Thanks to everyone who helps to make this a great event for early-stagers in the Southeast!

Cheers.

In short, we are putting the finishing touches on what will be an unbelievable online social platform and community. I don’t want to get into too many details right now, but it will go far beyond the simple blog and podcast that we have running currently. We’re really taking the whole thing to a completely different model.

Stay tuned … :)

Cheers.

We just wrapped up a great podcast with Wright Steenrod over at Chrysalis Ventures. We had a great time digging into their model and gleaning his insights.

As an added bonus, we provide a double dose of “Under the Bus”: Mike tosses some alcoholic StartupLounge haters under the bus, and I pile on and “gently nudge” some regional VCs into oncoming traffic. We also have a nice batch of your emails and a great Thanksgiving comedy bit to round out a lengthy, but great show!

Cheers.

I’d like to take a moment to thank the folks who’ve stepped up to sponsor our non-profit efforts:

• Chrysalis Ventures
• Southern Capitol Ventures
• Web.com
• Adams Capital
• Clements-Walker
• Slingshot
• Angus McRae
• ATDC
• Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)

Without their substantial sponsor dollars and influence behind what we do, we’d have to pay for all of this ourselves (again), and let’s face it, that would suck. Each of these sponsors is behind our efforts because they truly believe in what we are doing – and that makes our relationship with them even sweeter.

Cheers.

Sooner or later, every startup struggles with the issue of how best to offer healthcare benefits to their employees. In a recent StartupLounge.com podcast, we were joined by Angus Mcrae, a guy who does a ton of consulting and brokering for healthcare benefits for Atlanta-area high-tech startups (for companies like N2 Broadband/Tandberg, ViTrue, etc.)

As an added bonus we toss (under the bus) the knuckleheads holding up SB80 (the legislative bill that would allow the Georgia teacher’s pension fund to be invested in private equity). We also provide an update on our upcoming Capital Connections and PitchCamp events (as well as TAG & ATDC’s upcoming CapVenture program) here in Atlanta.

This was another solid show with some great nuts and bolts content for entrepreneurs. How do healthcare benefit brokers work? What are the warning signs of unethical brokers? What about PEOs? How expensive are healthcare benefits for startups? Can they afford to do it? Should they? How big does a company have to be to offer benefits to employees? What are the key considerations in selecting a benefits program for your company?

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.

For a great sneak peek at Vendormate, check out the latest installment of the StartupLounge.com podcast. Vendormate’s CEO Andy Monin stopped by and shared a great overview of the company, as well as his thoughts on creating high-performance teams in a startup.

We also had some great emails (including a particularly good question on raising angel money for a non-technology company), an update/wrapup of our recent Capital Connections event, and threw the state of Georgia under the bus. Wheee! :)

Cheers.

We sent out 30 emails to our friends, and quite honestly, we thought we’d have 30 or 40 fast-growth entrepreneurs and a handful of angels hanging out in a bar somewhere. Now we’re pushing 200 people. There are over 35 investors slated to attend, ranging from individual angels to a $1B fund and everything in between. We moved the venue due to demand, then filled up the second venue. We finally stopped accepting applications – we had no choice. This thing has morphed into something that far exceeds our wildest expectations. Our next event (in the fall) could very easily have 300 people in attendance.

Am I nervous? I suppose a little. I’m no event planner, that’s for damn sure. But I’m of the belief that if you put ideas and capital in the same room, lock the door, and let nature take its course, only good things can come out of that. Of course, the hors d’oeuvres and fully stocked bar will help … :) Hopefully it won’t be a complete goat rodeo.

Today we made 200 phone calls. We called every single person that had RSVP’d in order to make sure they received the email on the change of venue (we wanted to make absolutely certain that everyone was aware of it.) The comments we received during those calls were amazing. People are not only excited about the event, but they are very gracious for it, and that makes us feel very good indeed. And I’m not just talking about the lowly entrepreneur here – the investor comments ran along the same lines (especially so among the angel community.)

