June ATDC Info Session

The June ATDC Information Session will take place on Thursday June 21 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm in the ATDC Board Room. Here are the directions.

Here are the guidelines.

1. You must read about becoming an ATDC company on our Web site. The more you read the better.

2. You must RSVP via a comment on this post including your full name and a one sentence description of what you are creating. You will be asked to do this at the session as well. If you are not comfortable in telling folks exactly what you are working on, think of a way to generically tell the what, without telling the how.

3. If you can not abide by rules one and two do not attend.

Interested in Downtown Atlanta/GaTech's Tech Startup Incubator, the ATDC? RSVP and show up.

Force_of_Good: June ATDC Info Session

About TTV

Total Technology Ventures ("TTV") was founded in May of 2000 by Managing Partners Gardiner Garrard and Tom Smith. TTV is an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that provides capital primarily to early and expansion stage financial technology companies.

The TTV team is a powerful combination of managing partners, advisory board members, and strategic partners. TTV uses this team-based approach to support its portfolio companies, enabling management teams to focus on their core strengths -- building successful businesses.

TTV targets companies where it can leverage the close relationships with its strategic partners: Synovus Financial Corp., TSYS, and CheckFree Corporation. We provide the capital, experience, resources, and the network to help companies excel.

Atlanta VCs.

Total Technology Ventures, LLC

John P. Imlay, Jr., Chairman, Imlay Investments, Inc.

Imlay Investments is a private investment firm that provides funding for very early stage technology companies. Mr. Imlay is the retired Chairman and CEO of Management Science America Inc. (MSA), which, until it was acquired by Dun and Bradstreet, was one of the top ten software companies in the world with 60 offices worldwide. Mr. Imlay serves on several business boards, including The Atlanta Falcons, IMS Health, Metromedia International Group, Gartner Group, System One Technical, Inc., and World Access. In 1994, he was inducted into the Technology Hall of Fame for Georgia and in 1997 received the Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

Apparently Imlay and Sig Mosley are the Godfather's of early startup funding in Atlanta.

Imlay Investments

Instead of giving a pitch, tell a story. You have heard how important it is to have an elevator pitch. A short, concise description of your company. Short enough to give it on an elevator ride. We solve the problem of blah, blah. The goal is in that one bright shining moment, your vision and your enthusiasm will cause a potential investor or customer or partner to stop and think, “wow, that’s the greatest thing I have ever heard, tell me more.” It never happens. No one can truly grasp the value of what you are doing in 30 seconds (the typical Atlanta elevator ride). Investors especially are pitched all the time. The pitches all sound the same after a while. The key is to get them to REMEMBER you.

People love stories. And keep it personal if you can. Don’t say you solve the problem of medical claims tracking. Describe how difficult it is for your Mom to keep up with her medical bills and how you wrote a program in your garage to solve it for her and how she showed it to a neighbor who works for Aetna and now ….

Creating a great story is not easy. It is much harder than an elevator pitch. There is a great new book called Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Go get it and start working on your story.

Big Thinkr » Blog Archive » Tell a Story, not a Pitch

Big Thinkr is a collection of former, current, and repeat entrepreneurs trying to improve the entrepreneurial community in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Southeast.

If you have a startup in the southeast, you need to be reading this blog, and you need to be networking with these people.

Big Thinkr

Admittance into the Atlanta CEO Council is by Invitation Only. Invitations are extended to executives meeting the following criteria:

I. CXOs from companies which have raised more than $1 million in funding.

II. CXOs from companies which have greater than $5 million in annual sales or have 50 employees and which do not belong in defined sponsor categories.

III. Senior executives of publicly traded companies with market caps greater than $50 million.

IV. Venture Capitalists, Institutional Investors.

Mental Note: Raise $1 Million+ and then attend these events.

Atlanta CEO Council

These people aren’t “literally” fools - they didn’t get to become high-net worth individuals by making silly decisions. Rather, they are fools in the figurative sense (”anyone investing money in Jimmy’s new venture is surely a fool.”)

How do you find these individuals? For most young entrepreneurs, it isn’t easy, as they have not yet amassed a large professional network against which to tap. In any event, the only way to really get to these individuals is through good old fashioned networking. Get out to every local professional event you can find. Throw out your pitch to anyone who will listen, and start following up. Soon, you’ll have built a pretty sizable list of contacts that you can leverage to try and raise the cash you need.

Seed and Angel Capital Strategies for Atlanta « Scott Burkett’s Pothole on the Infobahn

Rendezvous with Team TechLINKS & Friends !

Come out and join Team TechLINKS for an evening of productive networking! Renew acquaintances, meet other local industry professionals and learn what's happenin' in the local technology community.

The primary focus of this event: Provide an opportunity for local technology professionals to meet other local technology professionals.

The primary objective of this event: Renew existing relationships and create new ones.

To get the most benefit from this event, we encourage you do each of the following:
(1) Plan for heavy traffic yet arrive on time.
(2) Bring plenty of business cards.
(3) Make a sincere effort to meet at least 1/3 of attendees.
(4) Find a way to help the business of at least 1 other person. It will come back to you 2 fold. That's a promise!

If you want to expand your network in ways that can help your business then mark this on your calendar. Referrals and helpful introductions occur here often.

IT Networking at Manual's Tavern!

TechLINKS Mixin' & Minglin' - The jury is back in on this one - Growing your business network is good for business!

2007 Meetings:
2007 Date Presentation Name Slides

December 12
November 14
October 19
September 19 SIGNATURE EVENT PLANNED: Ed Yourdon, "The Internet's Second Wave: Web 2.0"
August 15
July 18
June 20 Michael Workman - Success Factors in Virtual Working, La Quinta
May 16 Scott Banks - Problem Reporting is Not a Problem, It's an opportunity, La Quinta PDF
Apr 18 Kevin Schaan - "Requirements Management & Definition Best Practices", La Quinta PDF
Mar 21 Robert E. Raygan - "Enterprise Configuration Management in an ITIL World", La Quinta PPT
Feb 21 Tom Guthrie, COX - "Making Sense of Six Sigma - The Journey towards Process Improvement in Software and IT", La Quinta PPT
Jan 17 John DiMaria, BSI Americas- "The importance of using international standards and certification in your compliance program", La Quinta PDF

Atlanta Software Process Improvement Network

Atlanta SPIN - Meeting Information

Weddings

We are conveniently located in 60 Broad street, Atlanta, 30303.

Our second branch opened in Virginia Highlands.

Please come and visit us in our location. Same great taste and warm welcome.
1099 Euclid Avenue Atlanta GA 30307

Ali Baba's has opened a second location in Little 5 Points, next to Seven Stages. You must go there and eat the Lamb Gyro, or the Falafel. These guys are extremely friendly Turks, led by owner Fevzi. They make the best Gyros and Falafel in town. As soon as you walk in, they'll prove it to you before you pay a dime, as they'll often enthusiastically hand you samples when you walk through the door.

Every time I go in this place, for years at the downtown location, they asked me where I'm from, cause I could be from Turkey. I look generically foreign. I find it charming. In fact, everything about this place is charming: the food, the way they total the price of your meal in their head, the loud turkish techno, the patio, the atmosphere.

Get a Gyro, and eat it on the patio in the alley to the side. Absolutely amazing, and a great spot to relax.

Ali Baba : Best Mediterranean Food In Atlanta : THE BOMB GYROS