We’re heading toward the end of registrations for StartupLounge Atlanta on October 19th. Once again, we’ve got good demand from investors and entrepreneurs. Apply now!

Entrepreneurs: apply here

Investors: apply here

The second StartupLounge in Savannah will take place September 15th, 6.00pm-8.00pm.The best and brightest entrepreneurs in the Creative Coast will gather for an intimate albeit engaging evening of “face time” with investors from Georgia and the Southeast. The purpose with the event is to improve the capital environment for early stage companies with high growth potential in the region.

This is not a venue to deliver your elevator speech openly to a crowd of investors. This is an event where investors and early stage entrepreneurs can meet one-on-one without fear for being hassled by service providers, annoyed by amateur brokers, or interrupted by job-seekers.

The event is entirely free of charge to all attendees, and is paid for by selected sponsors who identify with and support the StartupLounge mission.

What we are looking for from Entrepreneurs/startups are:

1. Must have a product/service at least beta-ready

2. The entrepreneur must have an actual company

3. The company should have the growth potential to reach $50 million in revenue in 5-7 years

4. The venture should be the applicant’s primary job

How to apply to participate

Entrepreneurs who would like to participate should fill in the Entrepreneur Application Form by September 1. StartupLounge will select the 35 entrepreneurs with the most innovative ideas to participate by September 7th. These entrepreneurs will be informed where the event will take place in Savannah.

Investors (business angels, VCs) who would like to participate should fill out the Investor Application Form by September 7th. StartupLounge will inform these investors where the event will take place in Savannah and also send them information about the entrepreneurs who are selected to participate.

One of the questions we’re frequently asked is how & where to find co-founders. The gang at StartAtlanta has put together an event to help you – Co-Founder Speed Dating. It’s taking place on May 18th and you must apply to attend and pay a $25 registration fee. StartAtlanta did a great job with their last event in January and we’re excited to see what they can do with this.

There’s a lot of discussion on Twitter, Quora, blogs, et al. about whether we’re in another Internet bubble. Steve Blank makes a compelling case for a bubble; while we see no errors in his reasoning it’s a red herring for those of us in Atlanta.

This phenomena is occurring outside of the Southeast. Deal flow is better than in years past but it hasn’t approached levels reached during the dot-com bubble. A few investors looking to add startup investing for portfolio have returned to real estate lured by the ease of credit and firesale of certain asset classes. Competition for seed funding and series A is still very high e.g. Toomah and ScoutMob. There just isn’t any evidence to support a bubble in Atlanta.

None of this should make you change your plans. Of the many different things you need to think about, this isn’t one of them. Keep your head down and focus on execution. The fundamentals of the startup game haven’t changed. Your goal is to build a business and generate profit for your shareholders.

Whatever all of us are doing is working. The startup ecosystem is very strong; we can’t emphasize that point enough. We have a solid base of knowledgable, experienced entrepreneurs. We have a groundswell of young entrepreneurs. We have a wealth of people across industries who are donating their time to startups. Investors are returning because they’re seeing good businesses with good teams. Innovation is happening here. Right now.

We’ll be at Taco Mac Perimeter on Jan. 20 from 4-7pm to answer your questions and get NFL playoff picks from Mike who vanquished the competition in his fantasy football league.