2010 marks a new direction for StartupLounge.  We are shifting our conversation away from funding businesses to building businesses.  This doesn’t mean that we think that funding businesses is unimportant.  However, other grassroots organizations are picking up that banner and our voice, frankly, is no longer needed in that particular discussion.  For any organization to remain relevant, it must evolve.

So, to get to the point:  We believe that the “capital availability” discussion has fundamentally changed.  There is capital available, even now.  Deals are getting funded, even now.  And, it is, as always and as it should be, tough to get funded.  Atlanta does not generally fund science projects; we fund businesses that we understand and where we have a natural advantage, such as information security, mobile technology, business informatics, payments and transaction processing and media content.  We are showing increasing comfort with cleantech deals and medical devices.  We generally don’t fund consumer products (although four such deals have been funded through connections made at StartupLounge so far), social networking deals, and pharmaceutically-based biotechnology.

We know that capital is available because we  see deals getting funded.  We see the investors come to StartupLounge Atlanta (formerly known as CapitalLounge) and AngelLounge.  They are engaging as mentors in PitchCamp.  And it’s not just us.  StartupRiot has become a must-attend event and the investors turn out in force there.  StartupChicks is seeing investor interest.  I saw a few investors at Startup Atlanta’s inagural event.  The Atlanta Technology Angels have gotten “back on the line”.  Welcome back, guys.  We missed you.

Here’s the problem.  The deal flow here is just not good enough.  Just so there’s no mistake – there are not enough good companies worthy of investment in Atlanta.  There are good entrepreneurs, and some really good ideas, but the companies themselves are half-baked.  Not ready for prime time.  So, rather than simply complaining about the weather, we’re going to do something about it.  Putting half-baked companies in front of investors is not all that productive.  Oh sure it feels good and everyone loves the sweet and sour meatballs.  But, as Lance so eloquently articulated, there are lots of organizations out there trying to help.  We need to make sure we are really helping in order to remain relevant, or we can just shut it down and I can play more Star Trek Online (an astonishingly good game, BTW.  I am terrified it will one day assimilate my life.)

Atlanta has lots of marketing professionals, accountants, lawyers, strategic consultants, coders, engineers, and outsourced CFOs.  And business appraisers.  We don’t see a great many crack salesmen and operators.  They may be out there, but because they know how to sell and operate, they either don’t need to raise money or they already have.   Which means they don’t need us.

If companies don’t sell well and/or operate well, that in itself is a big hurdle to overcome.  So, at StartupLounge, we are going to focus our attention on companies that either a) already have strong operating and sales potential/talent, or b) have other pieces in place and we can help them build more complete companies.  Here’s what that means in more practical terms.

First, StartupLounge Atlanta is going to be smaller. It’s cool to fill up a room and it’s a great boost to the ego.  It’s also not as effective as it could be so we are focusing on quality over quantity.  It is going to be harder for companies to get in.  This is an absolute necessity for the following reasons -

1. We don’t want to encourage mediocrity.  Entrepreneurship is about excellence.  Only companies that investors perceive to be excellent are going to be funded.  And, we want to encourage entrpereneurs to keep improving their companies to improve their chances at being issued an invitation the following quarter.
2. We need to keep investors interested by showing better deal flow.  When investors spend 3 hours talking to people and at most run into a deal or two that’s even interesting, they think twice about continuing to show up.
3. We need to keep entrepreneurs interested by improving the investor/entrpreneur ratio.
4. With finite resources, we need to focus our effort on those companies we are in the best position to help.

So what does it mean that it will be “harder to get in”?  Well, to be blunt, just because you’ve gotten in before, it doesn’t mean that you will next time.  Our criteria for admission will be (roughly) will boil down to this:  If we heard your pitch and you were a complete stranger, would we be inclined to introduce you to our personal contacts in the venture (note we didn’t say “investor”) community in Atlanta?  Things that will help you get in will be:

• We can make sense of your business.  StartupLounge is allowed to have a rambling manifesto.  You’re not if you want to come to our events.
• We can do some background research online on you and your business (Facebook, LinkedIn, and a company web site).  If you’re basically a blind box, we’re not likely to keep someone known out to let you in
• Your business appears to have the potential to grow to $50 MM in value in 5-7 years (you’re not a “lifestyle” business.  Lifestyle businesses are fine but you’re not our target market)
• Your business is driven by critical intellectual property that you or your business owns (not licenses)
• You have some form of customer validation by way of beta testing, alpha testing, letters of testimonial or even *gasp* paying customers.  Honestly, why would you spend time and money developing a business to produce something that you have no clue if someone will buy?  Market research does not answer that question.  Conversations with customers do.
• You make substantive progress over time.  If you’re “just waiting for capital”, you can continue waiting on someone else’s nickel
• Your business is looking for a reasonable amount of capital.  If you’re looking for $10 MM for example, just hire an investment bank
• Better yet, your business is viable with or without external capital.  Capital would accelerate, not enable, your business
• You’re in the business more or less full-time

The refinements above should improve the overall event by making it more accessible, with more, higher-quality connections being made.  Oh, and by the way, the color coded badges are gone.  Done.  We don’t want investors to feel like targets anymore, and we want to impress upon everyone that there are many kinds of connections that can help build the company other than with check-writers.  Many attendees have told us that connections made at StartupLounge helped sell product, find talent, find technology and find strategic partners.  With a smaller event, color-coded name badges should be less important anyway.  If we let them in the door, assume those people are worth introducing yourself to.

Second, we’re not letting investors off the hook.  You can’t just say you’re an angel investor and get a free ride.  We have asked all AngelLounge participants to sign a commitment that indicates:

• They have the funds to invest if they so choose
• They will commit to attend at least one StartupLounge event per year
• They will participate in at least one PitchCamp/StartupSeminar per year

This is already working.  One angel attended the first StartupSeminar and he said that document was the reason why.  Others have withdrawn from AngelLounge, feeling that they do not meet our definition of an active angel investor.  Again, we’re focusing on smaller groups to make a bigger impact.  We’d rather have 15 real angels in the room than 50 who say they are and then have to try to play a game of Clue to figure out who the actual check-writers are.

Third, we are changing our educational focus.  It’s no longer all about PitchCamp and raising money.  If you don’t meet our admission criteria for StartupLounge Atlanta right now, we are offering free help to get you there.  We are launching monthly StartupSeminars.  The StartupSeminars will include PitchCamp on the months directly preceeding a StartupLounge Atlanta event, but mostly, they will cover topics that help entrepreneurs build companies  Specifically, we are targeting areas of knowledge that are important, and might be too expensive for entrpreneurs to access directly.  Our first StartupSeminar, “Get Retail Ready”, was a smash success.  After PitchCamp in February, we have Kenji Kuramoto and AcuityCFO coming in to lead a workshop on building financial models for startups.  We are working on legal workshops, sales workshops, bootstrapping workshops, hiring workshops and other toolsy content that you can take home with you and move your venture forward starting that day.  Our podcasts will still occasionally cover funding topics, but we already have 30 or so of those podcasts online.  We’re going to focus more on entrepreneurs who have built businesses and can share real world advice that entrepreneurs can use as tools to move their own ventures forward.

Fourth, as a personal commitment, I am re-starting my monthly office hours, without fail.  An announcement on that will come soon.  My job has taken me out of one of the things I like doing most, which is mentoring.  No longer.

We are excited about this new direction.  We are re-energized.  Our sponsors have voiced universal approval, as have the investors, entrepreneurs and friends of StartupLounge to whom we have spoken.  We think we are going to help more entrepreneurs be successful, whether they raise funding or not.  Some of our community, for now, will be left behind.  We hope you will take it as a challenge to be met for the betterment of your company.  For most of you in the community, the result is going to be a more focused, effective StartupLounge, and we can’t wait to get started.

In addition to consuming copious amounts of “adult beverages” during the session (wheee!), we also discussed the now infamous Bresnitz paper, as well facilitating a lively Q&A session with the audience.

Banks go under the bus, and @Unblakeable comes with the smiley face on for a “Look Who Gets It” segment.  Another great selection of listener emails and a dash of StartupLounge humor to top it all off. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us the Atlanta Technology Angels elevator pitch.
• More specifically, what kinds of deals are you looking for?
• What are the criteria to be an ATA member?
• Explain the process for a company to present itself for consideration by the ATA
• How do most deals find you?
• Tell us about 1-2 investments the ATA has made in the past year?
• How has the economy impacted the ATA’s membership and by extension, the ATA’s funding activity?
• How do deals get funded in the ATA?
• Are you personally invested in any deals?
• Once the ATA invests in the deal, how active is your participation in the company’s management?
• Are the deal terms more or less standard or do they vary deal to deal?
• How long does the evaluation process take?
• How did your background lead you to angel investing and the ATA?
• What do you think your strengths are as an investor?
• Why did you want to become the ATA President?
• What are your key agenda items for the ATA under your leadership?
• Who are some of the other key leaders at the ATA?
• What do you see as the key challenges of the Atlanta venture environment?
• What’s your assessment of the funding environment today and a year from now?
• What’s an instant turnoff for you when companies present?
• What are your thoughts on the paper published recently published by Georgia Tech professor Danny Bresnitz?
• What’s some advice you can give to companies to maximize their opportunity with the ATA?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

AJ: Recently there was some drama around an academic paper co-authored by Georgia Tech professor Danny Bresnitz.  In the paper, the authors came to a number of conclusions about the Atlanta startup ecosystem – what do you guys think?  I’d also be curious to hear Gordon Rogers’ thoughts on this topic as well.

OTP4Ever: I am looking to raise some capital for my startup and have a corporate structure question. I know that outside investors typically invest in “C-Corp”, so there can be multiple classifications of stock and what not.  But obviously, as a green-field startup, I don’t want to do a C-Corp initially, because of the dual taxation.  If I form an S-Corp or LLC initially, is that going to be a turn-off for an angel investor or?  Can I switch the company structure when I have a term sheet, or do I have to start out as a C-Corp?  Any guidance you guys could provide would be helpful! Thanks!I am launching a new internet business and I need to get a quote for web design work.  My question is this.  How can someone get an accurate quote for Web design on their new internet business without giving away the idea?

Karl: Scott/Mike, I just discovered your podcast and absolutely love it! I have an issue that you guys can hopefully help me with.  I have been asked by a friend of mine to function as the Company’s CFO and Treasurer during the development phase of the Company. The agreement is for this not to be more than 20 hours per week and involves maintaining the accounting records, preparing corporate tax filings, develop the business plan and to assist in the search for venture or angel capital funding. Whatever equity interest I agree to take will be substantially diminished by the introduction of outside capital. I have some thoughts of my own, but I’m interested to see what you guys think is a fair way to go about measuring this?

Guest Bios:
Gordon Rogers, President, Atlanta Technology Angels

Gordon is an economist, entrepreneur and angel investor. After working as a financial analyst, in 1988 he established a business (Meliora Systems, Inc.) that created one of the pioneering products in the corporate e-learning & talent management field (Ingenium). He guided the growth of the company from a start-up to IPO through a merger in 1998 with Paul Allen’s company, Asymetrix Learning Systems (ASYM). This exit event yielded a 12X return for initial investors in the business.

After leaving ASYM/CLKS/SUMT in 2000, he spent the next several years investing in and serving on the advisory boards of various tech startups in the e-learning and online coaching sectors. He now focuses primarily on helping early stage ventures in the the digital media and edutainment sectors raise capital and create strategic partnerships.

He is President of Atlanta Technology Angels, and a member of Angel Lounge , the MIT Enterprise Forum, and the Atlanta CEO Council. He is also Managing Director of Vernon Bridge Ventures, an early stage capital/advisory firm. He serves on the boards of Rapid LD and Good Egg Studios.  He is also an angel investor in Elf Island, a new social MMO for kids.

