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Welcome to SL #42! Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past few weeks, you are no doubt aware that change is in the air down at the ATDC.  Stephen Fleming, recently promoted from his post overseeing Georgia Tech’s VentureLab is now the Vice Provost of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, and has folded VentureLab and the SBIR program into the new ATDC. Additionally, they’ve implemented a billion changes … and man, they’re good.  Stephen stopped by along with David Sung, who runs the ATDC Seed Fund, and we had a blast.  If you are an entrepreneur in Georgia, an investor that would like to gain a deeper understanding of these changes, you won’t want to miss this podcast.

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!

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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 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!