Every few months or so, various Atlanta startup thought leaders are corralled together on a panel or round-table to discuss what can be done to improve our startup ecosystem.  Invariably, the outcome is the same: a regurgitated list of things we already know all too well.

Examples:

• Lack of local funding sources for early-stage companies
• Lack of management talent to take a company from startup to growth stage
• Georgia’s legal inability to invest state pension funds into alternative class investments such as venture capital funds
• Too many smart people are leaving the state
• Lack of this
• Lack of that
• Blah.

Undoubtedly, we all want the Atlanta startup ecosystem to improve (or continue to improve, as I believe is the case).   But for the past few years,  there have been two distinct threads running in parallel.

Read more »

Sometimes, out of the chaos of business, great ideas emerge.  Unfortunately, you rarely have the chance to aggressively chase those great ideas in the here-and-now.

I’ll be blogging more about this soon, but we’ve been pretty busy at StarPound lately.  We ended Q4/2009 strong, including the deployment of our platform to solve some major problems for a Fortune 50 customer (largest global player in their industry).  But amid all of the frenetic activity in Q4, something else emerged.  A really, really cool thing that I’ve decided needs to be it’s own thing.

So, to cut to the chase – here is what I am looking for.  Hopefully, some of you may have someone in mind for this:

I’m looking for an energetic, startup-minded developer (C++, Javascript, AJAX, XHTML, CSS, widgets, maybe some PHP, MySQL, etc).  Some Java would be nice, but not required.  The technology is a very unique IP voice application.  I am willing to give this person:

• Fully paid 3-4 bedroom apartment, including utilities – we’ll eventually give you some roommates to work with
• Salary, albeit small, but there nonetheless
• Equity in the newco

This person needs to be here in Atlanta, and is ideally a junior level person and is looking for a cool startup opportunity.  This is an awesome chance to get in on the ground floor of something very cool and exciting.

If you have anyone in mind, you can reach me at sburkett AT star-pound-tech dot com (no dashes).

Cheers.

Several weeks ago, Unblakeable and I spoke at the monthly gathering of the Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs group.  We provided a pretty thorough treatment of where we thought the Atlanta startup community was in terms of its maturity, and then presented a concept that we thought was pretty compelling at the time – the Atlanta Startup Cloud.  We put the call out to the community, and had a ton of people volunteer to help us build it.

We were pretty excited about the reception we received both at the event, and afterwards via email and other conversations.  Nevertheless, up to now, we haven’t had much time to get the ball rolling on some progress. Such is the joy of having day jobs

Fast forward a few weeks to now.  The ATDC announced a big revamp under the leadership of Stephen Fleming (of VentureLab fame).  As part of the revamp, the ATDC is proposing a number of new initiatives and policy changes.  Many of these initiatives either mirror or complement some of the things we were proposing as part of the Atlanta Startup Cloud concept.  As such, we don’t think it makes much sense for us to duplicate the effort.  Instead, we want to do our part to help ensure that the ATDC’s efforts are as successful as possible – and we ask that you get involved as well!

Note: I do think the first part of the Startup Cloud video is still worth watching, especially if you want some background on the Atlanta startup scene.

If you weren’t able to attend their open forum meeting, check out the video here.  It’s definitely worth the time.  Also be sure to read Stephen’s post (Why Are We Doing This?), and our most recent StartupLounge.com podcast featuring Stephen and David Sung (who manages the ATDC Seed Fund).

Mike and I both think that this new ATDC is going to have a profound impact on Georgia.  Stephen is the perfect man for the job, he has a good team in place, and we think his plan is pretty solid.  There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur in Georgia, and we hope to see everyone at the upcoming CapitalLounge event in a few weeks!

Cheers.

I can still remember the grainy television images of the smoke billowing into the sky, people screaming, sirens blaring.   The images of hundreds of body bags stacked neatly beside the rubble, juxtaposed against a noisy backdrop of frenetic movement.  It was October 23rd, 1983, just 8 short years after the end of the Vietnam War.  I was young, impressionable, and now, full of rage.  It was that day that I first contemplated military service, though it would be a couple of years later until I would be old enough to actually join.

Music and fashion weren’t the only things torn asunder in the 1980s.  We were locked into the Cold War with the Soviets.  The Soviets had missiles in Syria, capable of reaching Israel, and the Soviets/Cubans were monkeying around on the island of Grenada, not far from our own shores.  Two days after the barracks bombing in Beirut, the United States invaded Grenada.  President Reagan, who later became my first Commander-in-Chief,  delivered a powerful speech to the nation about both events a few days later. It was a crazy time.

