

Atlanta Can Compete (or, Atlanta is not hosed) - mattculbreth
http://blog.weatherby.net/2007/10/atlanta-can-com.html

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chaostheory
I'm from Atlanta, and I'm now living in the SF Bay Area...

Here's why I don't think Atlanta can duplicate or really compete with Silicon
Valley:

Atlanta just doesn't have as many "crazy" people who are willing to take a
risk on "stupid" ideas. I think this article sums things up well (just
substitute Georgia for Michigan):

<http://www.metromodemedia.com/blogs/posts/TMeloche3037a.aspx>

Atlanta will never have enough "crazy" people... while Atlanta is one of the
most progressive cities in the South, it's still pretty conservative which
doesn't really allow for thinking differently and taking risks on a more
massive scale.

It's also good to note that a lot people from either GT or Emory move to
either New York or California after graduation or shortly after...

~~~
mattculbreth
Hard to argue this, though I really do want it to work here. We're doing a
startup in Atlanta and I'm pretty well hooked into what's going on, but some
of Paul's points about the necessary infrastructure (investors mostly) are
true enough. I'm just about at the stage where I'm speaking to investors so
I'll report back what I find.

~~~
jraines
I think the issue is concentration. The ingredients are there, they're just
scattered in various ways.

1\. Geography: Atlanta is sprawled out, so even if you live near Tech or
Emory, odds are you can't skip down to the local coffee shop to get a feel
what other startups are doing.

2\. The Business Mix: Silicon Valley is tilted heavily toward technology in
general and therefore also to startups (at least the kind we're talking about
here). In Atlanta your friends and neighbors are likely to be bankers,
accountants, healthcare professionals, or any number of corporate types than
startup founders or even early-to-medium stage technology employees.

3\. The Business Culture: There's little "porosity" among companies -- the
knowledge/social network isn't there, and that's probably the most important
ingredient of a startup hub, more important than money, IMO.

Interestingly, I think this might be an scenario where a YC clone could do the
most good -- because as we are always hearing here, its real value is as an
aggregator of like-minded people, enabling some of the knowledge interchange
and social connections that don't happen naturally.

~~~
lanceweatherby
1\. I spent a good deal of time tooling up and down 101. SV and Ess Eff are
kinda like Atlanta and Alpharetta. If you walk into the Starbuck's at 5th &
Spring on any work day and toss a quarter into the crowd it will land within 5
feet of an entrepreneur, an investor, or both.

2\. Great point. Real estate is king in ATL. Read "The Man in Full" for more.

3\. I think the social network is here. I literally sit and look at over it
every day from my office window.

~~~
chaostheory
the quantity part maybe true and I could be wrong but I just feel there's not
really many of them that are nuts enough... people there are too conventional
and practical, which isn't all bad but it's just not as conducive for
innovation

Atlanta doesn't get many Christopher Klaus's - and they typically leave, while
the list goes on and on in valley... the culture in Atlanta is just too
different.

~~~
mattculbreth
What's interesting is that Chris was one of my roomates at Tech in 1993. No, I
didn't join him at the time. Ouch.

------
djones
It's hard to know in just what way we're supposed to take some of these
comments.

"Crazy people"? There's a difference between taking a calculated (but
passionate) risk and a redneck, "watch this" kind of risk.I've spent time in
SF - I think the quality of life is better in Atlanta because there aren't so
many nutjobs (no offense to the left-coast nutjobs).

Geography: You're right - there is no sprawl in California. Everyone hangs out
at Buck's and the 880 or 280 (take your pick - I prefer scenic Newark) to San
Jose ia a short, leasurely jaunt.

BTW, I drink a lot of coffee. Re-phrase: A LOT OF COFFEE. When I'm in a coffee
shop, I tend to be head down, working away - I'm not broadcasting that I'm
working on a startup or looking to get a "feel" for what other startups in
Atlanta are doing. There's plenty of more efficient ways to do that (ATDC/TAG,
AWE, YnR, etc.).

Business Mix: God forbid that you'd ever want to associate with anyone that
might be your customer/end-user or just a regular human. I love my startup(s).
I love hanging out with the other "Crazy People" (I assume you mean
"entrepreneurs") here in Atlanta. But 99.99999% (don't hold me to that - I
made it up) of the world is NOT made up of startup entrepreneurs. Be wary of
hillbillies with "real world" perspectives - we shall rule the world y'all.

Business Culture: By "porosity" I'm guessing you mean Yahoo Lunch 2.0, Google
seminars, etc. If so, you'd be right. I'll admit that UPS, Home Depot, et. al.
don't exactly fling their doors open, but they're not that type of company.
Google has offices here. They certainly have enough servers a few feet down
from my colo rack. I'm not seeing much "porosity" from them, but then again,
I'm guessing at what you mean.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Atlanta is perfect. I will probably NOT be
able to raise the capital I'm looking for locally. The local investors don't
really get the space I'm in (and candidly, that's just because there aren't
that many local investors). And I'm aware that investors want to be able to
drive to your office and flash the pimp hand, etc., etc. (No offense to any
investor types either). But the water in SV does NOT make you smarter or
better able to execute. Yes, there are enablers there, and most will never
leave. But I've got cheap rent, some pretty smart people working with me and
AirTran has cheap tickets to SFO.

Full Disclaimer: I've changed my position many times before (as recently as
this morning) and reserve the right to do so in the future.

