5 ms·

Atlanta and Georgia lead U.S. in new business creation

29 points by brianculler 17y ago

sachinag 17y ago
This mixes up "startups" (leveraging, VC investment candidates) with "new small businesses". Hey, always good to see people doing the entrepreneurship thang, but terms matter. It's like the notion of a scientific "theory". Don't willfully misuse the term.
MicahWedemeyer 17y ago
I'm very proud to run an ATL startup, and from the article it sounds like there are many others who feel the same way.
- daeken 17y ago
  As am I, but honestly I had no idea about the startup activity here. Are there any meetings where founders get together and such?
  - brianculler 17y ago
    Geez, yes. To the point that if you went to all of them you'd never get any actual work done. Nice illustration of all the meetups, organizations, conferences, etc: http://academicvc.com/2009/05/entrepreneurial-atlanta-2/ http://academicvc.com/2009/05/entrepreneurial-atlanta-2/
    - daeken 17y ago
      Wow, thanks. I'm fairly new to the area, and my startup occupies the majority of my time, so I have met few other founders so far. I'll have to leave my cave from time to time to hit some of these.
      - sanjayparekh 17y ago
        Check out @startupgossip on Twitter. I'm trying to post most of the events there. I also post stuff on my blog at sanjayparekh.com (altho I've been slack lately) when it comes to events I'm running. Start coming to events and you'll meet a ton of us who are in and around Atlanta doing startups.
      - MicahWedemeyer 17y ago
        Hmm, spend most of your time in your cave. What Brian said is right. There are so many events that it's easy to get caught up in the scene and spend more time talking about startups than actually working on one.
brm 17y ago
Starting a "new business" does not equal starting a startup (at least in terms relevant to News.YC)
- brianculler 17y ago
  "entrepreneurial activity" wouldn't fit in HN's 85 character limit for story titles ;)
ajju 17y ago
I was one of those 590/100,000!
- timdorr 17y ago
  Actually, it's even higher here in Atlanta. 740 per 100K, of which I am also included :)
  - ajju 17y ago
    By all means, count my Midtown living self in the 740 also.
    - noodle 17y ago
      i wonder what the ratio looks like for just midtown :)
      - brianculler 17y ago
        With GT right there I'd imagine its off the charts.
brm 17y ago
I can't help but be tangentially reminded of this: http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html
- wehriam 17y ago
  Why?
  - brm 17y ago
    2 days in a row, same author, 2 of the same article in the the atlanta journal constitution with the same spiel about Georgia having a high startup rate all with pretty much the same quotes from different state government related people...I'm sure there are more elsewhere if I look. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/05/19/entrepreneur0519.html http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/05/19/ent... http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/05/18/entrepreneurs_atlanta_georgia.html http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/05... If i had to guess its a positive pr push from business associations based on a study that found in the states favor... As for why the study is dumb see the thread thats the parent of this guy's comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=598317 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=598317 I'm not knocking atlanta in anyway, just didnt see the need for the downvotes on anyone who tried to offer a counterpoint to the lovefest
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
jcl 17y ago
Previous discussion about the study: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=597809 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=597809
zackattack 17y ago
As a job seeker, I'd expect a city with super-high startup activity to have its /eng/ section on craigslist flooded with job ads. It isn't. http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eng/ http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eng/
- jonknee 17y ago
  You're confusing startups with tech startups.
  - mikeryan 17y ago
    This is always an interesting question for me. What exactly is a "startup" I recently created a technical services company (software design and development). I don't consider it a "startup" per se, mostly because I'm not creating a product so much as a service. Anyway this report is about new business creation which is an interesting data point.
- timdorr 17y ago
  This is a number of total businesses started, not just technical/engineering ones.
- jhancock 17y ago
  just because some areas might use craigslist for tech recruiting doesn't mean they all do.
- pbz 17y ago
  http://www.atlanta.computerjobs.com/ http://www.atlanta.computerjobs.com/ -- 1363 tech jobs http://www.newyork.computerjobs.com/ http://www.newyork.computerjobs.com/ -- 2674 tech jobs Metro NY is roughly 4 times larger than metro ATL and only has 2 times the number of tech jobs... Of course, this comparison is pretty much as valid as the craiglist one.
dkasper 17y ago
Here's a link to the original study: http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedFiles/kiea_042709.pdf http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedFiles/kiea_042709.pdf Interesting tidbit: "Internet publishing" was considered a low-income-potential business but "software publishing" was considered a high-income-potential business.
- ajju 17y ago
  They probably include blogging in Internet publishing.
stephenfleming 17y ago
Plenty of startup ideas, plenty of money, plenty of entrepreneurs in Atlanta. Not enough venture capital, but that's becoming less and less relevant to many classes of startups.
aneesh 17y ago
This is quite creditable for Atlanta. But I wouldn't say "Move over, SF". This includes all businesses, from new ice cream shops to new biotech companies. SF probably still leads if you look at tech startups.
- coglethorpe 17y ago
  You can see an informal list of the tech startups here: http://www.atllogos.com/ http://www.atllogos.com/ They are showing 158 right now.
- old-gregg 17y ago
  I seriously doubt if SF was ever leading in tech startups. I think you're confusing "digital media/entertainment" with "tech". SF is all about page ranks and eyeballs, just like TV channels are. Twitter is as much "tech" as Fox: each heavily depends on technology but hardly innovates/builds any. I think Seattle, with their rich ecosystem of Microsoft-centric startups easily beats SV/SF as far as technology startups are concerned. Austin/Dallas duo is also tech-heavy, as well as Boston area. Internet-media is only a niche and "technology" isn't just an alias to "web site", it actually has its own meaning.
  - timr 17y ago
    I've lived and worked at startups in both places (Seattle, now SF), and the bay area is much more vibrant and active. You're right that the bay area startups that you /hear/ about are largely media-oriented, but that's just confirmation bias. There are just tons of other startups and small companies that you don't hear about. In Seattle, people still look at you a little funny if you work at a startup (why wouldn't you just work at Microsoft or Amazon?)
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
quizbiz 17y ago
I really want to do a meet up here in Atlanta.