He has extensive experience serving on boards of non-profit organizations (YMCA of Greater Atlanta, Interfaith Outreach Home, Teacher Support Network, The Lionheart School). He received the 2006 Volunteer of the Year Award from the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. He recently completed his first Olympic distance triathlon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player. You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Underground by Roadside Attraction
• Tweetin’ on a Jet Plane by Steve Goodie
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.  And if you still think our shows are too long, frankly, we just don’t care.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Gordon for coming in and hanging out with us!  Also thanks to Ed Riecker and the gang down at 151 Locust for hosting us and throwing a great party!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

We also dug up some old incriminating tape of Stephen sharing his true feelings on running VentureLab … a rare moment for sure – definitely tune in for that.  We also discussed the upcoming Venture Atlanta 2009 conference, and some of the new opportunities (and focus) on true early-stage companies.  Good stuff.

The good Mr. Blake suits up, takes the mound, and throws heaters at a a group of folks in Atlanta that just can’t seem to get with the program.  Another great selection of listener emails and a dash of StartupLounge humor to top it all off. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us the pitch for the new ATDC, EII, adn the ATDC Seed Fund!
• Talk about the ATDC re-organization.  Why now and why this way?
• How long have you had the idea for re-organizing the ATDC/VentureLab/SBIR entities the way you have?
• How is the reorganization going to impact the ATDC Seed Fund’s operations?
• How will the reorganization impact your deal flow?
• As you were being considered for your new post, clearly this was on your agenda.  How prominent were these ideas as you discussed the new position?
• Why should entrepreneurs be excited about the reorganization?
• Is the ATDC still considering a bricks-and-mortar facility in Gwinnett County?
• Will the reorganization change how you make investment decisions and commitments?
• Could the reorganization increase ties with state entities with similar missions, such as the GRA Seed Fund or some of the programs the Georgia Department of Economic Development?
• How long will it take to complete the reorganization?
• What has the reaction been from the VC community to the reorganization?
• What are existing companies within the ATDC saying about the reorganization?
• Why is GA Tech on board with this concept?  You are seemingly diverting away captive resources.
• As you execute upon the reorganization, what do you see as the greatest challenge?
• What do you see as the greatest need that the reorganization will address?
• How do you see your role as a startup catalyst changing?
• How will you measure success?
• How long until we see the changes on the ground?
• In the ATDC press release, you said, “ATDC will open its membership to all technology entrepreneurs in Georgia, from those at the earliest conception stage to the well-established, venture-fundable companies. We’re interested in any technology business opportunity.”  How much more open will the organization be to supporting early-stage companies?
• Does the ATDC need an image makeover to get buy-in from entrepreneurs and if so, how do you go about that makeover?
• You have started making open office hours available.  Is that going to become a permanent activity?
• If you were to give one piece of advice to entrepreneurs listening to this podcast, what would it be?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Alicia: I am currently at a crossroads in my business. I started the company in 2004 and filed a provisional patent application in Oct. 2008 based on some methodologies that I created in working with my small business clients. I have financed my company via “bootstrapping” and have now reached a point where I realize that I need a capital “angel.” I need to develop a prototype for the technology I’ve created, but I’m not sure if I should raise funds, seek a technology partner, or simply sell/license the idea. Any advice and support is greatly appreciated.

Erica: I am launching a new internet business and I need to get a quote for web design work.  My question is this.  How can someone get an accurate quote for Web design on their new internet business without giving away the idea?

Karthik: I am sick of all the conflicting messages and behavioral “to-do lists” from investors!  One investor says he wants to see 10-12 slides in my pitch, another guy tells me that with only 12 slides I didn’t give him enough information.  One investor told me that he expects his entrepreneurs to have maxed out credit cards before he will take me seriously, and another investor told me that maxing out personal credit cards was a sign that I take too much risk and am potentially irresponsible with money, as it is expensive debt.  It seems like investors nitpick on everything, and I am spending a lot of time lately creating revisions of presentations and other documents just to make some potential investor happy.  Any advice?

Rob MacArthur: Scott, I read your post “Creating a Winning Advisory Board” – and had a question. I am currently in need of such a board. I have a list of potential board members and have done up a short package for them. I will send an introductory letter or email and attached will be the following:

• 1 page summary on why I need a board;
• 1 page on expectations, mix of board I am looking for;
• 1 page on existing businesses;
• 1 page reference letter for those who do not know me at all.

From your perspective, is this too much info/not enough? Any thoughts or advice on what should/should not be included would be appreciated.

Guest Bios:
Stephen Fleming, Vice Provost, Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech

Stephen Fleming has more than 13 years of private equity experience at the general partner level. Prior to his venture capital career, he spent 15 years in operations roles at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Nortel Networks, and LICOM – a venture-funded startup.

An Atlanta native and summa cum laude graduate of Georgia Tech, Fleming is active in the “alternative space” industry — an investor in three private aerospace companies and is a founding member of the Space Angels Network. He also serves on the boards of trustees for the Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta and for Tech High School, a charter high school emphasizing science, math and technology in urban Atlanta.

Fleming is a member of the IEEE, the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America and a number of regional technology organizations.

David Sung, Startup Catalyst and ATDC Seed Fund Manager
Having been involved with startup companies as both an entrepreneur and a venture investor, David has a unique perspective as an advisor for ATDC portfolio companies. Operationally he has held roles from engineering to CEO resulting in two IPOs and two acquisitions.

Prior to joining the ATDC, David was a Managing Director at HIG Ventures where he focused on venture capital investments primarily in datacenter infrastructure, semiconductor, and enterprise software.  Before joining H.I.G, he was a Partner at Commonwealth Capital Ventures, leading investments in storage networking and enterprise security. Before entering the venture capital business, Sung was Co-Founder and CEO of Crescent Networks and a Co-Founder of Cadia Networks. Sung also held engineering, marketing and executive management positions at Cascade Communications, Avici Systems, FORE Systems and Bytex Corp. Sung received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player. You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Underground by Roadside Attraction
• All Out of Beer by Possible Oscar
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.  And if you still think our shows are too long, frankly, we just don’t care.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Stephen and David for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

Apologies to everyone for us going over our time limit.  We quite literally threw the presentation together a day or two before the event.  In retrospect, we probably could have done a better job in marrying our content to Schinkel’s schedule.  We will most likely have an initial meeting with all the volunteers, then have another community meeting which will be a *very brief* presentation of where the group is, and to solicit additional ideas and direction.  As Schink points out in his opening remarks, this particular meeting was just the first meeting of many, and will eventually involve a lot of other groups within the community (not just AWE).

This edition of the StartupLounge.com podcast is actually a screencast/video.  You can use the links below to view.

In short, our Startup Cloud concept is an effort to address provide several key services to the community:

1. Provide a “jumpoff” point – where new entrepreneurs and investors can “get plugged into” what is happening within the Atlanta early-stage scene.
2. Provide better event coordination between the bazillion startup groups in Atlanta – i.e. shared calendar .. yay!
3. Provide a “virtual incubator” whereby the community incubates itself
4. Provide a vehicle to bridge into the corporate world, to bring Atlanta’s corporate players to the table to look at the innovations that are happening here (side note: Since this meeting, we’ve made some progress on this front – looks like we have quite a number of Fortune 1000 companies already interested in hosting events and playing an active role in this).

This was a platform that we started building about a year ago, but as we mention in the presentation, it will take us 20 years to finish the thing given our current schedules.  So, we decided that opening up the initiative to the community is an even better way to go – more hands involved, and more importantly, additional voices and input.

Oh, and for the person who emailed me about the “Boss Hogg” slide – the three personas illustrated are not a reference to anyone specifically, but rather stereotypes that we’ve all come to know and love.

Unfortunately, our A/V guy had to leave the event after the break, so we were unable to record the audio Q&A session at the end.  Which is probably a good thing, because some of it went a bit tangential.  But we did take copious notes, so we’ll be putting something up online soon.

At the end of the day, we pitched a very abstract concept, and managed to get an absolute boatload of people to sign up to volunteer to pitch in and help with the project.  Since the night of the AWE meeting, we’ve since reached out to some of our VC and startup contacts in North Carolina, and they are interested in simultaneously launching the Startup Cloud concept in North Carolina as well.

We have been woefully behind in our reaching out to those who have volunteered to help.  Thanks for your patience!

More soon …

Enjoy!

Unblakeable brings the heat behind the wheel of the bus, this time knocking some pretenders silly.  And, to commemorate Memorial Day, Scott spontaneously bursts into song with an acappella stadium rendition of the Star Spangled Banner (yes, lol – that is really Scott singing – your call as to whether it is comedy, tragedy, or both). Another great selection of listener emails and a dash of StartupLounge humor to top it all off. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us the 30-second elevator pitch on Value Plus Ventures
• Describe your consulting/investing hybrid model
• The model sounds as if you invest in companies with the result that they turn around and pay you for consulting fees?  Is that an accurate picture?
• How does the hybrid model differ from any active early stage investment firm’s model?
• Are there other investment firms that have had success with a similar model?
• Have you found the model makes it harder or easier to do deals?
• Why did you choose that model?
• Your web site mentions that VPV will look at deals across most any sector – but are there sectors or trends that are of particular interest to you right now?
• Can you talk about some deals that VPV has done recently?
• Was it hard to raise this fund, given the economic climate?
• What is the story you tell potential limited partners that excites them about investing in Georgia and the Southeastern US?
• How long does your deal evaluation process take?
• How do deals generally find you?
• What is the impact of the current economic climate on your investing behavior?
• What impact is the current economic climate having on your portfolio companies?
• What advice do you give to entrepreneurs regarding addressing the current economic environment?
• What impact is the current economic climate having on your deal flow?
• What is the VPV view of the Atlanta and Southeast early stage venture scene right now?
• When looking at a deal or an entrepreneur, what gets you very excited?
• When dealing with you guys, what’s one thing that’s an absolute no-no?
• How involved are you day to day with your portfolio companies?
• If you were to “sell” yourself to an entrepreneur to take you on as an investor, what do you think is your biggest selling point?
• What is a piece of advice you would give to new early-stage investors?
• If you could change something in the environment to make your jobs easier, what would that be?
• What is the best way to get an opportunity in front of you?
• If you were to give one piece of advice to entrepreneurs that might want to approach you for capital, what would that be?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Bill: I have reached the point where I am talking to an angel investor about my project. They are interested and trying to evaluate whether my invention has the potential to succeed. O.K. that’s great… but my mind is reeling, what happens next? What are the next steps to when an angel does say, “Yes, I want to get involved and supply you with funding.”???I want to stay ahead of the curve, and not get caught flat footed, if I get the green light.

MarketMaker John: All investors are obviously looking for a strong return on their investments. I’m interested in those who want a high capital ROI but also want those investments to simultaneously influence positive change in the world. I am of the belief that “social” and “capital” investments do not need to be separate. How do I find investors that share this same viewpoint? Do they exist?

MGreene: Scott has said many times before that entrepreneurs should never be afraid to reinvent themselves (as it pertains to the direction and focus of their company).  Thinking about that earlier today made me curious about something.  If you guys (Scott and Mike) could create StartupLounge all over again, what would you do differently?

Guest Bio:
Lee Provow, Partner, Value Plus Ventures

Prior to joining Value Plus Ventures, Lee served as President, Global Operations for Premier Global Services and has more than 20 years experience in the data and business services industry.

Prior to joining Premiere Global in 2003, Lee served as Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chairman of the Board of Comdial Corporation, a converged voice and data communications service provider offering advanced business phone systems, Voice over IP (VoIP), voice processing, unified messaging, and computer telephony integration solutions.

