free from MFG.com. MFG went from being bootstrapped from an Excel spreadsheet/sneaker-ware marketplace to an international B2B player backed by Jeff Bezos. And they are still going strong.

Who am I missing?

While I think there may be some gaps now, this won’t always be the case. I think in the next few years we’ll have a new wave of rockstars that will emerge from what is happening here now. But boy, if we were to hold a Woodstock and try to populate it with current Rockstars in Georgia, it wouldn’t be a terribly long show.

Cheers.

10 years ago, Catalyst Magazine was a great resource for Atlanta entrepreneurs. Sadly, they fell dormant for a while and ceased publication. Not too long ago, they were sold to Billian Publishing and are now making strides towards resurrecting the magazine. This is cool … I’ve had a number of discussions with them over the past few months and they are really excited about the emerging wave of entrepreneurship that is occuring in the Southeast.

You may also remember Catalyst for their “Top 25 Entrepreneur” (and the “ones-to-watch”) awards. They’ve been quietly soliciting applications for the past month or so for the 2008 awards – and have extended it for a month. Click here for more info.

Cheers.