There is some serious pent-up demand out there.

I want to serve up some props.

The “Atlanta venture community” (an oxymoron to many here, including some local investors) really responded to this event. Most of the local players will be there (Noro-Moseley, Imlay/Sig Mosley, Kinetic, EGL, Croft-Bender, Atlanta Technology Angels, Smith-Hoffman Capital, the UPS Strategic Venture Fund, VentureLab, etc.) and I’m very pleased about that. I don’t expect them to start dramatically swinging back to the early stage come Thursday morning, but the pulse is there. I give them props for realizing that there is a new movement happening around them. They know they need to become more immersed in the community, and I hope our quarterly event can be a catalyst to help with that moving forward.

I also have to give mad props to North Carolina. First off, they are totally kicking Georgia’s ass in venture investments. Second, at one point there were more NC funds slated to attend our event than GA funds (although it is more balanced now.) There are some lean, mean, hungry funds coming out of NC, folks.

I should also thank the many folks that pitched in to help pull this event together.

• Mike Blake
• Stacy Williams
• Jeff Haynie
• Jerry Recht
• Sam Bailey
• David Ratajczak
• Sanjay Parekh
• Paul Freet
• Lance Weatherby

Some gave cash, some their time, and some just helped to spread the word, but everyone is chasing the same dream here, and that is to bring Atlanta back. We’re going to do it, hell or high water.

See everyone tonight!

Cheers.

Over the past two months, I have evangelized this event to hundreds of people. I’ve worked the phones, email, the blogosphere, message boards, and even went door-to-door in some cases. It is pretty easy to see why people get excited about the event – I mean – what’s not to like?

But I keep getting asked this one little annoying question.

How are you getting paid?

As I’ve blogged about before (and talked about on the StartupLounge.com podcast), one of the things that is wrong with this community is that everyone is walking around with their hand out looking to get paid. It seems to bug people to no end that we aren’t charging a door fee, charging for people to pitch their deal, or instituting some sort of membership fee. I’ve even been told that we should “scale this out nationwide and charge for it.” Blah.

We are trying to tear down the artificial walls in the early-stage community here, not add new ones.

We will get paid in the end the same way every attendee will: a rising tide lifts all boats. By creating a more vibrant early-stage community here in Atlanta, there will be more fun things to invest in, more great people to meet, more jobs created, and more problems to solve. And that, my friends, is what it is all about.

This event is not the answer to everything that ills us in Atlanta – but it does represent a start. It is an artificial process that will hopefully jumpstart a few deals (especially since we’re doing it every quarter.) The real startup ecosystem or process will evolve on its own – it cannot be artificially created. But hopefully, this event can be a catalyst to help ignite the fire.

Cheers.

Through our collaborative effort at StartupLounge.com, we are very pleased to announce our very first quarterly “Capital Connections” networking event. This first event will be held on Wednesday, May 16th, so mark your calendars. You can read more about the event here.

We are still finalizing the venue (still sifting through several interested corporate location sponsors), although it will be located on the north-end of the perimeter (for convenience). The cost will be free, but space will most likely be limited, so apply for consideration as soon as possible.

We already have a number of VCs from outside of Georgia who have expressed their interest (and in some cases already, their intent) to be there, as well as many angel investors here in Atlanta. These are individuals who are actively seeking deals in Georgia.

Right now, our estimate puts projected attendance at somewhere around 75-100 people.

In order to keep the focus squarely on connecting early-stage deals with money, service providers (including capital brokers or other fee-based services), later-stage private equity funds, consultants, job seekers, and other such parties will not be allowed to attend. We do have a few reserved spaces for qualified “observers” – so contact me if you feel you have a vested interest in attending.

Finally, spread the word! Feel free to send a link to this post to other entrepreneurs, angels, and VCs that would have a vested interest in attending.

This is certainly not the final answer to all that ails the early-stage market here, but we’re hoping it will be a sufficient start!

Cheers.