In 2002, Lee was President and Managing Director of Commonwealth Holdings, LLC, a private investment fund. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Intelispan, a provider of network solutions and enabler of electronic communications, from January 2000 until McLeod USA acquired it in December 2001, and he served as a director since August 1988.

Provow was a founder and Chief Operating Officer of GridNet International, a provider of enhanced data communications services, from 1995 to July 1997 when it was acquired by WorldCom. Lee began his career in the transaction processing division of NCR where he spent 15 years in various domestic and international technical, marketing, product management, strategic planning, and execution positions.

He is married, has two children, and is a resident of Atlanta, Georgia.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Underground by Roadside Attraction
• 10,000 Friends on MySpace by Project Sisyphus
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Lee for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:

Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes:

Guests on this show included:

1. Cindy Cheatham, ATDC
2. Andy Ibbotson, Synthis
3. Jonathan Goldman, Platform Technology Ventures (in addition to discussing Suniva and VentureLab, Jon addresses the rumor that is going around about Stephen Fleming’s choice of apparel in the office)
4. Melanie Brandt, Technology Economic Development, Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce.  Melanie stops by to chat about CCP Games/EVE Online and the gaming initiatives happening in Gwinnett County.  She also drops a clue about Asante Bradford’s recent trip to Korea to scope the gaming scene and do some recruiting.
5. Bart Foster, SoloHealth (startup spun out of Ciba Vision/Novartis), joined briefly by Lance Weatherby (ATDC) – discussing SoloHealth, bootstrapping the company with involvement from customers and partners, fund raising in the current economy
6. John Willis, CloudCamp , discussing CloudCamp, Amazon’s EC2 cloud solution, Twitpay, Hadoop, Erlang/Map Reduce, and Atlanta as a cloud market.
7. Adam Wexler, Rank’em (new music startup coming out of University of Georgia), talks about Rank’em, as well as the challenges that UGA entrepreneurs face living an hour and a half from Atlanta, and often in the shadow of Georgia Tech, how he recruited a technical team to work with him (he isn’t a developer), placed second in UGA’s Top Entrepreneur competition,
8. Jon Birdsong, another UGA grad and founder of Relate Media, talks about what is happening at UGA/Athens
9. Jeff McConnell, Atlanta-based angel investor and one of the key members of AngelLounge – talks about the current angel investing landscape in Atlanta and the Southeast.
10. Todd Merrill, Global Crypto Systems, talks about the progress of his company since joining the ATDC last June
11. Charles Ross (Director, ATDC), reflects on the day’s events, and provides an update on the ATDC seed fund and the new GRA (Georgia Research Alliance) seed fund
12. Chris Hanks (Director of the University of Georgia’s Entrepreneurship Program), talks about UGA’s Top Entrepreneur competition and the latest happenings in Athens

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor, have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

And don’t forget – the StartupLounge.com message forums are a great resource for fast-growth entrepreneurs. If you need help with any aspect of your venture, we welcome you to jump in and get the help you need!

Enjoy!

We have made this decision so as to avoid a conflict with the BIO conference that week, which is the largest biotechnology investing and innovation trade conference in the United States and is being held in Atlanta this year.  We are concerned that too many entrepreneurs with biotechnology businesses (medical devices, drug discovery) and investors will be forced to make an unfortunate choice between CapitalLounge and missing part of the BIO conference.  Therefore, while we are confident in our ability to hold a well-attended and energetic event, we don’t want to put our bio/medical technology community members in a bad position.

In the interest of encouraging the fullest participation possible in CapitalLounge, we have made the decision to move the event to June 10th.  The status of your invitations to the event is unchanged.  If you have received an invitation, it is still valid. If you have not yet received a response from us regarding your application, there is no need to re-apply – just stay tuned as we’re still evaluating the flood of applications for the event.  If you received an acceptance of your application to attend, but can no longer make the event, please drop a quick reply to this email so we can remove you from the list and make room for someone else.

We will send reminders as over the next few weeks.  We apologize for any convenience the change might cause, and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on June 10th.

Thanks for your patience!

The bus is back, and man is the driver upset.  Scott brings the hammer down on another misguided service provider who recently took advantage of a local entrepreneur. Another great selection of listener emails and a dash of StartupLounge humor to top it all off. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us the 30-second elevator pitch on Intersouth Partners
• Why does Intersouth have a large geographic investing area (primarily the Southeast U.S)?
• What are the challenges of investing out-of-state for Intersouth, and how do they impact how you do business?
• Why do more early-stage investors seem to be more comfortable with investing outside their immediate area?
• What is attractive about Georgia to Intersouth, and what types of deal flow do you see here?
• How does the deal flow you see in North Carolina contrast to that coming from Georgia?
• How does the general preparedness of entrepreneurs in North Carolina contrast to that of Georgia?
• Where do most of your investment opportunities come from, and what is the best way to get a deal in front of you?
• In which Atlanta-area companies has Intersouth made investments?
• What is Intersouth doing to establish a name or presence in the local market?
• Why is it that a number of North Carolina venture capital firms appear to be actively developing a presence in Georgia?
• Do you see any Georgia investors doing deals in North Carolina?
• How active or strong is the angel investment community in North Carolina and Georgia?
• Do you any regional or local trends in deal valuations?
• Do terms and valuations for investments in Georgia differ significantly from those in the other states where you operate?
• Do you agree with the common perception that there is insufficient capital available in Georgia to fund good opportunities?
• What are some characteristics in our market that make Georgia more challenging than other states? Are there things we can do better?
• Are there certain business models that you see evolving within the technology space that are of interest to you right now?
• What mistakes do you see entrepreneurs with SaaS deals make?
• How do taking advantage of things like cloud-computing factor into deal quality?
• Can you walk us through your investment in Atlanta-based Purewire?
• Tell us one mistake that entrepreneurs make that is an instant turn-off?
• How is Intersouth responding to the current economic environment?
• What are you advising entrepreneurs to do as they react to the economy?
• What is the one piece of advice you’d like to leave with entrepreneurs listening to this show ?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Kevin (from Michigan): I am loving the show and think you guys are doing an awesome job. I stumbled across your Podcast a few weeks ago while searching for an entrepreneur/venture capital educational program. The first show I listened to was Angels in Atlanta, from then on I was hooked. I then started listening from the beginning – I am currently on #23 and listen to at least one show every 1-2 days while driving back and forth to work.

I have always had the entrepreneur spirit but it really caught on fire a few years ago with some consumer product inventions we developed. My recent interest in learning how to raise capital is due to a new venture my partners and myself are taking on, a high performance, high tech, electric motorcycle. It is very exciting and everyone we end up working with is just as passionate about it as we are.

We have completed the bike design and almost finished with our business plan. It appears our seed capital will at least need to be $1M for the R&D phase. This would give us all engineering, tooling and prototypes where we can go into production.

I think the capital lounge is an awesome opportunity for start-ups and I wish we had a connection like that up here in Michigan. Do you think entrepreneurs from outside the Atlanta area could benefit from this event? What areas of the country do the attending investors like to play in? Would a EV start-up from Michigan be considered? Thanks again for the education guys!

Danna: If I were interested in funding a start-up…what is the initial range of buy-in and then return on investment?

David: Just found you last week and listening to your podcast – In the Pandora episode you slammed the slime who prey on start-ups – I actually did a “wahoo!” at J. Christopher’s in Midtown to a series of strange stares. I have recently started focusing on the new venture area and I am disappointed at how far some people justify taking advantage of those who are at maximum flexibility.  When someone has a concept – so often they are willing to do almost anything to see that realized – often to their own detriment.  Not only in the financing arena – but on our side too – the technology side.  U guys rock!  Thanks for doing what you are doing – it is badly needed!

Guest Bio:
John Glushik, Partner, Intersouth Partners

John joined Intersouth in September 1999 and focuses primarily on the technology portfolio. Since joining Intersouth, he has managed the full-cycle venture investment process from deal origination to successful exit, serving as a diligent and respected board member and advisor to management.

John has a background in engineering and consulting within the telecommunications and aerospace industries. His previous experience includes management consulting at Booz-Allen & Hamilton, telecommunications satellite engineering at General Electric and data communications research as a Draper Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is on the board of five Intersouth companies.

John is an adjunct professor at the UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business. He sits on the board of VentureSouth, the Southern states task force on venture capital, and serves on the executive committee of the board of directors of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development. He serves on the advisory board of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of the Southeast and is an active member at the Duke University Engineering Council. John holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Duke University, an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Comedy Break Lyrics:

Just in time for tax season – enjoy “Kiss This! (Hey IRS)”, by Robert Lund/Michele Davis/Spaff, a parody of Faith Hill’s “This Kiss”:

I don’t want no April 15th
I don’t need another judgment day (no)
Anything the good Lord giveth
Uncle Sam he
Taketh
A-way
‘Cause Big Brother’s got a big debt
Baby, guess who has to pay?

It’s the way you mug me
It’s unspeakable pain
It’s a personal washout
Down a bottomless drain
It’s abhorrently taxing
It’s (uhhnn) believable

KISS THIS! KISS THIS!
Hey IRS -
KISS THIS! KISS THIS!

Doing taxes ain’t so scary
Simply add up what you made (oh)
Take it to the actu-ary
Where he sub-tracts
The tax
You’ve paid
Then you mail in twice the difference
Plus a check for Medicaid

It’s a Form 1040
It’s a penalty clause
It’s inscrutable worksheets
It’s nonsensical laws
It’s unspendable income
It’s (uhhnn) deductible

KISS THIS! KISS THIS!
Hey IRS -
KISS THIS! KISS THIS!

You can tax me on my taxes
Then you tax the funds that remain (oh)
You can tax me on bikini waxes
For a jolt of similar pain (ow)
Slap on sadistic audits
Don’t let anything pass
You’ve bent me over
So kiss – my – assets

It’s the way you mug me
It’s relentlessly lame
It’s aggressively wasteful
This unwinnable game
It’s unsportsmanlike conduct
It’s (uhhnn) depreciable

KISS THIS! KISS THIS!
It’s criminal
KISS THIS! KISS THIS!

Kiss – my bottom line there, baby
Kiss – my bottom line there, darlin’…

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Underground by Roadside Attraction
• Kiss This! (Hey IRS) by Robert Lund/Michele Davis/Spaff
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to John for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

If you’ve already applied and been accepted to attend, you should receive an email tonight with directions to the new location.   If for some reason you do not receive an email tonight, check your spam folder (doh!), or go to the StartupLounge.com web site and pull up the event details page – if you’re logged in, you’ll see the information on the new location there.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and look forward to seeing everyone on the 25th!

Mike brings the heat and rolls the bus over a group of entrepreneurs that just can’t seem to understand the value of someone else’s time. Another great selection of listener emails and a dash of StartupLounge humor to top it all off. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us your 30-second elevator pitch
• Have you modeled yourselves after any other funds or investors with a similar profile?
• Why do we need Shotput Ventures here in Atlanta/Georgia? Why did you start Shotput?
• Are you investing only in Atlanta-based or Georgia-based companies?
• Talk about the Shotput Ventures model.  Take us through your process?
• How can such a small amount of cash ($15,000-$20,000 per venture, depending on team size) make an impact?
• How did you come up with a 5-10% share?
• Where are you getting your deal flow?
• How many submissions have you had so far?
• How do you evaluate the opportunities?
• Where are you in the fund operating process?  Are you meeting the timeline provided on your site?
• What are the keys to making Shotput Ventures successful?
• Now that you’re investors, what are you learning about the market or the investing business?
• Can you talk a bit about how you recruited the handful of principals behind Shotput?
• How does setting a finite end date (August 10) alter or impact your investing model?  Why do you have a finite end date?
• Is the economy affecting your model at all?
• If this is successful, will there be a Shotput II?
• How is the rest of the venture community responding?
• What will define success for Shotput Ventures?
• What are your thoughts on the Atlanta startup scene?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Dale: Gentlemen, first off I want to thank you for all that Startuplounge does for the community in Atlanta.  I appreciate the efforts and look forward to thanking you personally at the upcoming February event.  I am getting very close to launching my own startup as a first-time entrepreneur.  I know that bootstrapping will only take me so far, and I will probably need to raise a small round of outside capital at some point.  I know that before any investor puts their cash into a deal they go through what is called “due diligence”.  I am petrified of this, as I have never been through it before.  Can you shed any light on this process, and specifically what I’m going to be in for?

