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.

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Q4 is upon us, and it is time for the next StartupLounge.com Capital Connections Event. There were over 200 entrepreneurs and investors at our last event, and the fun fest continues on Tuesday, November 27th!

To our knowledge there have been at least 10 deals that have gotten investor traction from our first two events, including a possible $3M series-A and many, many angel deals. Of course, the relationships and connections that have been formed through the event are worth far more than the capital. However, nothing serves our cause better than to hear the successful networking stories from entrepreneurs and investors – so if you have feedback, or a story to tell, let us know!

The quarterly StartupLounge.com Capital Connections event now routinely draws a solid base of investors. Past attendees have included UPS, Imlay Investments, Croft-Bender, Southern Capitol Ventures, Chrysalis Ventures, Noro-Moseley, Atlanta Technology Angels, Smith-Hoffman Capital, Kinetic Ventures, Grotech, Leader Ventures, EGL Ventures, Monolith Capital Partners, and many others.

If you are a fast-growth entrepreneur in the Southeast U.S., or an investor who’d like to network among such innovators to scout for new deals, you won’t want to miss it.

For this next event, there will be some changes to the format:

1. Based upon feedback from both entrepreneurs and investors, we are introducing something new to the event. Investors will be let in an hour or so before entrepreneurs. This will afford investors with an opportunity to network among themselves prior to the event. Additionally, the StartupLounge.com team will hand-select a group of deals that will participate in a 2-minute “fast-pitch” on the microphone. No slides, no frills. Just two minutes presenting your deal to a room full of investors. After an hour of private networking and fast-pitching with the selected deals, we’ll open the venue to all attendees. Our goal here is threefold. First, we want to provide investors an opportunity to connect with each other, in a “less frenetic” environment. Second, we want to provide our investor attendees with a quick look at a handful of fresh (qualified) deals. Finally, the benefit to the entrepreneurial community is obvious.
2. Due to the logistics involved in throwing a party for 200-300 people every quarter, we are now going to close off registrations for the event a week or two before the actual event date. This will give us ample time to get name badges ready, and will allow the venue staff to prepare accordingly.
3. We are capping attendance from here on out. Fortunately (and I suppose unfortunately), the CapConn events have taken on a life of their own. And this means the venue is on the brink of getting filled to capacity. This has the side-effect of making it fairly difficult to navigate the room and find deals or investors. Therefore, we’ll be capping the attendance at around 225 people. What does this mean for everyone? It means you need to sign up sooner rather than later, in order to hold your spot!

The cost is still free, of course, and the room will be free of job-seekers and service-providers. However, we are seeking a few more sponsors to augment the sponsors we currently have. If your firm (or someone you know) is interested in helping us sponsor this event each quarter, please have them get in contact with us. Service-providers are welcome sponsors – in fact, it is the only way they can get in the room.

To apply to attend as an investor or entrepreneur/company, click here.

Cheers.

Here it is, midnight, and I just got home from our quarterly Capital Connections event. Wow, what a night. I am completely spent, so I’ll make this post brief!
We’ll have a full wrap-up posted in the next few days (along with tons of photos), but here are a few short observations:

• Despite the really terrible weather and apparently horrible accidents that backed up traffic on most of the major highways, we still managed to get over 200 people in the door – not bad. We had over 300 on the RSVP list, but I got calls from several investors and entrepreneurs shortly before the event telling me that they had diverted planes from Hartsfield Airport, and that the roads were seriously backed up. Several out of state VCs had their flights to Atlanta sufficiently delayed or cancelled. Yay. Nevertheless, 200+ entrepreneurs and investors in a room filled with gourmet crab cakes is never a bad recipe. It is probably a good thing – had the weather and traffic permitted, we would have quite likely been elbow-to-elbow. I think we may need to cap attendance at 250 or so for future events. 300 would have been brutal.
• It was good to see new deals and new investors in the room. Keeping the event “fresh” is something that is always at the top of our mind.
• It was also very encouraging to see established Atlanta entrepreneurs such as Chris Klaus coming to participate. We need more of this. Guys with ideas rarely become emerging growth companies without the mentorship, guidance, and wisdom that can be provided by those that have tread before them. Those of you who have experienced a great deal of success, and who are not sufficiently engaged, know who you are.
• The happy moment for me came when I looked across the demo area and saw literally dozens of entrepreneurs hunched over their laptops showing investors and other entrepreneurs what they were up to. This sort of transparency is very healthy.
• I saw some folks who participated in our recent PitchCamp showing off their new pitches and one pagers. Very cool!
• Despite repeated invitations, the Atlanta Journal Constitution still refuses to attend (or even write me back for that matter). Too bad. You would think that something as revolutionary, grassroots and impactful as these events would be newsworthy. Oh well. Thankfully, there is the Atlanta Business Chronicle, who realizes that this event represents a unique nexus between ideas and capital.

