Seeking the Elusive Seed Capital, Part II

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Serial Enterprenuer

Chuck Carey

May 27, 2008

Atlanta has a small and tight investor community. I've attended a number of events to get in front of these people, often times to only find them socializing more with each other than with true entrepreneurs looking for capital. They tend to be what I call Capital snobs; elitists. When you attend a function at the Ritz Club, it's hard to know who's an investor and who's an entrepreneur. Most of the time, it feels like a good-old-boys club where the investors really just want to remain anonymous and simply talk to their investor friends.

A lot of the capital groups here in Atlanta specialize in specific areas of interest that they are familiar with: medical technology, health care, real estate or high tech. It's difficult for entrepreneurs to know who these people are and what their area's of specialty are. If an entrepreneur is an introvert and is uncomfortable in social events, they may not feel comfortable approaching investors at these gatherings. Many of these entrepreneurs are not experienced in how to go about raising capital or what they should say that will get an investors attention. Many are simply intimidated and uncomfortable about asking people for money.  

There are also good guys in this town.
 
I want to acknowledge a group of people who are doing a great job of helping those new entrepreneurs talk about their offering in a way that investors will relate to them. Scott Burkett and Michael Blake are two of the founding members of The Startup Lounge, a 501c6 Not-for-Profit organization that provides seminars and services to help entrepreneurs in Atlanta. Both Mike and Scott run what they call "Pitch Camp" that takes in 12 to 15 entrepreneurs in an afternoon meeting. There, they try to get them to present their ideas and business in a short, concise sentence or paragraph that investors will be able to relate to.

They donate their time and coaching for free. These guys are great and are trying to make a difference here in the Atlanta area. They also host a quarterly evening event where they bring both investors and entrepreneurs together in a social networking event, also for free. Stacy Williams, Jason Caplin, Charlie Paparelli and Jerry Recht round out the rest of the Startup Lounge management team and all are well connected in the investment community here in Atlanta.

These guys all recognize that there is a dysfunctional investment/entrepreneurial early stage investment community here in the Southeast. They have created the Startup Lounge to try and make a difference. These guys are truly a breath of fresh air for the entrepreneur, but things still are a real challenge to the entrepreneur seeking that elusive seed capital. I hope that more outside investors will recognize the rich, untapped opportunity to invest in new businesses here – both in Atlanta and the Southeast – and move here to help solve this problem.

Chuck Casey is an Atlanta-based serial entrepreneur. He is currently the CEO and President of Compendian, Inc, a local startup.

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