BigSkyCountry: If all I have is an idea, is there a resource such as an incubator that will  help me put together the technical team to help bring it to life?

“YellowJacket” Mark: Scott and Mike I love this podcast!  … my question: what makes a great company name these days?  I’m stuck, please help.

Roberto: Everyone says that a “down” market is a great time to start a company, especially if you have the wherewithall and the means to float the business.  But what if you don’t have the cash?  Should I just go get a steady day job right now and play the waiting game until the economy stabilizes and I have some more cash available personally?  I’m worried that investors are on the sideline right now and won’t be interested in my deal.

Guest Bios:
David Cummings, CEO, Hannon Hill

A business and technology enthusiast, David Cummings founded Hannon Hill Corporation, an Inc. 500 company, in January 2001. Hannon Hill’s goal has always been to provide strategic web content management (WCM) solutions, with an emphasis on personalized customer service.

A WCM subject matter expert, David’s articles have been published on O’Reilly’s XML.com and OnJava.com, in addition to popular web development sites such as SitePoint.com. He has presented at the Silicon Valley Web Guild, Silicon Networks, Atlanta Electronic Commerce Forum, and the Independent Computer Consultants Association. With more than 10 years of software development experience, David is an experienced programmer and has written code for commercial applications in Ruby, Java, PHP, ASP, and Visual C++.

David is a member of the Entrepreneur’s Organization and serves as chairman of the board of the Technology Association of Georgia Content Management Society. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, David earned a bachelor of science degree in economics from Duke University and studied at the London School of Economics. David blogs at DavidCummings.org.

Sanjay Parekh, Founder, Startup Riot

Sanjay is the founder and organizer of Startup Riot and Startup Dinner and also serves on the board of directors or advisers of a number of startups. Previously Sanjay was a founder of Digital Envoy where he was the CEO and later the Chief Strategy Officer. Sanjay is the inventor of Digital Envoy’s patented NetAcuity IP intelligence technology. Digital Envoy was acquired by Landmark Communications in June 2007.

Prior to founding Digital Envoy, Sanjay was a founding employee of Arris Interactive, where he played a pivotal role in various markets throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe for product deployment. His efforts helped secure over $1 billion in client contracts at Arris Interactive.

Sanjay has served as a technology and strategy consultant for numerous startups, corporations, and organizations and has served as an expert witness for the Department of Justice (U.S. versus Extreme Associates). In 2004, Sanjay was named one of ten Outstanding Young Atlantans by Outstanding Atlanta, one of the “Top 40 Under 40″ Georgians by Georgia Trend magazine, and a 2004 American Marshall Memorial Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. In 2003, Sanjay was named to MIT’s Technology Review TR100 list as one of the top 100 young innovators of 2003 and one of the “Top 50 Entrepreneurs” in Atlanta by Catalyst Magazine. Sanjay was also named a Technology Pioneer with the World Economic Forum in 2002 and 2003.

Sanjay is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Sanjay has an electrical engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. You can find Sanjay’s writings on his blog and his Twitter account (@sanjay).

Comedy Break Lyrics:

Featuring “Frank’s Garage”, by Steve Goodie, a Bob Dylanish tribute to going green … with cars.   Enjoy!

So you’re in an economic pickle
With your great big sports utility vehicle
Can’t afford the fuel, can’t sell it
Can’t trade it, what the hell you gonna do?

I know a guy, he’s been turning wrenches for years
You should give him a try, and yes, you can pay him with beer

Come on down to Frank’s garage, bring him your big old motor
He’ll take your SUV apart, and build you two Toyotas
Forget bio-diesel and solar
He’ll cut your SUV in half, and make two Corollas

Tired of getting thirty gallons to the mile?
Need something smaller than your domicile (that means your house)

Come on down to Frank’s garage, with that Hummer you’re so fond-a
He’ll take your SUV apart, and build you two damn Hondas
He’s got the tools, and a price you can afford
He’ll cut your SUV in half, and make four Accords

Gas is twenty bucks a quart
But Frank don’t want you in no import
See how many Mini Coopers he made
Out of one excessive Escalade
Escalade, Escalade, Escalade, Escalade
Escalade, Escalade, Escalade, Escalade

Come on down to Frank’s garage, with that big old Dodge Dakota
He’ll take your freakin truck apart, and build you eight Toyotas
Frank’s not out there hugging tree-es-es
He’s cutting Navigators into Prius-es-es

Frank once worked at the Hummer plant, but last year he got fi-red
Now he turns two-ton Tonka tanks into tiny little hybrids

Come on down to Frank’s garage, just east of Escondido
He’ll take your SUV apart, and build you a fleet of Geos
There’s no need to fret bro
With a new Suburban and a case of bourbon, he’ll make you sixteen Metros

Yeah come on down to Frank’s garage, it’s worth the wait in line
Come on down to Frank’s garage, it’s two for one all the time
Yeah come on down to Frank’s garage, are gas prices killin ya?

Come on down to Frank’s garage, yeah you can run on one cylinder!

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Underground by Roadside Attraction
• Frank’s Garage by Steve Goodie
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to David and Sanjay for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

Click the video below to view. If you want to view the low-definition version click here to view it on YouTube.

Thanks to Rick for putting this together – and if you have a moment, be sure to check out Faded Glory, Endorphin’s new film about the trials and tribulations of an amateur baseball team that eventually won the national title.

Enjoy!

The 2009 TAG/GRA Business Launch Competition is coming up, and we discussed it in the opening of the show.  “Under the Bus” or “Look Who Gets It?” – Tune in to find out!  Mike also challenges Scott to a startup mentoring challenge for charity (the gloves are off now, folks). Another great selection of listener emails and a dash of StartupLounge humor to top it all off. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us your 30-second elevator pitch
• Can you tell us about your recent closing of Frontier’s latest venture fund?
• Was it hard to raise this fund, given the current economic climate?
• What is the story you tell potential limited partners that excites them about investing in Georgia and the Southeastern US?
• Do you have meaningful competition for deal flow?
• What’s the wackiest deal that’s been pitched to you?
• Could you highlight a success story of which you’re particularly proud?
• What is attractive to you about the Atlanta market?
• When you receive an opportunity and you’re inclined to pursue it, what is your process for examining that opportunity?
• On average, how long does it take to get you from that starting point to an agreement on an investment?
• What’s your overall assessment of the Atlanta early stage market? Is it improving, and if so, how do you see that?
• What is the impact of the current economic climate on your investing behavior?
• What impact is the current economic climate having on your portfolio companies?
• How are valuations holding up given the bad economic outlook?
• What advice do you give to entrepreneurs regarding addressing the current economic environment?
• What impact is the current economic climate having on your deal flow?
• How many opportunities do you get exposed to a year and how many investments do you make?
• When dealing with you guys, what’s one thing that’s an absolute no-no?
• How involved are you day to day with your portfolio companies?
• If you were to “sell” yourself to an entrepreneur to take you on as an investor, what do you think is your biggest selling point?
• What is a piece of advice you would give to new early-stage investors?
• If you could change something in the environment to make your jobs easier, what would that be?
• What is the best way to get an opportunity in front of you?
• If you were to give one piece of advice to entrepreneurs that might want to approach you for capital, what would that be?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Gia: Gia: Hey guys love the show!  I’ve heard you guys use the phrase “cram down” several times in past shows. What the heck does it mean?

Cassandra: Cassandra: Scott and Mike, I am starting up a new company and as part of this I am trying to put together a detailed breakdown of my target market.  It seems that the data is readily available out there if I am willing to pay for it.  I am bootstrapping this company by working two jobs, sometimes three.  What’s a poor girl to do?  I can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars on marketing reports.  Help!

ImTakingoff: I am moving forward with filing a series of patents around my technology and have a question regarding the selection of the best attorney/firm to do the job.  I have done a good bit of research into firms that have done a great bit of work in my industry, but I’ve compiled a rather nice list of potential candidates.  Should I be worried that these firms have worked or continue to work with my competition on adjacent patents??

Guest Bio:
Joel Lanik, Principal, Frontier Capital

Joel is a Principal at Frontier where he is responsible for developing, analyzing, and executing investment opportunities, and is instrumental in leading the firm’s day to day operational processes. He was recently the Vice President of Finance & Strategy at LURHQ, a leading provider of managed IT security services, where he was responsible for all financial, strategic planning, legal and HR operations. Prior to this operating role, Joel was with Frontier Capital where he was instrumental in the successful deployment of Frontier Fund I. In addition, he was a Senior Financial Analyst with investment bank Lloyd & Company. Joel holds a BA in Economics from Duke University and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Joel is also a CFA charterholder.

Comedy Break Lyrics:

Featuring “Hooked up with a Bigfoot”, by Robert Lund, sung to the tune of Billy Joel’s Big Shot.  Even though they didn’t find Bigfoot in the North Georgia Mountains, we’re still holding out hope.  Enjoy!

Well -
You left Georgia riding in your Cherokee
Into Blue Ridge National Park
You stopped for drinks with the bulky brunette
That you met in the dark
Ooh -
But when you wake up in the morning with your hair on fire
And you’re tied face-down from a tree
You know it’s no urban legend
The same thing happened to me

‘Cause she turned out to be a Bigfoot creature
You should have known from how she growled
She’s definitely a Bigfoot creature
‘Cause your limbs are all yanked out
You had to stay till last call last night
That will teach you to get plowed
You thought you’d met a tall babe – not quite
You hooked up with a Bigfoot last night
Oh no!

So -
You went chasing tail on the Blue Ridge Trail
‘Cause the women seemed aggressively game
Like the Chattahoochee mama with fangs
Who just grunted her name
Ooh -
But now you just don’t remember all the things she did
And you ask why it hurts when you cough
I’ll give you one hint, buddy
Your Jeep ain’t all she ripped off

No no no no no no you didn’t believe in Bigfoot, didja?
She seemed abominably endowed
Undoubtedly a Bigfoot creature
Her perfume was Rainbow Trout
You almost had your last rites last night
Got Sasquashed into the ground
You’re covered with a rug burn – shag type
You hooked up with a Bigfoot last night
Oh no!

So, baby, have you ever considered laser hair removal?
Or there’s always waxing.
Or you know, you could always just borrow my razor….

