Village News

You're Invited To Our 2016 Holiday Showcase

November 10, 2016

We are honored to invite you to join us for our 4th Annual Holiday Showcase at Atlanta Tech Village! Featuring 30 of our hottest technologies emerging from the Village, this curated group of our most elite startups have all achieved at least 6 figures in funding or in annual recurring revenue. From social networks taking the country by storm to tools for selling more and top-rated mobile games, don't miss your chance to be in the know about the next big thing in Atlanta!

Introducing Our 2017 Mentors & Advisors

November 2, 2016

Entrepreneurs’ primary mission is for their companies to grow and succeed. One of the best ways to wade through the crazy ups and downs of being an entrepreneur is to partner with someone who’s done it before. That’s why we have ATV Mentors and Advisors.Our Mentors are amazing, experienced professionals and successful entrepreneurs. Each of our Mentors commits to mentoring at least one of our entrepreneurs in the Village. Mentoring in this case means a deep, one-on-one relationship that delves into the personal and professional aspects of mentees’ lives. We think of the Mentor/Mentee relationships kind of like dating. It starts with the initial meeting: A little awkward, a little surface-level, but there’s just enough good content to pique one another’s interest. Of course, to start a relationship, they need to get along on a personal level. If both people agree that they like each other and think a good relationship could develop, they’ll meet again. And again. And as they continue to meet, a relationship forms, and mentoring begins.

3rd Annual Village Block Party and Our Top 10 List

October 27, 2016

Startups are hard. We see that firsthand every day, which is why our community encourages a work/life blend and why we have a core value of Work Hard, Play Hard. So sometimes, we like to remind our Village entrepreneurs just how awesome, innovative, and brave they are. We like to thank them for taking the plunge into being an entrepreneur. We like to thank them for choosing the Village. And just to show we mean it, we throw our huge Atlanta Tech Village Block Party every year. That’s just how we roll.So here is a sneak peak at some of the fun we had at our 3rd Annual Members Only Rooftop Atlanta Tech Village Block Party! It was pretty epic with hundreds of people, Village swag, free drinks, food, a photo booth, and a DJ. And what’s a good rooftop party without our annual Top Ten list? So without further ado, here it is. (And yes, some of these are inside jokes. You have been warned.)

Trust Stamp Takes on Facebook and the Vatican

October 18, 2016

When a startup gets to $1.6M in ARR and secures $1M in funding in its first ten months, you better take notice. Trust Stamp is the only secure identity verification and trustworthiness token that uses social media and other publicly available data to verify your identity and provide a unique FICO-like trust score. They are the fastest growing startup to make our leader board, and when they are taking meetings with Facebook (partnered with Facebook's Marketplace) and the Vatican (yes, the Vatican) you know they are on to something big. And, they just so happen to be one of the nicest teams we know. Isn't it great when that happens?Learn more about this quickly scaling startup from their Founder, Gareth Genner.

Villagers Give Back To The Atlanta Community

October 13, 2016

Startups from one of the largest tech hubs volunteer to clean up the city.At the heart of the Village is our community of people. And when you combine smart, passionate people with our value of paying it forward, you get a lot of self-starters who want to create change. Enter the Village's Pay It Forward Committee. Founded and led by a group of Atlanta Tech Villagers, we are dedicated to giving back to our community. The mission is simple - leverage the talent of the members of the Village in order to give back to the Atlanta community and truly make a positive impact. And they are doing just that.

10 Cyber Security Tips for Startups

October 6, 2016

Today's cyber security tips are shared by Nick Santora, the founder and CEO at Curricula, a cyber security company at Atlanta Tech Village. Nick teaches other companies how to not get hacked with their security awareness training platform.Did you know October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month? Unfortunately startups are at a high risk of becoming a victim of the most basic cyber security attacks. Don’t let your startup get hacked! Whether you are a 1 person team with no customers or a venture backed growing startup, you need to follow these cyber security tips and best practices.Here are 10 cyber security tips you should implement to protect your startup today:

Recruiting Through The Village Job Board

September 28, 2016

Atlanta Tech Village is one of the top startup hubs and a resource-rich community for startups. Amenities abound including cool office space, mentors, pitch events, free beer, nap rooms, and workshops just to name a few. All of these perks help recruit talent by creating a place where people want to work. Yet, over and over again we hear that the Atlanta Tech Village Job Board is actually the #1 benefit for startups hiring.Recruiting top talent is a huge win for any startup, and our Job Board creates a central place where the Village's hottest startups can list job opportunities and talent can easily apply. At any given time we have at least 50 positions advertised to work with one of our 300 companies.

How To Get Involved With The Village (you know you want to)

September 22, 2016

As the Village continues to grow and position ourselves as the 4th largest tech hub in the United States, we get an influx of folks from within the startup community and the general public who want to get connected. This is amazing and we would love to make that connection. So here are some of our favorite ways you can get involved with Atlanta Tech Village:

A Startup Story You Can't Help But Watch

September 8, 2016

Ever wish you could get an inside look at what it's really like to work at a startup? You know- no filter, real conversations, lunch breaks, and f bombs galore? Well, Wela is giving you just that. Not only do they combine digital capability and human advice to simplify your finances, they are now creating content that's so millennial friendly you won't ever picture a finance guy in a suit again. Well, maybe not as often.Think reality tv gone startup- these short youtube mini documentaries follow the Wela team in their day to day life. Super engaging, short episodes, real entrepreneurs, and a startup story you can't help but watch. Titles like "Finance is not f*cking fun" and "Pokemon and Unicorns" feature Liam Shanahan, Director of Marketing and the Wela team. Liam told us more below.

The Secret Sauce of Entrepreneurship & the Myths of Mentorship

August 25, 2016

Today's post is written by Anand Thaker, Atlanta Tech Village's Mentor Lead and Advocate, and an all around solid dude. We are proud to have him as a part of the Village.For much of my early career out of Georgia Tech, I tried to learn things from the school of hard knocks. It was how I was taught as a kid through college as well as after a few bad experiences with ‘mentors.’ Thirteen years ago, I wanted to switch directions in my career by blending marketing with technology. To do that, I needed help.

Startup Night Out with the Braves

August 17, 2016

The Village and the Braves invite you to join us for Startup Night Out! This event is open to everyone in the Atlanta startup ecosystem, plus ones and families welcome. Let's have some fun!

Giving Advice and Taking Advice with an Advisor

August 11, 2016

As any good entrepreneur knows, it's not only good to give advice but also good to listen to it.Mike Gomez is a Village Advisor and an expert salesman with profound experience, even having sold billions in fighter jets. Mike’s been a part of the Village community for quite some time. While he’s worked frequently with large enterprises, he loves helping startups succeed. So we sat down with him to get his no nonsense thoughts on making it in the startup world.“It’s the same reason why I started consulting after I left the corporate world. The failure rate… is tough, and there is such a small distance between failure and success. If you just follow some of the rules of business, it can literally turn what would be a tremendous idea into something that can be long-term in business. You have to embrace the rules of business, and you can change your success rate in amazing ways. That’s my passion. Be able to follow f***ing rules. If they do, they will be so happy!Everyone wants shortcuts; there’s not one. I’m taking all my passion and energy and throwing it into telling people, ‘Slow down. Follow the rules. Put a plan in place, vet it first, talk to people about it, expose it to people who aren’t your friends, and see whether it stands up to scrutiny. It’s the business planning part when you can determine whether a startup will succeed or fail. If it doesn’t succeed on paper first, it definitely won’t succeed in the real world.’”

Spotlight on Innovation: Atlanta Startup Village #95 Welcomes Four Dynamic Tech Startups