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Welcome to SL #34 (originally recorded on 12-15-2008)! We thought a great way to close out the 2008 year would be to sit down with someone who can provide some valuable insights for Georgia-based entrepreneurs who are looking at an uncertain economic climate in 2009.  We sat down and had a nice chat with Ken Stewart, the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.  We talk about a smattering of topics, ranging from their position on SB-80 to Georgia’s view on the current startup environment within the State.

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:
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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!