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Underground by Roadside Attraction
• Hooked up With a Bigfoot by Robert Lund
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Joel for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

Scott hops behind the wheel of the bus and plows over some silly entrepreneurs who just can’t seem to practice the fundamentals.  At the end of the podcast, we drop a tease on a new type of event we are planning for 2009. Another batch of your emails and a musical ballad that speaks to the impact of offshoring jobs round out another great show. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us your elevator pitch for the Georgia Department of Economic Development
• Please give us your elevator pitch
• How did you hear about StartupLounge?
• Why is startup/venture entrepreneurship important to you and to the state government?
• What is your assessment of the Georgia startup/venture environment?
• What is a realistic role that you think the government can/should play in encouraging entrepreneurship?
• What are some programs that the GA Dept of Economic Development is supporting to promote entrepreneurship
• Are there any programs in the works or changes to existing programs that you’re excited about?
• What is your position on SB 80 that would allow Georgia public pension funds to be invested in venture capital funds?
• Why has SB 80 been so hard to pass (the bill that would allow Georgia to join the other 49 states in investing small portions of its pension fund into alternative class investments such as venture capital funds)?
• How is the current economic environment changing your thinking or program implementation?
• Have any programs been curtailed or cut because of budget constraints arising from the current economic environment?
• How do you balance the needs of Atlanta with the needs of the rest of the state?
• If you had to choose one thing to change in the environment, what would it be?
• Are there any programs in other states you would like to emulate?
• Where would you like to see Georgia in 5 years in terms of being a home for entrepreneurship?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Barry: I love the StartupLounge way and our podcast has a permanent home on my playlist.  Keep up the good work!  My question is this:  I have recently begun a new startup venture, but do not yet have a “business plan”. I don’t have any investors yet.  I have seen lots of business plan templates, and many of them have lots of things that are not really relevant to me at this stage in my venture (since I’m still just in the idea phase really).  When is the best time to really sit down and flesh out a full plan?

GT2008: I have what I think is a really great idea and am beginning to get serious about it.  The play is basically an open source software play, with a business model around the platform.  What are some of the business risks of an open source company that I should be aware of now at this stage of my planning?

Ari: Thanks for your efforts at StartupLounge!  I love what you are doing and it has been a huge help to me.  I am an Israeli-American, and am working on a new startup of my own.  I am considering approaching the American-Israeli Chamber of Commerce to see what help they can provide.  My venture will be U.S. based, and won’t send any jobs back to Israel, but I am wondering if this will factor into my discussions with them.  Any advice?

MarkF: Hopefully you guys can help me, because I am pulling my hair out on this. I have a new startup that I am working on that is a SaaS model.  I am really struggling with where to set my price points.  My competitors are in the market with a very low price point.  If I use a comparable price point, I won’t make enough cash flow to survive in the short-term (because I am bootstrapping while working for someone else right now, and I’m having to pay people to work for me on the side). If I charge too much, I’m worried obviously about the adoption rate.  Thoughts?

Guest Bio:
Kenneth C. Stewart, Commisioner, Georgia Department of Economic Development

Commissioner Stewart was appointed to his post as Commissioner, Georgia Department of Economic Development, by Governor Sonny Perdue in January 2007. As chief marketing officer for the state of Georgia, he leads Georgia’s efforts to recruit new businesses and expand existing ones; grow the state’s tourism, international trade and entertainment industries; and support the growth of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Mr. Stewart joined state government in September 2004, when he was appointed director of the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC), where he focused the agency and the state’s 24 million acres of forestland on new markets and products such as biofuels, as well as niche and specialty products.

The majority of Mr. Stewart’s career was in private industry. He served as vice president of Unisource Worldwide, Inc., where he led the company’s south-central sales and distribution division in addition to its retail and specialty manufacturing businesses. He also held several management positions at Georgia-Pacific, including director of enterprise development, senior director of strategic planning and analysis of G-P’s distribution division, and director of state and local taxes. Mr. Stewart also worked for Weyerhaeuser Company and Mississippi Power & Light.

Commissioner Stewart is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, holding a Juris Doctorate from the Woodrow Wilson College of Law in Atlanta. He earned a B.S. in Business and a B.S. in Forestry from Mississippi State University, and he is a Registered Forester. Mr. Stewart also served as a company commander in the Army National Guard.

Present and previous affiliations include Board of Directors Chair for the Georgia Centers of Innovation, the Georgia Tourism Foundation and Governor Perdue’s Growing Georgia Cluster group of state agency heads. Commissioner Stewart serves on the boards of the OneGeorgia Authority, the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Development Authority. He is a member of Georgia Tech’s Board of Advisors and the CDC Foundation’s Atlanta Advisory Council. Mr. Stewart is past Board Chair of the Georgia Justice Project and was a member of the Governor’s Energy Policy Council.

Comedy Break Lyrics:

Featuring “Take my Job Away”, by Project Sisyphus, sung to the tune of Berlin’s Take My Breath Away.  A hilarious look at offshoring/outsourcing in a bad economic climate.  Enjoy!

Watching all the want ads, padding out my resume
Wishin’ I had got that discount online MBA
Rumor mill is turning, labor’s cheaper in Norway
Lawyers filing motions, hoping they can find some way (to)

Take my job away…

(I’m) such a workaholic—how could they send my job offshore?
Always in by ten, sometimes I stayed as late as four
Except for four-day weekends and random ethnic holidays
Now some dude named “Gunnar” got my manager to say:

Take my job away…

Umlaut-guy won’t have my knowledge
of YouTube video
or my B.S. from that classy college
where they filmed “Don’t Tase Me, Bro”
And I taught the CEO
Super Mario™

Take my job away…

Security escorts me out so I don’t make a scene
Stuffed my clothes with pens, some post-its and a fax machine
Ate up all the donuts, sued for months of severance pay
Prayin’ I get sick, ‘cause medical’s on them ‘till May

Take my job away
Take my job away…

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Take My Job Away by Project Sisyphus
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Commissioner Stewart for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

The bus is back and ready to rumble with Mike at the wheel – this time, he plows headfirst into entrepreneurs who seem to think that circumventing AngelLounge and trying to get us to champion their deal is a good idea.  FAIL!  Mike also segues into a nice monologue on the angel perspective of the current economic downtrend.  Some great listener emails, a musical tribute to the $700B government bailout, and a sprinkling of StartupLounge humor round out another great show. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us your elevator pitch for Tech Operators
• Tell us about your recent closing of a new fund
• Was it hard to raise this fund, given the economic climate?
• You’ve raised a virgin fund, which is very hard to do.  Why do you think you were so successful where many others have failed?
• What is the story you tell potential limited partners that excites them about investing in Georgia and the Southeastern US?
• Do you anticipate a great deal of competition for deal flow?
• When will the fund begin investing operations?
• You have four people on your founding team.  Have you identified particular strengths and roles?
• A lot of people have a view that Atlanta VCs, don’t have much of an interest in seeing true early-stage companies.  Their perception is that most regional VCs have moved upstream to more emerging growth type deals.  Are you observing something similar?
• When you receive an opportunity and you’re inclined to pursue it, what is your process for examining that opportunity?
• There seems to be a lot of venture fund raising activity here in Atlanta – some existing venture players that have been dormant for a while are raising new funds (e.g. Kinetic, Noro-Moseley), and several new funds are in the works.  From your perspective, is this a positive thing for Atlanta or a negative thing for TechOperators?
• Recently, there was some commotion around the notion that some regional/local VCs are “spreadsheet jockeys”, meaning they tend to invest based on analytics and business models rather than a simple opportunity to create value in the marketplace without necessarily having an easily illustrated business model firmly in place. What is your take on this?
• On average, how long does it take to get you from that starting point to an agreement on an investment?
• What is the best way to get an opportunity in front of you?
• How many opportunities do you expect to look at each year and how many investments do you expect to make in a given year?
• When dealing with you guys, what’s one thing that’s an absolute no-no?
• How involved do you plan to be day to day with your portfolio companies?
• If you were to “sell” yourself to an entrepreneur to take you on as an investor, what do you think is your biggest selling point?
• What is a piece of advice you would give to new early-stage investors?
• If you could change something in the environment or ecosystem to make your job easier, what would that be?
• What’s your overall assessment of the Atlanta early stage market? Is it improving, and if so, how do you see that?
• If you were to give one piece of advice to entrepreneurs that might want to approach you for capital, what would that be?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

jswanson: Hey guys, love the show.  I have a quick question for you this morning.  I am contemplating raising a small round of angel financing for a new software startup.  I am concerned about the current market conditions and I’m wondering what you’re seeing out in the angel sector.  What can I expect to see in terms of angel interest, activity, and ultimately valuation?

Patesh: I have a strange cap table problem that I’m hoping Mike can help me with.  I am losing a co-founder due to his personal medical situation.  Currently, he owns 30% of the company.  I need to find a replacement for him, and will need to give the new guy an equity stake.  The guy I’m losing knows that I’m going to want to reduce his equity stake to some extent, as its only fair. Any suggestions on how best to tackle this?  Do I just suggest a number and work it out with him, or is there a better way?

Sam: Greetings guys.  I am very interested in starting up a new video game studio here in Atlanta, primarily because I’m from here, but secondarily because I’d like to take advantage of the generous tax credit incentive from the state.  Even though we have a nice incentive here to build this type of company in Georgia, we don’t seem to have a lot of investors in that sector.  Any tips?  Can I convince an outside investor to invest in this deal, and allow me to stay in Georgia?

Carmine: Scott and Mike, I love the show, it has been a huge help to me.  I visit the StartupLounge site daily to see if there are new episodes posted.  Please keep it up!  I am curious about one thing, though. How do you guys find the time to do these podcasts, blog posts, speak at various events, and hold really cool events like PitchCamp and CapitalLounge?  From what I gather from your bios, you both have day jobs.  How can this be?  Have you secretly invented a cloning machine?  If so, tell me where I can get one!

Guest Bio:

Glenn McGonnigle

Glenn McGonnigle is a founding partner of Tech Operators, a new venture capital firm in Atlanta focused on early-stage technology ventures. McGonnigle was most recently Chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based VistaScape Security Systems, a leading provider of enterprise intelligent video surveillance software. McGonnigle was recruited by the company’s board to raise capital and grow the business. He subsequently oversaw the successful sale of the company to Siemens Building Technologies. An authority on IT and physical security convergence and a frequent contributor and expert speaker for numerous industry publications and events, McGonnigle helped shape President Bush’s 2005 National Strategy for Maritime Security.

Previously, McGonnigle was a co-founder and top executive of Atlanta-based Internet Security Systems (ISS) where he helped raise initial venture capital and launch the business. For 7 years, he led the business development team in developing sales channels and entering the managed security services market. During his tenure, the company grew from startup to revenues of over $225 million and was recently acquired by IBM for $1.5 billion.

Prior to ISS, he was President and co-founder of Data Integrity Services Corporation, an early-stage provider of WAN-based data management services. Throughout his 24 year career, McGonnigle has remained focused on emerging technologies and has held a variety of sales and marketing executive positions during the high growth stages of EMC, Epoch Systems, Borland, and Wang Laboratories.

He is an active member of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and sits on the advisory board of Georgia Tech’s Tennenbaum Institute. In addition, he has served as Entrepreneur in Residence and CapVenture coach supporting Georgia’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC). McGonnigle holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• 700 Billion Dollars by Steve Goodie
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Glenn for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

Of course, Scott does a great job in trying to completely derail the discussion, by trying to find some practical applications for this new technology, especially as it pertains to getting faster framerates while viewing porn online), as well as trying to convince Google to buy them.  Jeez!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Work, Work, Bors23 from Germany
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

A special thanks to John for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

The bus is back, and the finance guy brings the heat and rails about early-stage companies that get hung up on their valuation. Some great listener emails and a sprinkling of StartupLounge humor round out another great show. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us your elevator pitch for Despair.com
• It has been reported that, Despair Inc. was “inspired” largely by the failed promises made to you and other employees by the Internet Startup for which you worked.  Can you tell us about that?
• What was the response from Successories to the creation of Despair.com?
• It’s our understanding that you and co-founders Justin Sewell, and Justin’s twin brother Jeff come up with most of the material.  How much is “fan generated”?
• Has anyone ever bought the Chairman Edition of the Art of Demotivation?
• Explain the Noble Employee Myth!
• At what point did you determine there was a business in de-motivational products?
• Did you require capital to get started?  If so, how much did you need and where did it come from?
• Is Despair.com a durable business?  Do you ever have fear that your success is just a fad?
• How has your business been impacted by the current economic instability?
• Who is your typical customer?
• Despair.com seems to be a viral phenomenon.  What allows a company to go viral?  Can it even be done on purpose?
• How do Vodcasting and blogging fit into your marketing strategy and can you disclose how many viewers/readers you have?
• Your “frowny” trademark sent ripples through the intellectual property world.  Is that trademark ever seriously challenged?
• Have you ever thought about sending “Despair” packages to Fannie Mae or Lehman or Washington Mutual?
• Do you still have only four employees (the three founders?).  How do you run so lean?  Or rather, what about your model is so scalable?
• The Despair Inc. products have enjoyed popularity – enough to make you some money.   Does that say anything about our society or is that over-thinking the issue?
• Do you ever get asked to speak and if so, to which events are you invited?
• Which was the first de-motivator theme?
• What’s the best selling de-motivator theme/topic?
• What’s next for Despair, Inc?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Aby: I have an idea that came to me in Walmart yesterday. I spoke to a friend of mine last night, and he improved on the idea, to the point where we both believe it could be a viable product. I am not an engineer or a technician – I simply have an entrepreneurial mind. My question to you is simple, what do I do next??