Thanks to everyone who came out and participated! A thanks to our sponsors as well! Your collective support allows us to continue providing a remarkable quarterly opportunity to drive change. The event continues to evolve, and we are grateful for your patience!
We’ll soon begin planning our Q4 event, which will be in early December. Should be a great time to gather around the holidays ….

Cheers.

The next quarterly StartupLounge.com Capital Connections event will be held on August 29th here in Atlanta.

If you are a fast-growth entrepreneur in the Southeast U.S., or an investor who’d like to network among such innovators to scout for new deals, head on over to StartupLounge.com and sign up. If you missed the last event, you can read the wrap up and check out the photo gallery over here. We had about 180 folks last time – we’re estimating 250-300 this go around.

For this next event, there will be some changes to the format:

1. First and foremost, we are opening it up to entrepreneurs across the Southeast United States (not just those located in Georgia). We are doing this because Atlanta really, truly should be the hub of entrepreneurship in the region. Several investors that attended the first event also made this suggestion, and we think this move will benefit investors (more deal flow) and entrepreneurs (more regional connections).
2. We are going to cap attendance at some point, so if you have an interest in attending, it would probably be wise to sign up sooner rather than later.
3. As before, companies will be limited to sending no more than two (2) representatives (investors may send as many representatives as they’d like, though).
4. We’re encouraging more entrepreneurs to bring demos, laptops, etc. (especially on the technology side)
5. We’ll be providing some free coaching for entrepreneurs prior to the event (See “PitchCamp“)
6. We’ve expanded our RSVP form to capture additional information that will help us better serve attendees.
7. If you attended the first event, don’t apply again – you’ll receive the event code in your email very soon.

The cost is still free, of course, and the room will be free of job-seekers and service-providers. However, we are seeking a few more sponsors to augment the sponsors we currently have. If your firm (or someone you know) is interested in helping us sponsor this event each quarter, please have them get in contact with us. Service-providers are welcome sponsors – in fact, it is the only way they can get in the room.

Cheers.

I’ve gotten into this same conversation with 3 or 4 people this week, and it is one that comes up quite often during my discussions with early-stage technology CEOs here in Atlanta. How do I find seed or angel angel capital in Atlanta so that I can fund my high-tech widget or software company?

Raising money is rarely easy. It is even harder in Atlanta. The good news is that software/IT is a sector in which Atlanta is very strong. There are a lot of people in this city that get information technology.

Whenever the “panels” and “luminaries” are asked this question, they usually throw out the two stock answers: the 3F’s and Sig Mosley. The 3F’s being friends, family, and fools, and Sig Mosley being the unwitting godfather of early-stage technology investing in Atlanta.

What they fail to tell you, however, is how you should actually go about approaching these angels, and in what order.

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Knox Massey was kind enough to invite me down to last night’s meeting of the Atlanta Technology Angels. While I know many of the members individually, this was the first time I had actually attended one of their monthly meetings.

In keeping with the confidential setting of the meeting, I don’t want to reveal anything about the actual companies, but I can make some generalizations.

The format was very interesting. They had two companies do their pitch. One company was an ATDC company, the other was commercialized technology coming out of Georgia Tech. There were a few questions asked of each entrepreneur. Afterwards, the entrepreneurs left the room and the 20-25 angels in the room had an open discussion about what they thought of the deal. There were some really interesting exchanges of information, and I really like the format they used.

The diversity of backgrounds in the room made it so that there were “logical subject matter experts” on hand. The rest of the group relied on these individuals to give legitimacy to (or shoot holes in) the deal. Very nice.

For those interested, they were discussing 500K-$1M deals. After the discussion, someone was appointed to lead a “due diligence group,” I would assume to go off and meet with the company, and put together a more formal assessment of the company, market, technology, team, etc.

I also learned that Knox will soon be joining the blogosphere. I think this is a very welcome addition to the landscape here. I wish we could get more of the Atlanta venture folks blogging and exchanging ideas.

Afterwards, I had a great chat over dinner with Jeff Haynie. Bright guy – I wish I had met him years ago, but certainly glad we’re connected now. I love people that are brimming with ideas. It’s great to feed off that energy.

Cheers.

Sorry this post is a day late – I’ve been deluged with emails and other stuff.  We just published a nice wrapup and photo gallery of the recent Capital Connections event.

Enjoy!

If you weren’t able to attend, we hope you can make the next one. We certainly had a blast putting it together, and even more fun sharing ideas and connections.
Cheers.