Those of you who know me personally have a public view of me:  a tech geek, father of two little girls, wacky sense of humor, and passionate about startups and entrepreneurship.  But there is another side of me that many of you don’t know.  One that is deeply patriotic, and incredibly respectful of the traditions and sacrifices Americans have made throughout our history.

This past Saturday was Independence Day, and like so many of you, I enjoyed the fireworks with my family. Our 3 1/2 year old daughter cackled with glee at each explosion and burst of color.  But as each stream of color and smoke faded into the night, I said a small prayer for those warriors that died on the morning of October 23rd, 1983.  I said a small silent thanks to Lang, Dreier, Combites, Rivers, Cortez, Woodberry, Bamford, Starling, Strieter, Sinke, Fuller, Mitchell, Evans, Sciortino, Teal, Rey, and all the rest of the guys I served with in Delta/HHC companies, 3rd Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, VII Corps.  Most of us couldn’t wait to get out of the Army, but as the years have rolled by, I think we all look back fondly on that shared experience.

Through Winter Warrior I and II, four Grafenwoehr gunnery densities, countless deployments to Hohenfels and Area Mud, REFORGER, Border Patrol, and all those 2:00am lariat advances and base lockdowns, we develop a shared history and bond that remains to this day.  To my fellow Marne Dogs of the 64th Armored Regiment, and the 3rd Infantry Division: “Rock of the Marne.  Rampage. We Pierce!”

My favorite song is, and since October 1983 has been, our national anthem.  I still choke up whenever I hear it. During a recent recording of the StartupLounge podcast, I was waiting for my cohort Mike Blake to finish munching a doughnut so we could get on with the recording (yes, I’m not kidding).  For no reason at all, I burst into singing my favorite song.  Of course, the mics were on, and the tape was rolling.  Doh!  Afterwards, I chuckled a bit, but Mike thought we should work it in the final edit of the show, as (at the time of taping that show) Memorial Day was approaching. So, we edited it in, complete with an added stadium effect.   I got a lot of emails about the song after we published the podcast, and I thought I would include an audio snippet here in this blog post.

Me attempting the National Anthem on the SL Podcast

Now with the musical portion of the post over with, I’d like to make a brief announcement.  I’ve teamed up with Jason Jones (CresaPartners), a fellow veteran (TOP-GUN!) who flew A-6 Intruder missions off the deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise, to form VetLoop.com.

VetLoop is a unique (not-for-profit) community of veterans in the Atlanta community that aims to:

• Help service members transition from active military service to the civilian workforce, especially those coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan
• Build relationships among veterans in Atlanta to help each other in business
• Educate the veterans community with an emphasis on business topics, and applying the lessons learned in the military to the business world

Once we roll it out in Atlanta, we would like to see the concept spread to other cities as well.

I found this great definition of a veteran online somewhere:

A veteran is someone who, at one  point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The  United  States of America” for  an amount of  “up to and including my life.”

I look forward to building out this community with Jason, and getting more involved with fellow veterans here in Atlanta.  There are a lot of us here, and it should be exciting to see what kind of impact we can make together.

Cheers.

Urvaksh over at the Atlanta Business Chronicle recently published an article providing some coverage of the new $250M fund being launched by the State of Florida.  After reading it, I became engulfed in a sea of emotions, ranging from frustration to anger, finally settling on a mix of sadness and reflection.

The short version: This new Florida Growth Fund will not only provide capital to venture capital firms (in the form of Florida being an LP – Limited Partner), it will also co-invest (follow, not lead) directly in technology and growth companies.  The fund will be managed by a private equity firm on behalf of the Florida Retirement Pension Fund.

Georgia is the last state in the Union that does not allow private equity investments out of the state’s pension funds.  “Last.”  Wow.  Now there’s a word that simply emanates innovation.  Nothing says “cutting edge” like being listed as “last”.

“Last.”  That means that North Dakota is ahead of us in terms of allowing private equity investments from state pension funds.  WTF? Pinch me.

For all the hemming and hawing we hear from the state government about how great Georgia is for innovation, we’re really doing a pretty lame job of walking the walk, and leading by example.  We can pass a bill that invites the 2009 Georgia Peach Queen to appear before the House of Representatives, and slash the budget of the ATDC, but we can’t drive through a key piece of legislation to propel the Georgia economy into the 21st century.

