ATV's First 100 Days

Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Here at Atlanta Tech Village, time has flown like an SR-71 Blackbird [super fast jet], and it. has. been. awesome! So we wanted to share a little bit of what’s happened since we threw open the doors.We were born in late December 2012, when David Cummings bought Ivy Place at the corner of Lenox Rd and Piedmont Rd in Buckhead (first reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle). This was a hot corner, commercially speaking, and since the creation of the Village, it’s gotten even hotter. The first few companies moved into the building just after the new year rang in, improvising desks from what they found lying around, epitomizing the #scrappy nature of the Village-to-be.On Saturday, January 5th, we tweeted out that the first 20 spots would open up that following Monday, but before the sun even signaled the start of the new week, all 20 were spoken for! By January 21, there were 65 ATV members, representing over 35 companies.

First 20 spots at @atltechvillage available Monday at 10:30am. FCFS! #Atlanta #Startups Fill this out for more info: atlantatechvillage.com/join— Johnson Cook (@Johnson_Cook) January 5, 2013

In those first few days, it was clear there was a palpable energy buzzing. As new ATV resident Jon Birdsong put it:

“When Richard Branson started Virgin Records, his first couple stores had great records, but what he created best was a hangout. Branson knew the people who hung out at the record stores would not only listen to great music but likely buy it. That’s what’s happening and going to happen at the Atlanta Tech Village. If people enjoy hanging out where they build companies, they’ll build better companies. And the real renovations to the ATV haven’t even happened yet.”

What else has happened in our first 100 days? Here are a few more highlights:

• A cover page write up in the USA Today highlighting Atlanta’s rise as a city for tech startups
• A pre-renovation renovation, where 20,000 square feet of coworking and multi-purpose space was created, launching ATV to the top as one of the largest coworking spaces in Atlanta and the southeast.
• Over 1,070 Twitter followers
• 139 Village members and counting, comprising 90+ companies
• New headquarters location for 3 larger tech firms- AccelerEyes, RippleIT, and  nCrowd, with more on the way.
• The creation of “Startup Chowdown,” a weekly community lunch for Village members and guests, which draws 80+ entrepreneurs, service providers, and investors each week, creating lots of connections, introductions, and flow of ideas.
• Investment raised by Villagers Insightpool, Bitpay, and others.
• Hosted 10 events open to the public
• Visits from several large Atlanta-based corporations interested in plugging into the startup scene.
• Selected Gensler as our architect and hired contractors and engineering firms to begin design on the $5mm+ renovation, slated to begin Fall 2013

It’s been an exciting ride, and there is so much more yet to come. A few ways to get involved are here. We invite you to come join us and together, we’ll write the story for countless days to come.