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

• What the capital market is really like in Atlanta
• What the challenges exist
• How asset allocation works (great if you really want to know what you’re up against)
• How the real estate industry is affecting early stage capital here
• The funding gap
• Everything you could ever want to know about angel investors
• What sources exist?
• How to do due diligence on an angel investor
• What angels really want
• Handling rejection
• How to smoke out “fake” investors
• What “good” angel deals really look like
• Market validation
• How much funding to solicit
• Your pitch
• Deal killers
• Advisors
• Closing the deal
• Typical investment terms
• Capital-seeking “to-do” list
• Some case studies
• Facts of life in the Atlanta startup eco-system
• How we can repair it

If you weren’t able to attend, you won’t want to miss this. Much of his discussion will apply to other areas here in the Southeast as well …

Cheers.

The bus takes a break this time, and instead we throw some props to some Atlanta angels for being part of the solution. Of course, a nice batch of your emails rounds out a great show!

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 in SJF Ventures
2. Can you summarize your investment criteria?
3. What is the (your) definition of CleanTech/GreenTech? (Is there a difference between the two?)
4. CleanTech is generally most widely understood to mean renewable, clean energy sources. But doesn’t the term encompass other economic sectors?
5. Is nuclear energy CleanTech?
6. When did you personally gain an interest in CleanTech?
7. Talk about some of the most powerful trends you’re seeing in CleanTech?
8. Where do you see most of your investment opportunities coming from?
9. How many opportunities are you personally and as a company considering at any one time and what % get funded?
10. How long does it take you to evaluate an opportunity?
11. What are your key due diligence areas?
12. How do you exit from CleanTech deals?
13. What is the best way to contact you about an investment opportunity?
14. There seems to be a green gold rush now for CleanTech. Do you agree and are you worried about a bubble?
15. What sectors of CleanTech seem to you to be oversaturated or overworked?
16. Are there CleanTech sectors that you feel hold great promise but seem to be underdeveloped?
17. Can you name some other funds that have an emphasis on CleanTech?
18. What is the most exciting advance in CleanTech you’ve seen in the last 2 years?
19. What do you think will be the most exciting CleanTech breakthrough in the next 5 years?
20. What are some common mistakes you see in emerging CleanTech ventures?
21. How is Georgia as a source of CleanTech opportunities relative to other areas of the country?
22. The Bush Administration has been banking heavily (at least publicly) on the role of technology to solve issues relating to environmental damage and climate change. How is that affecting the sector?
23. Do you anticipate there might be a change in technology focus with a new President? Who is the Cleantech venture community’s candidate of choice?
24. How will the prospects of some sort of global environment agreement affect the Cleantech sector? Kyoto?
25. Where do you fall on the corn ethanol debate (as a realistic alternative fuel that can make a significant impact on greenhouse gasses)?
26. In 2020, most new automobiles in the United States will run on what fuel?
27. In 2020, most electricity in the United States will be produced with what fuel?

Tune in to find out!

Guest Bio:

David Kirkpatrick is Managing Director and co-founder of SJF Ventures, a venture capital fund with $45 million under management and offices in Durham, NC and New York. SJF focuses on rapidly expanding cleantech, tech-enhanced services and premium consumer products firms, has 20 portfolio companies, and is investing from its second fund. SJF assists and invests in enterprises with innovations that have a positive impact in the world and create strong competitive advantages in large markets.

David was named the national 2005 CDVC Practitioner of the Year by the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance. Previous to SJF, he founded and managed two other successful enterprises – KirkWorks, an environmental investment research firm, and SunShares, a solar energy and recycling company. David was named Recycler of the Year in 1996, the National Recycling Coalition’s award for leadership in the recycling industry.

David earned a BA in Physics and History from Duke University in 1982 and an MBA from UNC Business School in 1991. He is a graduate of the Venture Capital Institute’s VCI 1999 and VCI-Grad 2000 programs. He serves on the Boards of groSolar, B.B. Hobbs, Edmap, the NC Sustainable Energy Association, and the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. He is an avid gardener, fisherman and Dad.

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:

• SJF Ventures
• Suniva
• Intechra
• groSolar
• Adams Capital
• Appcelerator
• ATDC (Advanced Technology Development Center)
• Baker Donelson (Technology Intellectual Property)
• Chrysalis Ventures
• PeachPodStudios
• Southern Capitol Ventures
• VACO
• William Leonard and Company
  

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Sundial by Bill Derome
• Changes 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 “showR