Today, we celebrated five years since the first session of Pitch Practice. The first 3 sessions were called "Startup BP", a lousy baseball analogy for startups "pitching" to others for practice. Since session number 4, we've met almost every week for 5 years. Along the way, we've helped startups like … Keep reading >>>
Atlanta
Qoins: $50,000 Reasons to Practice Your Pitch
This week, TAG hosted an event at Mercedes Benz Stadium called #FintechSouth. In addition to honoring some heavy hitting players in the Atlanta FinTech space, TAG held a pitch contest for new fintech startups. The winner of the pitch contest is Qoins, a two-man startup that began as a great … Keep reading >>>
Startups mean change, and change means opportunity
Flipping through Twitter today, I saw that Jen Bonnett, the GM of ATDC, is leaving the incubator to take over economic development for the city of Savannah. Wow! I hear the water got a little deeper in Savannah as well so they can bring in more bigger ships, too. That … Keep reading >>>
Who is more important: Happy founders, customers, or employees?
Most people's first gut instinct to this answer is "customers", since without customers, you have no business. But people much smarter than me, namely Simon Sinek and Sir. Richard Branson, disagree. Both Sinek and Branson have come out hard for "employees come first". Sinek says, "Happy employees ensure happy customers. … Keep reading >>>
Problem: creating audio and video content is expensive
The power of audio or video marketing has become very well-known over the past year or two. Startups and small businesses are seeing that, in order to compete with larger organizations, they need to create and publish really good content in forms other than writing and graphics. Creating a podcast … Keep reading >>>
Problem: tech startups build products nobody wants
If you're in the tech startup space, you've heard it a thousand times: "build something people want." You've also seen this a million times: 90% of startups fail. It's not always because the startup didn't build something people wanted, but that is very often the core reason any startup fails. … Keep reading >>>
Problem: real estate agents are too busy to effectively grow their businesses
Do you know any real estate agents who aren't really busy these days? The residential real estate market, especially here in Atlanta, is off the charts hot right now. As an anecdotal example, my wife and I have put five offers on homes in the last year, and we have … Keep reading >>>
Accident Avoidance Session 2: Emergency Driving Conditions
After last week's classroom session of the Accident Avoidance Workshop, I promised a follow up after Saturday's driving session. TL;DR version: it was fantastic, frightening, and incredibly educational. That stat that they gave us last week - 98.5% of all drivers in the U.S. have approximately 10 minutes of driving … Keep reading >>>
Why Pandora Chose Atlanta: Music Vibes and Engineering Talent
Did you know that music streaming provider Pandora has an office in Atlanta? I got a tour of their sweet Atlantic Station digs last month. The Pandora office has been open in Atlanta for several years, but just recently, the company has begun a steady hiring spree to expand its … Keep reading >>>
How many hours did you spend learning to drive?
Last night, I attended part one of two of the "Accident Avoidance Workshop" with my 16-year-old daughter. She's a new driver, obviously, and a decent driver, but I wanted to (a) make sure she knows everything she possibly can about how to drive really well, and (b) save a significant … Keep reading >>>