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!

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!

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!

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!

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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 (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!