John Kellogg: Just thought I would say how much I appreciate StartupLounge.  I just listened to the Noro podcast today and enjoy your ability as well as Mike’s, to interject humor into a very serious conversation.  Entrepreneurs are able to gain real insight from top professionals in your “most unusual” setting.  Thanks again and I look forward to meeting you tomorrow night at CapitalLounge.

Michael: We have never met. I live in Alpharetta. I have a friend who is retired and developed a unique outdoor storage facilty over 10 years ago. I have never seen anything like this product. It is 10-6 in dia. The floor does not move but the walls rotate 360 degrees. So there is no “back” of the building. He asked me to become the national distributor with this product recently. As mentioned he developed this building over 10 years ago and the individuals who attempted to sell and distribute this building did not do any market research. Consequently it failed. Mainly because there was no testing. So now he’s come to me to try to distribute this product. I work with facts, and risk. I want to test market it first as a greenhouse for consumers. My problem is I have a older gentleman who is very proud of his design, but is cash poor. He owns the patent rights. (but doesn’t have international patents…a big opportunity I believe) and he is impatient because he needs money now and looking elsewhere for investors. I believe in the product and that it could sell, but at the moment, not enough sales history. Your thoughts?

Roberto: Hi guys, love the podcast!  It has been a huge help as I get my new venture off the ground.  As a very early stage, pre-revenue company, I obviously don’t have lots of cash laying around to pay people for services.  In following one of Scott’s tips on his wonderful blog post about bootstrapping your company, I have been able to find a few services vendors to accept equity instead of cash for their services.  My question is this:  What % of equity makes sense when doing these types of deals.  Some of my partners are what I call “spot vendors”, as they provide very specific services work (legal, accounting, etc.)  Other vendors are more involved, especially on the technology side.  Any guidance you could give me would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks again and keep up the good fight!

Guest Bio:

Dr. Lawrence Kersten:

Lawrence Kersten started his career as a university professor, having taught at the University of Southern California, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Iowa State University, and the City University of New York.

In 1995 he left academia to join an internet startup in Dallas. That company was acquired by Verio and he was tapped to become Verio’s first national Director of Customer Care. Verio was eventually sold to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT). While at Verio, he co-founded Despair, Inc., a publishing and media enterprise dedicated to the dissemination of contrarian wisdom.

He holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Communication from the University of Southern California and is the author of The Art of Demotivation and several of the company’s popular Demotivators products. He has appeared on, written for, or written about in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, NPR’s Marketplace, CNN, BBC’s Business Daily, Conference Board Review, Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, Business Week, and many other outlets.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Pinata Boy by Derek Sonderfan
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Lawrence for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

Let me repeat – PitchCamp will NOT be held at the Galleria, but on the 3rd Floor (Hodges Room) at the ATDC. You can get address/map info here:

http://www.atdc.org/contact/

Thanks to Lance and crew at the ATDC for helping us out!

Welcome to SL #30! Catalyst Magazine recently hosted a panel on “Raising Capital” at The Vinings Club here in Atlanta. The panel featured Greg Foster (Noro-Moseley Partners), Brian Patrick Cork (Brian Cork Human Capital), and Braxton Jarratt (CEO, ClearLeap). Catalyst asked StartupLounge to moderate the panel, which we were more than happy to do. We were angling for a “dual moderator” format, where Scott and Mike could take pot shots at each other all night, but sadly, with only a 45 minute session, we decided that one moderator would be a better format (in the interest of time). Sadly, the crowd got stuck with Scott moderating.

It’s the million-dollar question. Whether your company is encountering consistent annual revenue growth, or you’re just tired of bootstrapping your start-up, how does an entrepreneur find capital to grow a small business? On September 11th, Catalyst magazine is proud to present a featured panel of experts who will guide you on understanding how to find funds in this tough economic climate. Learn from local entrepreneurs who have raised millions of dollars in recent investment rounds. Find out from top local investors what they perceive as a bankable business.

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Sample Panel Questions:

• Introduction by Drew Ermenc, Associate Publisher and Editor, Catalyst Magazine
• A lot has been written on the challenges of raising early-stage capital in the Atlanta market. Can you give us your view on where we were say 5 years ago, where we are today, and what the future holds here?
• What makes up the criteria for a good deal from the regional VC perspective?
• What are some of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when looking for capital? Any particular big No-No’s?
• ClearLeap is a rising star in the Atlanta technology sector having just raised a $9M outside round of capital. Atlanta certainly has its challenges when it comes to early-stage capital. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in raising capital for Clearleap?
• Many entrepreneurs are great at building innovation, but not great at building relationships. Could you speak on the importance of relationships and networking within the investment community and how it might benefit those looking for investors?
• Before you joined Noro-Moseley Partners you did “strategic venturing” at Turner Broadcasting. Is this a viable path for early-stage companies, and what does that process look like from the entrepreneur’s perspective?
• Braxton, your last round of funding was a $9M raise. You had a mix of investors in on the deal – the deal was co-led by Noro-Moseley Partners here in Atlanta, and Trinity Ventures on the West coast. You also had participation by Sig Mosley (Imlay Investments) and Jim Chiddix, the former CTO of Time Warner Cable. Was there a difference in the process, expectations, etc, between angels, the West Coast venture capital and the East Coast venture capital? How did you bring all of these folks together to do the deal?
• Mitch Free, founder of MFG.com and the Catalyst November speaker, recently told Drew (and StartupLounge.com podcast listeners) that his best advice would be to “keep your head down, build your business, grow your business and the money will come to you.” Would you agree or disagree to this?
• It is my view that a lot of deals that get passed on could be better deals with some tweaking on the part of the entrepreneur. What should entrepreneurs do to make their companies attractive to A) Angels and B) Venture capitalists? Are there some things they can do to make their deal a “cleaner” one for outside investors?
• Investors have the luxury of seeing lots of deals through the course of their work, and they are very selective in their investments. In your view, what made Clearleap stand above the rest of the pack?
• What parting wisdom do you have for entrepreneurs out there seeking to raise capital from investors in the Southeast?

Questions from the Audience:

Q1: How does social media play into raising capital?

Q2: I have a ten year old company. What is the opportunity for an established company to raise capital in Atlanta?

Q3: How do entrepreneurs get an opportunity at networking events to meet investors, and how much time should they expect to spend with such an investor?

Panelist Bios:

Brian Patrick Cork

Brian has been a highly successful executive and entrepreneur; is a popular public speaker; Professional Athlete; and, an accomplished Executive Recruiter and Business Coach.

Brian Cork has raised over $500 million dollars in private placement capital for a wide array of companies across every industry; recruited and counseled hundreds of executives and other decision-makers; and, has actively participated in building dozens of successful organizations.

As an Executive Recruiter, Business Coach, and “Trusted Adviser” Brian Cork is a vital resource for decision-makers in terms of making better decisions. On any given day, Brian Cork speaks with and shares ideas with influential people ranging from Politicians and Educators to Fortune 50 Executives and Entrepreneurs. His Executive and Business Coaching Clients include top executives in Fortune 50 companies to professionals in transition.

Brian Cork was named to London’s prestigious “Ol Man Society” for his contributions as a businessman and philanthropist – and, his well-balanced approach to life. In addition, Brian has been selected by Catalyst Magazine as a “Top 25 Entrepreneur”, and Great Britain’s G2 economics as a “Coalition Member of the Year”.

Greg Foster:

Greg joined Noro-Moseley Partners (NMP) in 2008 and has focused his investment activities in technology with an emphasis on digital media. Greg is active with several NMP portfolio companies and currently serves as a board observer for ClearLeap.

Prior to joining NMP, Greg served as Vice-President of Corporate Development for Turner Broadcasting, where he was responsible for Turner New Media Investments, the company’s early stage strategic investment arm, as well as M&A activities. Greg joined Turner after it acquired his company, Southern Direct, a business focused on building branded e-commerce extensions to linear cable channels. In addition to founding Southern Direct, Greg has been a member of the management team of two other successful start-ups, serving as SVP of Corporate Development at iXL Enterprises and VP of Business and Corporate Development at Silverpop Systems. He began his career as a consultant at Deloitte Consulting, where his efforts were focused on building internet strategies for clients including Prudential Insurance, Sonoco Products and the New York City Transit Authority.

Greg is the chairman-elect of NVCA’s Corporate Venture Group Advisory Board and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Council on Economic Education. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, where he was a President’s Scholar, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Braxton Jarratt

Braxton has driven innovation and growth in senior management roles with technology and media companies large and small, most recently as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Tandberg Television (an Ericsson Company), the world’s largest supplier of digital television systems. At Tandberg, he led the rapid expansion of the company into the North American television market and video on demand (VOD) software business, building a world-class customer base of leading television operators and programmers. He launched and secured the initial key customers for Tandberg’s pioneering dynamic VOD advertising system and led the complete overhaul of Tandberg Television’s brand after completing three key acquisitions in less than a year. Braxton joined Tandberg through their $120 million acquisition of N2 Broadband, a venture-backed television software startup, where he was responsible for product management, marketing and business development. There, he helped win deployments of the company’s on-demand software products in more than 100 cities and in nearly every VOD site in North America.

Braxton previously worked at Cox Enterprises as director of product strategy for the cable division and GM in the interactive media division, where he launched the first broadband internet content service in partnership with @Home. Braxton’s first tech startup experience was as the head of commercial services with Primenet, an internet startup purchased by GlobalCenter.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player. You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod

Thanks to Brian, Greg, and Braxton for adding enormous value as panelists – and thanks to Drew Ermenc and the gang at Catalyst Magazine for putting this event together.

Enjoy!

Another group of pathetic entrepreneurs get tossed under the bus … firmly. Some great listener emails and a sprinkling of StartupLounge humor round out another great show. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors – without them, we simply couldn’t do all of the things we do.

