Today I attended Georgia Tech’s Create-X demo day at the Fox Theater. Around 80 start-ups in this cohort were working to solve interesting problems. More info on each company here. I always find the early founders at this event to be top-notch, and today was no exception.

One thing I noticed that added value to today’s event was its format. It was an open house: People could move around freely. No sitting at all. No pitches. Each start-up had a booth, and people could visit the booths at their own pace. I really like this format. It allowed visitors to spend more time with the start-ups they were most interested in, and it promoted serendipitous interactions among the visitors. I bumped into several people I hadn’t seen in some time and had some great conversations. And I was able to introduce people who didn’t know each other.

Rahul and team did a great job. I’m glad I attended, and I plan to keep supporting the program!

One of the most impactful things for me as an early founder was connecting with other founders—those who had done what I was trying to do, and those who were still attempting to. Some of those conversations were pivotal. They led to key hires, experience sharing, and idea generation. I had access to these people because I was a member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization—EO, as it’s known.

EO, an elite network of high-quality people, facilitates the free flow of information, connections, and ideas. Member companies pay an annual fee. The impact on members is material. Because certain revenue criteria must be satisfied before admission to EO, though, membership isn’t accessible to all founders. Most early-stage companies are excluded from this high-quality network.

Early-stage founders in Atlanta need more free-flowing information and relationships. Some great groups are trying to fill this void, but I don’t think it’s something a centralized group can tackle. I need to think more about how you solve for this, but this void is one of the missing ingredients in Atlanta’s start-up ecosystem reaching its full potential.

I listened to Sequoia partner Jess Lee share her thoughts (beginning at 12:20 in the recording) on how community can play an important role in entrepreneurial success. She defines community as customers who love the solution so much that they’re willing to talk to peers about it. She views community as the ultimate growth engine for the following reasons:

• $0 customer acquisition cost – When you build a place for people to share their thoughts about something they’re passionate about, they generate word-of-mouth advertising that costs you nothing.
• Feedback – These people are fiercely loyal and will give you candid feedback on what they like and don’t like about your solution. Their feedback is your ear to the ground, helping you find and retain product–market fit.
• Connections – People build relationships within these communities. Among members there’s loyalty and a sense of belonging.
• Underserved users – Even in large organizations, there are often groups of people whose pains aren’t understood and haven’t been solved. Connecting with these underserved users so they don’t feel alone can create loyalty. Solving their pain points further reinforces their loyalty.
• Key elements – The four important elements of a successful community are government, economy, religion (shared ethos), and media.
• Community needs first – The best communities are oriented to the needs of the community, not the needs of the business. Making connections and adding value for users helps build strong communities. The best community builders are customer (user) obsessed.

Jess does a great job of sharing her thoughts on community. I agree with them, and I believe the most successful companies will have a community at the core of their success.

Had a great chat with an investor today. We discussed why some founders struggle when they transition out of big organizations. He shared an observation with me: Employees working at larger companies who don’t have founder friends but want to be a founder tend to focus on working hard at work. They miss the mark on building an outside network—so, when they start their company, they don’t know anyone who can help them.

As I listened to this investor, I thought about my early days as a founder. I quit a job in a big company, only to realize that I didn’t know anybody who was building a company. It felt like I was the lone man on an island. I eventually sought out other early startup founders, we formed a cohort, and my trajectory changed completely.

If you aspire to building a startup, start seeking out people who are building companies or who support people building companies. They will be instrumental in helping you navigate the entrepreneurial journey.

Happy July 4th!

I hope everyone had a safe and healthy holiday!

This weekend, I’ve listened to friends discuss the macro environment. One of my big takeaways is that there’s an aversion to risk right now. Everyone is focused on the downside and avoiding losses. This happened fast. Eight months or so ago we were at all-time highs in public markets. Many were leaning into risk as valuations continued to rise. They were focused on the upside.

It's fascinating to watch risk tolerance change so quickly. For many, it took years to warm up to embracing risk and upside. But it was only a matter of months before the focus shifted to risk avoidance.

I can’t predict what’s going to happen with the macro market, but I’ll be watching closely. I’m curious to see when people will begin to lean into risk again. I suspect that those who take a contrarian position and embrace risk before the masses will set themselves up for outsize returns.

I’ve been doing all kinds of entrepreneurial things since I was a kid. Some of them were crazy. As long as they weren’t too far out there or unsafe, my dad supported my pursuing my ideas, even though he wasn’t an entrepreneur. He did whatever he could and even got his hands dirty to help me get some of them off the ground. His encouragement was pivotal and led to my embracing entrepreneurship. I’m thankful and appreciative that he’s always been so supportive.

Happy Father’s Day, Pops! I appreciate the love and support. Couldn’t have done it without you.

Today I visited Miami for some meetings. I hadn’t been there in a few years, so I made a point of paying attention to the start-up ecosystem—the parts of it I saw, anyway. A few quick thoughts:

• Energy –There’s a different energy in Miami. It’s hard to explain, but there’s a buzz in the air. Proximity to the ocean’s probably part of it.
• Diversity – The start-up ecosystem has more international diversity than other cities I’ve visited. Miami is more of an international city, so that makes sense.
• Density – The WeWork space I visited was full of people and activity. I spoke with the community manager, and she said all their Miami locations have 95% or greater occupancy. A few are at 100%. As of today, WeWork’s website lists seven locations.
• Passing through – I visited a few places to meet with founders and investors. I got the feeling that, like me, most people were just passing through. I assume this was more a function of where I visited than a representation of the entire ecosystem. I’d like to validate this with more visits.
• Serendipity – Lots of chance encounters are happening in Miami. Lots of people with connections to various start-up ecosystems are moving around the city. It looks like a great place to build relationships with people who have ties to other cities and countries.

I was in town for only a few hours, so these are just flyby observations. I’m looking forward to going back and learning more about the ecosystem.

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I hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day with friends and family!

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A few weeks back, a buddy shared his thoughts on my posts. He made a great point about being a conduit and how effective that’s been in helping connect different networks he’s a part of. That stuck with me, and I’ve been noodling on it since.

I have lots of interests that most would say aren’t related. Because of them, I’ve built relationships in circles that don’t overlap. I’ve developed great friendships with people in separate networks, which has helped me have a different perspective than many other people do.

Over the years, I’ve found myself being a conduit for people in these various groups. It wasn’t something I put much thought into. I just did it because I felt like good people should know other good people, even if they don’t run in the same circles.

As I’ve been thinking more about the conduit concept, I’ve realized the impact that being a conduit has had. It’s a small sample size, but the results are clear. Bridging different worlds has led to positive changes in the lives of people close to me that I’d never have predicted. They’ve seen things and met people who have, in some cases, had a material impact on the trajectory of their lives.

Being more strategic and intentional about serving as a conduit could help more people. I’m not sure what that would look like or how it would scale, but it’s definitely something I want to do.