Time to stop talking and start doing
For the past two years I’ve been learning about the Atlanta startup ecosystem. It seems like everyone has an opinion on what is right or wrong with Atlanta as a place to launch a technology startup. If you polled entrepreneurs, advisors, investors or otherwise I conjecture that you would find a consistent response: ATL does some things well, some things poorly, and a handful very differently than other cities.
Do we do more things poorly than the Valley. Maybe. Maybe not.
Do we do more things better than the valley? Maybe. Maybe not.
Comparing ATL to the Valley seems to me a silly comparison. It’s not the Valley. It can’t be. It’s Atlanta – located a full 2,450 miles from the Valley. We’re located in the SouthEast – not on the West Coast. We have Georgia Tech not Stanford. We have Coca Cola, AT&T, Delta. They don’t. I could go on and list another thousand differences but I think you get the idea.
So what does all of this mean? First off. It means stop talking about it! If I have to read another “brilliant” blog post about how we’re not the Valley or how we can become more like the Valley I’m going to go ballistic! (no offense to Russell, Jeff, Sanjay, Lance and the rest – but enough is enough). If I hear one more entrepreneur complain about the lack of Valley “mindset”, I’m going to punch them in the face!
Entrepreneurs don’t talk a big game. No one sits around remembering about the great entrepreneur who had that amazing idea that never came about. Entrepreneurs are known for actions! For fighting in the face of insurmountable odds, for standing at the edge of what we know and saying “no”, for never giving up despite all the good reasons to quit. Simply put, entrepreneurs are the few capable left in this day and age of actually doing things that can’t be done.
I can think of a few things Atlanta can do to better support our startup ecosystem. Do you care? Probably not.
I can think of one thing that would make starting a business in Atlanta easier – a simple online resource for sorting through the hundreds if not thousands of service providers for startups. Every growing company eventually has to deal with finding a lawyer, accountant, payroll, marketing agencies, phones, internet, office space and all those other silly little tasks. Too many options with too little information. I plan to change that.
Together with Tristan Davis and any other entrepreneurs who are interested we’re going to build a simple web application that helps the budding business owner quickly knock out those non-critical decisions. Don’t waste time trying to determine which payroll service to use – focus on building your product and signing up customers.
And the beauty for our service provider friends? They can come out of hiding! Every meeting, gauntlet, or riot has a sign over the door with the words: “KEEP OUT!” Entrepreneurs hate having service providers interrupt valuable interactions. As they should. But we need the service providers and we want them to connect with us on our terms – not theirs. We are giving those support organizations a great way to connect with entrepreneurs without the hassle of having Sanjay throw you out!
Sound interesting? Glad to know you have a pulse.
Wondering how you can become involved? Good to know that there other entrepreneurs out there.
Want us to showcase your services? That’s the plan.
Here’s how to get involved:
- Entrepreneurs/developers/designers – send me an email at me [at] connorfee [dot] com. We’re doing all of this for our own amusement and for good for the city of Atlanta. Obviously we’re going to need all of the help that we can get! Seriously without a team effort on this I think we’ll be lost.
- Service providers – send me an email at serviceprovider [at] connorfee [dot] com. No its nothing personal, I just want to keep the two types of emails separate. I’ll add everyone to a list and let you know once the signup forms have been put together.
- Interested parties/supporters/friends – tell everyone who might be interested! Share this little post with friends, family, and especially you’re crazy uncle. Retweet it, repost it, trackback to it – whatever works for you. Help us spread the message so we can help support our Atlanta startup ecosystem.
That’s it. Nothing too fancy. Tristan and I have a vision of helping Atlanta entrepreneurs be more successful by making the non-mission critical decisions easier to make. Personally I think we’re on the right track.
Time to stop talking and start doing. Who’s with me?
[Editor's note here: It has come to my attention that my writing style can be a bit polarizing (if not brash and offensive)! I wanted to take a moment to mention that this idea of transitioning from review to action isn't new. Several (actually all) of the folks I mention above have not only realized that ATL isn't the Valley but are actively doing things to make ATL a better place to launch a startup. In fact, a whole host of people in this town are working hard to make it easier to build a business, not just in ATL but everywhere. I'm writing here about me - I have come to the realization that it is time to act on my desire to improve ATL. After two years I'm no longer a spectator but a member of the community and want to join the crew of great entrepreneurs working to improve the opportunities afforded to us all. I look up to and respect those individuals who have written about and commented on our situation and am learning how to give back simply by watching them. I want to join the likes of StartupRiot, the new ATDC, and all of the other groups working to improve ATL. I know I'm still new at this but I think everyone can give back and am hoping that another hat in the mix will inspire others to join us.]