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us your elevator pitch for Noro-Moseley Partners
• Tell us about your recent closing of a new fund
• Was it hard to raise this fund, given the economic climate?
• What is the story you tell potential limited partners that excites them about investing in Georgia and the Southeastern US?
• How would a legislative bill like SB-80 help a fund like Noro-Moseley?
• Do you have meaningful competition for deal flow?
• Could you highlight a success story of which you’re particularly proud?
• What’s your take on Appcelerator’s departure from Atlanta?
• A lot of people have a view that Atlanta VCs, like NMP, don’t have much of an interest in seeing true early-stage companies. Their perception is that most regional VCs have moved upstream to more emerging growth type deals. Can you clarify NMPs position in this area?
• Greg you recently made the move from working in corporate venture capital with Turner to a traditional venture capital firm. What challenges did you face in making that change, and how are you finding the transition?
• When you receive an opportunity and you’re inclined to pursue it, what is your process for examining that opportunity?
• There seems to be a lot of venture fund raising activity here in Atlanta – some existing venture players that have been dormant for a while are raising new funds (e.g. Kinetic), and several new funds are in the works. From Noro’s perspective, is this a positive thing for Atlanta or a negative thing for Noro?
• Recently, there was a big flap in the Atlanta blogging scene around the notion that some regional/local VCs are “spreadsheet jockeys”, meaning they tend to invest based on analytics and business models rather than a simple opportunity to create value in the marketplace without necessarily having an easily illustrated business model firmly in place. What is NMP’s view on this?
• On average, how long does it take to get you from that starting point to an agreement on an investment?
• What is the best way to get an opportunity in front of you?
• How many opportunities do you get exposed to a year and how many investments do you make?
• When dealing with you guys, what’s one thing that’s an absolute no-no?
• How involved are you day to day with your portfolio companies?
• If you were to “sell” yourself to an entrepreneur to take you on as an investor, what do you think is your biggest selling point?
• What is a piece of advice you would give to new early-stage investors?
• If you could change something in the environment or ecosystem to make your jobs easier, what would that be?
• What’s your overall assessment of the Atlanta early stage market? Is it improving, and if so, how do you see that?
• If you were to give one piece of advice to entrepreneurs that might want to approach you for capital, what would that be?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Myhsar: When attending an event with potential angels, which “30 second” pitch do you start? The first being the actual product or service that your company provides or second the potential investment numbers and potential roi? Also, should one have a tri-fold brochure or fact sheet that one leaves with the angel?

Ben: I recently launched an online community/social network that I thought was in a very niche field. After doing some research it appears that there are several other sites out there that cater to a similar audience. Any ideas on how to make an online community stand out from the competition? And second, any thoughts on some ways to monetize an online community?

Carolyn: I recently took the plunge and started my own venture. I have someone who might be willing to invest in my startup, but they want a seat on the board. What are the pros and cons of taking capital early on and giving up a seat on the board?

Fiberman: Great podcast guys! I really enjoy the content and the back and forth. Here is my question; I have what I think is a great idea for a tech startup. Unfortunately, all of my experience is in sales and marketing, and while I’m technically literate, I can’t do software development. How can one find programmers to work on a startup idea, who is willing to work for nothing in exchange for a piece of the action? Thanks in advance!

Guest Bios:

Alan Taetle:

Alan Taetle joined NMP in 1998 and has focused his investment activities on software and information technology companies. He currently represents NMP on the boards of Abaco Mobile, BroadSource, Clearleap, M1Global, SecureWorks and Vocalocity, and oversees one other investment, Damballa. Alan was previously a director or observer for several prior NMP investments, including Adjoined Consulting (sold to Capgemini), OpenSite Technologies (sold to Siebel Systems), CipherTrust, Inc. (sold to Secure Computing), and PRE Holdings (sold to First Data).

Prior to joining NMP, Alan was the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for MindSpring (which merged with EarthLink in 2000). Alan joined MindSpring as its 13th employee in 1995, and oversaw the company’s subscriber growth from 4,000 to over 325,000 in just three years. Prior to MindSpring, Alan served in various systems and product management roles with CogniTech Corporation, makers of contact management software; Itochu International, a Japanese trading company; and Electronic Data Systems, a systems integration consulting company. Alan is a previous board member of ChoicePoint, Inc., a NYSE company (sale pending to Reed Elsevier) focused on providing information that helps companies make educated, intelligent choices to reduce risk and fraud.

Alan is a past Chairman of the Florida Venture Forum and serves on the board of both the Florida Venture Forum and the Atlanta CEO Council. Alan serves the co-chair of the Board of Trustees of the Cliff Valley School, a non-sectarian independent school in Atlanta. Alan received a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Greg Foster:

Greg joined NMP in 2008 and has focused his investment activities in technology with an emphasis on digital media. Greg is active with several NMP portfolio companies and currently serves as a board observer for Clearleap.

Prior to joining NMP, Greg served as Vice-President of Corporate Development for Turner Broadcasting, where he was responsible for Turner New Media Investments, the company’s early stage strategic investment arm, as well as M&A activities. Greg joined Turner after it acquired his company, Southern Direct, a business focused on building branded e-commerce extensions to linear cable channels. In addition to founding Southern Direct, Greg has been a member of the management team of two other successful start-ups, serving as SVP of Corporate Development at iXL Enterprises and VP of Business and Corporate Development at Silverpop Systems. He began his career as a consultant at Deloitte Consulting, where his efforts were focused on building internet strategies for clients including Prudential Insurance, Sonoco Products and the New York City Transit Authority.

Greg is the chairman-elect of NVCA’s Corporate Venture Group Advisory Board and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Council on Economic Education. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, where he was a President’s Scholar, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.  You can also take advantage of our iTunes feed.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Old Keith Richards by Paul and Storm
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Alan and Greg for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

A lot of positive things are starting to happen here in the Southeast, so the bus stays in the garage while we talk about some more folks that seem to “get it”. Some great listener emails and a sprinkling of StartupLounge humor round out another great show. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show (Sig and Charlie both gave their thoughts on each question):

• Give us your elevator pitch for Imlay Investments
• Give us your elevator pitch for Paparelli Ventures
• Tell us why you invest in early-stage companies?
• What was the point at which you decided to make investments in early-stage companies?
• When you receive an opportunity and you’re inclined to pursue it, what is your process for examining that opportunity?
• On average, how long does it take to get you from that starting point to an agreement on an investment?
• What is the best way to get an opportunity in front of you?
• How many opportunities do you get exposed to a year and how many investments do you make?
• Is the current economic outlook changing your investment behavior or desire?
• What are the most important changes in the Atlanta investing environment in the last 15 years?
• Do you collaborate with other early-stage investors and if so, how often and how closely?
• When dealing with you guys, what’s one thing that’s an absolute no-no?
• How involved are you day to day with your portfolio companies?
• If you were to “sell” yourself to an entrepreneur to take you on as an investor, what do you think is your biggest selling point?
• What is a piece of advice you would give to new early-stage investors?
• If you could change something in the environment to make your jobs easier, what would that be?
• If you were to give one piece of advice to entrepreneurs that might want to approach you for capital, what would that be?

Listener Emails Read and Answered on the Show:

Chase: I’m a high school student in Charlotte NC and I really enjoy listening to this podcast. I have a question for you guys. Which would you recommend to someone my age who is interested in being an entrepreneur at some point: working in a big company or joining a startup? I am trying to plot my career path and could use some guidance!

TechSquare: On one of your recent podcasts Mike made a reference to why it might be good to start a business in a down market (i.e. a recession). Can you elaborate on this?

Cevans: I just became aware of StartupLounge and I’m very pleased to see this type of online community right in my backyard. I look forward to interacting as a member. Here’s my question: Are serviced-based companies welcomed amongst VC circles or are product companies king? I do a fair amount of reading/research on start-up ventures and most of the activity, interest, involvement, etc. seems to focus on products. I’ve been an independent consultant/contractor for nearly 10 years and have done well individually, but have always seemed to struggle taking the next step with ideas or concepts for introducing a service to market. Are there any suggestions as to the approach I should take as a service provider? In a nutshell, my company’s focus is on providing new methodologies for data-protection and disaster recovery services for small/medium-sized businesses.

Marcus: I have a philosophical question for you guys. If you were starting up a new company and could draft one person that you know to join you in the venture, who would be your first round pick (and why)? Keep up the great work!

Guest Bios:

Sig Mosley: Sigmund Mosley, Jr. received his bachelor of business administration from Emory University in 1968. After beginning his career with Peat Marwick, he served as a Vice President with MSA Software, and helped grow the company from $2M in revenues to over $330M. Since 1990, he has served as the President of Imlay Investments, the most active early-stage technology investment firm in Atlanta. Sig has helped fund over 100 companies in Georgia, and is a member of the Georgia Technology Hall of Fame.

Charlie Paparelli: Mr. Paparelli is President and founder of Paparelli Ventures, a pre-formation investment company focused on entrepreneurs in the Atlanta technology market. PV has funded over 16 Atlanta startups in the last 15 years. Currently he is the managing partner of his two active investments, iPartners, LLC and Torad Engineering, LLC. Mr. Paparelli has over 30 years experience in the information technology industry serving as entrepreneur, executive, IT Services incubator founder and venture capitalist.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Dead Nintendo by Possible Oscar
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Charlie and Sig for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

The bus takes a break during this show, as Mike dishes out a little love in a “Look Who Gets It” segment. Some great listener emails and a sprinkling of StartupLounge humor round out another great show. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us your 30-second elevator pitch for MFG.com
• Tell us about what’s happened with MFG.com since our last podcast.
• You’ve had a chance to work with Jeff Bezos (or at least his people) for over a year. How has having him specifically as an investor helped MFG.com?
• How big a deal is being the regional winner of E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year and a national finalist to you personally and to the company?
• Talk about the process of earning that honor.
• What are the things you like least about being where you are now?
• Are there any side projects you’re working on other the the company? (breaking news!)
• How big a challenge is the current economy for MFG.com and what are some things you are doing to react to those challenges?
• What were the key challenges that growth posed and how have you addressed them?
• You were a relatively late life-stage entrepreneur – what were some of the challenges you had to face by starting MFG when you did as opposed to when you were 20?
• How did you prepare for entrepreneurship at that stage?
• What do you think about the Atlanta early stage investment climate today? Has it changed since we last spoke?
• Do you think it would have been easier/harder to raise money for a company like MFG.com now?
• What trends in manufacturing are impacting MFG?
• Are there companies in Atlanta that you see that are ones we should keep an eye on?
• What does MFG look like in 5 years?

Guest Bio:

Mitch Free is the founder and CEO of MFG.com, an online global operating platform for the manufacturing industry. Prior to founding MFG.com, Mitch was founder and CEO of 3DATUM, a provider of technology solutions for the manufacturing and engineering communities. Mitch, an Atlanta-native, began his career on the shop floor and has worked his way to the top of the manufacturing industry. He holds two patents and is recognized among his peers for his strategic vision, domain expertise and creative management style. Mitch belongs to the Atlanta Technology Angels, a private group that actively seeks investments in early stage technology companies based in Atlanta. Inc. Magazine named him an “Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist in 2005, and under his leadership MFG.com was ranked by Deloitte and Touche as one of the top technology growth companies in the U.S., and in the top 10 technology growth companies in Georgia. He was recently named by Ernst and Young as Entrepreneur of the Year for 2008 (Georgia/Alabama/Tennessee region).

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

Links referenced within this episode:

• MFG.com
• Pramana
• Sentrinsic
• Zeewise
• Quickparts
• Total Technology Ventures
• Value Plus Ventures

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Unhackable by Bob Ricci
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Mitch and Heather for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

Of course, a good batch of your emails, a quick bus ride (powered by a steroid-laden Mike Blake rant), and a dash of humor round out another great show. Enjoy!


Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related followup questions, but here is a good sampling of the discussion:

• Give us the 30-second elevator pitch for the UPS Strategic Venture Fund
• Can you talk about how a corporate venturing fund differs from traditional private equity/venture funds?
• What makes the UPS Strategic Fund different from other corporate venturing funds?
• How does the fact you’re accountable to a larger corporate entity as opposed to limited partners shape your investing behavior?
• What kinds of opportunities get you the most excited?
• Is the current economic climate (high fuel prices, weakening consumer purchasing power) impacting your investing processes and strategies?
• Are there any important strategic or technological trends you are seeing in UPS’s business space?
• What is the most exciting technological advance you’ve observed in UPS’s space in the last 5 years?
• How many opportunities does your organization receive a month?
• How many investment professionals work at the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund?
• At any given time, how many deals are you looking at seriously?
• Can you talk about your investment evaluation process?
• How do most investment opportunities find you?
• Who are some venture funds that invest in spaces that are relevant to what UPS is doing or trying to do?
• Your web site states that you prefer to co-invest with a venture capital fund and where the VC is the lead investor. Why is that?
• What role do you play with the company after the investment?
• Could you highlight a success story of which you’re particularly proud?
• What are some key mistakes for companies seeking capital from you to avoid?
• What’s your overall assessment of the Atlanta early stage market? Is it improving, and if so, how do you see that?
• What is the best way for a company seeking funding to approach you?