“Last”.   You may also recall that Georgia is also “last” (or at least close to being “last”) in another category as well – public education for our children.  It is no coincidence.  We clearly have a remarkably uneducated group of people keeping us from joining the rest of the country in diversifying the state’s investments in the private sector.  Guess that lack of education has already caught up to us.

Does our state government really take these issues seriously?  Certainly there are some – many of whom I’ve met and had great conversations with.  But as a whole, no.  There are those that are hell bent on laying down in the middle of the street and preventing progress.

The most common arguments that I hear from opponents of such legislation is that it is “too risky” and “wouldn’t provide much in the way of economic development for anyone but Altanta.”  Humor me for a moment.

The Georgia Public Policy Foundation, which is a non-profit, independent, public policy think tank, recently published a very interesting article.  In the article, they cite the “lack of diversity” within the investments of the state’s pension funds.   Every investment has risk, but obviously the only defense against market risk is diversification of investments.  “Diversify or die”, as I like to say.  Not diversifying is even riskier. They lay out a pretty compelling case across the board. Read the article – it’s short and worth it.

With respect to the whole notion that Atlanta would be the sole beneficiary of such investments – that is simply ludicrous.  What these pundits fail to realize is that this is an ecosystem, not a one-way street.  All boats rise with the rising tide.  Would those dollars necessarily create direct jobs in rural areas?  Probably not, or certainly not that many.  Companies that attract venture capital and private equity investment tend to be fast-growth and/or high-tech companies, and those require infrastructure and a large labor force.  And those things exist in abundance in Atlanta, but few other places within the state.  But, what those investment dollars would do is create an economic return for the state.  And those additional dollars eventually make their way into port projects in Savannah, highways, schools, agricultural programs, and other projects around the state. Viewing this issue through any other prism is negligent in my view.

Normally, I would tell everyone reading this to contact your local state representative or senator, and tell them why you think passing legislation to allow the state to invest in private equity funds would be a good thing.  But we’ve all done that already.  Several times (SB80, HR249, etc).  I tire of the whole thing.

The only thing that can save us now is the passing of time, and the hope that at some point, enough rational people are voted into office to get us back on the right track.

“Last”.  I hate being last, don’t you?

Cheers.

If you care at all about the Atlanta startup ecosystem, Mike Blake and I humbly request your presence next week at the monthly Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs meeting (18th at the ATDC).  Mike Schinkel and the AWE gang have graciously invited Unblakeable and I to present our views of where Atlanta is right now, where we’re going, and some ideas around how we’re gonna get there. We believe that we are at the end of phase 1 in the rebirth of Atlanta, and that we are entering a very different phase 2.

We are bringing ideas to the table, and we want to hear yours.  And more importantly, we want to recruit you to help in the effort.  The only way we’re going to get there is if we execute together.  Gee, kinda like a startup team.

Click here for full details. Schink does a great job of laying it all out there.

If you currently play a current role in the Atlanta startup scene, want to play a role in it, or give a crap about it at all, you need to be there.  We are going to try and record the session for a slidecast/podcast for those that can’t make it – but no guarantees.

If you have ideas, bring ‘em on.  But don’t forget to bring your spirit of volunteerism with you as well.  Because you are quite likely going to be put to work.  Sitting in the crowd like a knot on a log is going to add zero value.  Throwing out ideas and not stepping in to help bring them to fruition adds only marginal value.  We want those people who are ready to step up and play their part as a software developer, web developer, mentor/advisor, educator, marketer, public relations guru, etc.

Let’s get it on.

Caveat: my wife and I are expecting our 2nd daughter to arrive at any point in the next week or so.  There is a possibility that either Unblakeable will have to go it alone, or that the event gets moved to another time.  Or, that I will run screaming from the building in a panic to get to the hospital right in the middle of something important 

Cheers.

We get a TON of applications every time we put together a CapitalLounge event. While most of the applications have some degree of merit, and eventually get accepted, there are many that don’t.  Historically, we have a non-invitation rate of anywhere from 20-30%.   Despite the enormous level of detail that we’ve published as to our selection criteria and process, invariably, we get a flood of emails the week or so leading up to the event with people appealing and arguing with us (or trying to) about why their deal was rejected.

Here is a tongue-in-cheek look at some reasons why the event applications for some entrepreneurs and investors get rejected.  If you don’t find any of this at all funny, then you most likely fall into one of these categories.

Read more »