In: Entrepreneurship · Tagged with: Atlanta, Building a business, Service Providers, Startup Challenges, startups
on July 29, 2009 at 11:36 am
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When I stop seeing entrepreneurs executing plans that are only viable in the Valley, I’ll stop talking about it. You know what I’m sick of? People saying, “We’re not the valley – duh!” without actually addressing – WHATSOEVER – the implications of that are for a viable startup’s strategy here. You’re sick of this line of discussion, but you know what I’m sick of? I’m sick of having to watch entrepreneurs fail for no good reason. I’m sick of watching young people blow their savings and run up their credit cards executing business plans that depend on funding which does not exist here. I’m tired of seeing good brain power and solid passion going into consumer internet sites that cannot possibly succeed as businesses here.
You’re tired of talking about the Valley – well I’ll tell you what – get used to it – we’re JUST getting started. There is an overwhelming amount of west coast BULLSHIT in the heads of our new entrepreneurs and its not going to disappear overnight. Talking about the valley is essential to educating our entrepreneurs, because if we’re to grow – we have to spare more people the multiple year failure that it typically takes to learn the TRUTH about our startup business environment.
If you think skipping that discussion is the key to moving forward, we must be looking at a different community.
Service providers – we need a list? That is definitely true, since most of our service providers are sharks. But its not going to make much of a difference. Why? Because they all charge money most startups don’t have. Because you can name the startup friendly service providers in sharpie on a single sheet of paper.
I hate to be critical – but there’s nothing new here. This is in fact a duplicate of most every post about the Atlanta startup community – “band together, rise together!” We’ve been talking this way for years. Well guess what – there are close to 0 active angels doing new deals in new companies right now. Without angels, there is no startup hub. Without angels, the typical viable startup looks more like a shoe store than Twitter. Things aren’t going to get better for a year or two.
What can we do to address that? You want a web app? More events? We have web apps. We have plenty of events.
I say whats lacking is education about how to succeed in this crappy environment, and so thats what I’m doing. I’m going to keep doing it. If you don’t like it, punch me in the face.
on July 29, 2009 at 12:57 pm
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P.S. Sign up here: http://sites.google.com/site/atlantaentrepreneurs/home to start a preferred service provider list.
on July 29, 2009 at 2:41 pm
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We created a Yammer group (think private Twitter) the other day for knowledge workers in Atlanta to easily chat and share information. We like to think of it as “virtual coworking.” This could be a great venue for you to form up these ideas further, Connor, and it also addresses some of your concerns in an innovative way (without shaving any yaks!)
Anyone who is interested in joining, sign up here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&pli=1&formkey=dFVjYlkxVEhkMF9pWnpheVNtazJITkE6MA
on July 30, 2009 at 5:20 pm
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@ Russell Jurney
Well, Russell you clearly called my bluff. I won’t be punching anyone in the face. I’d like to think my threat carried some weight, but clearly not!
I’m glad you’re such a big fan of education – it is the goal of what Tristan and I are trying to do. Given our idea here is only a few days old, we’re actively looking for the community to help guide the needs and objectives of what we’re trying to do.
We want to see many first time entrepreneurs speed past the challenges that we recently struggled with on our first attempt. In fact we are the heartbroken and bankrupt entrepreneurs you describe. Given our proximity to the experience (only the one venture under the belt) we thought it best to help share our learnings while they are still fresh.
I agree that Atlanta may not yet have the chops to really give birth to a “typical dot com startup dream.” If that is the case though, I think the message isn’t “Atlanta isn’t the Valley,” but more of a message about what we are and what works well here. Frankly I wish someone had told me that two years ago. I would have given some serious consideration to moving out west. The only problem that I see is that a lot of people start businesses where they are – regardless of where that may be.
Hopefully the new ATDC can help with the appropriate Atlanta disclaimer:
“Dear entrepreneurs,
Want to be the next facebook, google, or twitter? Great we’re very excited for you! But you should probably move somewhere else. We have a phenomenal set of experience, ample resources, and strong support system – but they are geared towards the next internet security company, backend media operator, or retail store. If that describes you, settle down you’re in for an exciting ride.
Thanks,
Atlanta’s entrepreneurial community”
on July 30, 2009 at 8:59 pm
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Connor, I couldn’t agree with your reply more.