Guest Bio:

Alan Koenning (pronounced “kenning”) is the Fund Manager for the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. The UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund is the private equity strategic investment arm of UPS. The Fund is a corporate venture capital group which focuses on developing critical partnerships and acquiring knowledge returns from its investments in information technology companies and emerging market-spaces.

Alan’s responsibilities include working with various UPS departments and business units in identifying areas of strategic interest, researching potential investments, negotiating agreements and acting as a corporate liaison with Fund companies.

Alan has been with UPS for over 17 years including assignments in Corporate UPS, UPS e-Ventures, and UPS Supply Chain Solutions. He graduated from Duke University and has an MBA from the University of Georgia.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

Links referenced within this episode:

• UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Atari by Odd Austin
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Alan Koenning for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

While not discussed in the podcast, a little bird told us that the ATDC is offering a small discount for anyone mentioning StartupLounge.com in the application process. Better hurry though – the application deadline is July 15th, 2008!

And of course, it wouldn’t be a StartupLounge podcast without a joyful bus ride. Scott brings the heat and throws a certain group of entrepreneurs under the bus with full malice aforethought.

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related followup questions, but here is a good sampling of the discussion:

Lance Weatherby:

1. Give us your elevator pitch for the ATDC
2. What has the ATDC been up to since your last appearance?
3. Who’s gonna be the new ATDC Director?
4. What’s changed in the Atlanta early stage market in the last year or so?
5. What is CapVenture all about?
6. How do you measure if the CapVenture program is successful?
7. Are there some success stories that have come out of CapVenture?
8. Who are good candidates for CapVenture?
9. It costs between $300 and $500 to participate in CapVenture (with scholarships a possibility for half). Why is it necessary to charge for this program? Couldn’t it (shouldn’t it be free?)
10. What makes CapVenture different from other entrepreneurial education programs?
11. What are is CapVenture doing differently this year from years past?

Todd Merrill:

1. Give us your 30-second elevator pitch for Global Crypto Systems
2. You’ve been a participant in CapVenture. What did you get out of the program?
3. Was there a tipping point during your CapVenture participation?
4. What are some tips you have for entrepreneurs that plan to participate in CapVenture so that they can gain the greatest value?
5. We understand that you recently raised capital. Can you give us any details?
6. How did you find investors and at what point did you start getting traction with them?
7. We heard a vicious rumor that StartupLounge contributed to your capital raising process – can you elaborate?

Guest Bios:

Lance Weatherby is currently a Venture Catalyst with the ATDC. He is the former Chief Marketing Officer for Ciphertrust, and before that served as an EVP for Earthlink, where he focused on mobile products/services. Prior to EarthLink, Lance served as EVP Sales/Marketing for Mindspring. Lance is also a prominent voice for early-stage ventures in the Southeast.

Todd Merrill is CEO of Global Crypto Systems, an Atlanta-based e-transaction security company. Earlier this year, Global Crypto was named by TAG as one of the top 40 Most Innovative Companies in Georgia, and was featured at ATDC’s CapVenture program. Prior to joining Global Crypto, Todd was Director of Acquisitions at Alpha Property Holdings, a real estate company, and held management and engineering positions at companies such as AirDefense, Ciena, PerformanceIT, Scientific Atlanta, BellSouth and AT&T. Todd earned his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Computer Engineering from the University of Florida.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

Links referenced within this episode:

• ATDC (Advanced Technology Development Center)
• Global Crypto Systems

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Talk Nerdy to Me by Possible Oscar
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Lance and Todd for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

And don’t forget – the StartupLounge.com message forums are a great resource for fast-growth entrepreneurs. If you need help with any aspect of your venture, we welcome you to jump in and get the help you need!

Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes:

Guests on this show included:

1. Stephen Fleming and Paul Freet, VentureLab
2. Will Seippel, Worthpoint (a new ATDC company that was enticed to move to Atlanta from Virginia by the Georgia Department of Economic Development)
3. Cindy Cheatham, ATDC
4. Lance Weatherby, ATDC
5. Andy Monin, VendorMate (2008 ATDC graduate)
6. Elias Rodriguez, LCGI (2008 ATDC graduate)
7. Margi Berbari, TI:GER
8. Mike Orndorff and David Beck, Sentrinsic
9. Todd Merrill (Global Crypto Systems)
10. Radhika Subramanian (Emcien) (2008 ATDC graduate)
11. Sanjay Parekh (StartupRiot)
12. Drew Ermenc (Catalyst Magazine)
13. Thomas Armstrong (Silicon Valley Bank)
14. Shachar Oren (Neurotic Media) (2008 ATDC graduate) (also Lance Weatherby, ATDC)

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor, have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

And don’t forget – the StartupLounge.com message forums are a great resource for fast-growth entrepreneurs. If you need help with any aspect of your venture, we welcome you to jump in and get the help you need!

Enjoy!

And the bus is back – this time burning a hefty 12 gallons of $4.25 gasoline to pile-drive over 4 groups of people that just don’t get it.

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related followup questions, but here is a good sampling of the discussion:

1. Give us your 30-second elevator pitch for VACO
2. When you founded Vaco, what was the market need you identified?
3. Your site says you started with a $200 software package. What was the package?
4. How did you finance the incubation of the company?
5. Was the economic environment back in 2002 a deterrent to founding Vaco? Did it make your life harder?
6. Talk a little about being identified as a potential Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
7. Why do you think you were named Entrepreneur of the Year for Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee?
8. Talk about why “without a Master” is key to understanding Vaco.
9. Vaco is the named the 33rd largest growing company in America on the Fortune 5000 list (to revenues of $100 MM in 2007). What is the key to achieving that rate of growth and what is the greatest challenging in managing such rapid growth?
10. The press release announcing Vaco’s being named to the Fortune 5000 list says that “Vaco was designed to attract and retain the best team in the industry…” What were the elements of that design?
11. How did you define “best team in the industry”?
12. Lots of companies talk about enthusiastic culture and zealous pursuit of only the strongest players. How do you create that enthusiastic culture?
13. How do you characterize “zealous pursuit of only the strongest players?”
14. Do these values contribute to the low (5%) turnover at Vaco?
15. Late last year Vaco opened an office in Atlanta. Why was that the right time to do so?
16. If there’s an important lesson that Vaco can teach entrepreneurs, what would it be?

Guest Bio:

Jerry Bostelman is the founding father of VACO, LLC in Brentwood, TN. The company began in October of 2002, merging with Continuum Search in 2004 to become a 100 million dollar company with 18 offices nation wide in less than five years.

Jerry graduated Cum Laude from the University of Tennessee, with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. His professional career began with six years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Following his time in the military, he worked in the audit division of Arthur Anderson for four years. From his accounting platform, Jerry made a strategic career move in the consulting and placement industry, successfully proving his multi-talent in a multi-billion dollar national firm. As an individual producer, he consistently managed over 20 consultants on multiple projects. As a divisional Director in Nashville, his team consistently maintained over 55 consultants on key projects. Jerry’s experiences, ranging from a national business development director to a regional manager, have served to encourage his entrepreneurial spirit and has lead him to his most recent success as founder and CEO of VACO, LLC.

Jerry serves on the board of the Boys and Girls club in Nashville, TN, where he lives with his wife Angela and three sons, Max, Will and Luke. His most recent award is the 2007 Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the year award for the Southeast region.

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

Links referenced within this episode:

• VACO
• Adams Capital
• Appcelerator
• ATDC (Advanced Technology Development Center)
• Baker Donelson (Technology Intellectual Property)
• Chrysalis Ventures
• Habif, Arogeti, & Wynne
• Hill, Kertscher & Wharton
• PeachPodStudios
• Southern Capitol Ventures
• Startup Council
• Technology Association of Georgia
• VACO
• William Leonard and Company
  

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Sundial by Bill Derome
• Changes by Robert Lund
• American Girl by Power Salad

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Jerry Bostelman for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

And don’t forget – the StartupLounge.com message forums are a great resource for fast-growth entrepreneurs. If you need help with any aspect of your venture, we welcome you to jump in and get the help you need!

Enjoy!

ATDC Annual Entrepreneurs Showcase – May 15, 2008

Join the innovators and business leaders driving Atlanta’s technology community at ATDC’s 2008 Entrepreneur Showcase. Meet 25+ ATDC members companies, their leadership teams, and celebrate the success of our 2008 graduates. This Annual Showcase attracts investors, serial entrepreneurs and is a must attend for anyone already tied into or trying to connect with Atlanta’s technology community.

Click here to learn more about the event.

The event formerly known as “Capital Connections”, and now simply referred to as “Capital Lounge” will be held on the evening of May 21st, 2008, from 5:30 to 9:30pm (location made available to you once you’ve been approved to attend). This should be another fantastic event, especially as we will be infusing a new wave of angel investors that are actively participating in our AngelLounge events. We’re expecting another raucous crowd.

Attendance will be capped at 250 people. We’ve historically had a backlog of people trying to get into the event, so if you are planning to attend, it would probably be best to sign up sooner rather than later. You can check out photos from past events here.

A Minor Change to the Event

Based upon overwhelming feedback from our investor attendees, we are no longer going to set up the free table area for entrepreneur demos. While the original idea was sound, it unfortunately turned into a little bit of a “science fair” type environment. We envisioned laptops and informal demos of things, not poster boards and projectors. Not what we wanted. Entrepreneurs need to be out there shaking hands and making connections – not loitering around a “booth”. So, that’s been remedied …

New Signup Process

Important – as before, if you do not apply and RSVP, you will not be allowed entry into the event. As you know, we take some pretty extreme measures to try and preserve the integrity of this event, and only invite the most appropriate stakeholders to participate.

If you would like to attend, please be aware that there is a new process in for signing up. We recently rolled out a new version of our web site, which has a number of basic tools in place to better help us manage our events. In the past, it was necessary for you to enter in your profile each and every time we had an event – very tedious. We have implemented a basic profile system which will allow you to enter your profile in once, and then use that profile to apply for all future events.

Please read the following information carefully!

1. Visit www.startuplounge.com and click the big “JOIN TODAY” button on the right-hand side of the page.
2. Create your account – very quick and painless (name, email address, password)
3. Once you’ve done that, log into the site using your new account, and then visit the “members” area.
4. Use the “profile manager” option to create and store at least one profile. A profile simply describes your company, venture fund, etc.
5. All newly entered profiles will need to be approved on our end. Assuming you meet our criteria (must be a fast-growth entrepreneur, not a service provider, a legitimate investor, etc.), we wil l approve your profile, and you will be automatically notified via email.
6. Once your profile has been approved, you may then visit our event calendar and use that active profile to apply to attend any of our events.

All profile information is not published on the web site – but rather, only used to help us vet and approve attendees.

If you run into any troubles, or have questions, you can get help in one of two ways. First, we encourage you to use our new forums. Second, you may email me (last resort, please – unless you are encountering errors, can’t login, etc.).

And a special shout out to our sponsors, who help us help you:

We look forward to seeing you all at the event! Please continue to spread the word!

Cheers.

Cheers.
Scott