What a difference a month makes - there's a lot of stuff bubbling underneath the surface here in Atlanta (and I take absolutely no credit.)
* I heard about a seed fund (sorry, can't give any more details) that's being raised similar to the Y Combinator model: give aspiring entrepreneurs $25-50K and, more importantly, the knowledge and connections to support starting and growing a company. This is fantastic news and I'm really excited about this. That first nut is the hardest money to raise and I think we'll see some interesting and successful companies that started out of this porgram.
* In case you haven't heard, Jeff and I are putting together HackAtlanta. I'm really looking forward to this; if you're into software or web programming and you live in North Georgia, there's no reason you shouldn't be there. Connect with your fellow gearheads and create some cool shit. Seriously, sign up today. We also need another person to help us organize the conference; right now, we tentatively have a place and a date. If you're interested, drop me an email at josh.watts@blue-violin.com.
* David Ratajczak has started a YnR Entrepreneur Social Hour. I attended the last one last Tuesday (3/13) and met some interesting people. This isn't just for tech start-ups. I met Roger Andresen who started toy company called A Broader View, Joel Nunez who started a service for recovering lost cell phones and other items of value called ImHONEST, and John Paul Souza (if you ever cross paths with John, take the time to talk to him - he's a ball of energy and could sell a ketchup popsicle to a girl in a white dress) who started a business process outsourcing business called DedicatedRep.com.
* Scott Burkett and Michael Blake recently started a podcast targeted towards entrepreneurs over at Startup Lounge. They originally thought they'd only do one podcast a month and are now doing 2-3 podcasts a month. Do you have some experience or knowledge you'd like to share and be a guest on Startup Lounge? You'll have to wait because they have guests booked through the end of the year.
* The group over at Big Thinkr are helping by organizing the YnR Entrepreneur Social Hour (mentioned above) and tech dinners and posting a list of events around Atlanta. The people I've met from Big Thinkr are all very nice guys and approachable; even if you're not starting a business, they're good people to meet and get to know.
Startup scene in Atlanta.