29 points by brianculler 17y ago

This mixes up "startups" (leveraging, VC investment candidates) with "new small businesses". Hey, always good to see people doing the entrepreneurship thang, but terms matter. It's like the notion of a scientific "theory". Don't willfully misuse the term.

MicahWedemeyer 17y ago

I'm very proud to run an ATL startup, and from the article it sounds like there are many others who feel the same way.

daeken 17y ago
As am I, but honestly I had no idea about the startup activity here. Are there any meetings where founders get together and such?
- brianculler 17y ago
  Geez, yes. To the point that if you went to all of them you'd never get any actual work done. Nice illustration of all the meetups, organizations, conferences, etc: http://academicvc.com/2009/05/entrepreneurial-atlanta-2/ http://academicvc.com/2009/05/entrepreneurial-atlanta-2/
  - daeken 17y ago
    Wow, thanks. I'm fairly new to the area, and my startup occupies the majority of my time, so I have met few other founders so far. I'll have to leave my cave from time to time to hit some of these.
    - sanjayparekh 17y ago
      Check out @startupgossip on Twitter. I'm trying to post most of the events there. I also post stuff on my blog at sanjayparekh.com (altho I've been slack lately) when it comes to events I'm running. Start coming to events and you'll meet a ton of us who are in and around Atlanta doing startups.
    - MicahWedemeyer 17y ago
      Hmm, spend most of your time in your cave. What Brian said is right. There are so many events that it's easy to get caught up in the scene and spend more time talking about startups than actually working on one.

brm 17y ago

Starting a "new business" does not equal starting a startup (at least in terms relevant to News.YC)

brianculler 17y ago
"entrepreneurial activity" wouldn't fit in HN's 85 character limit for story titles ;)

ajju 17y ago

I was one of those 590/100,000!

timdorr 17y ago
Actually, it's even higher here in Atlanta. 740 per 100K, of which I am also included :)
- ajju 17y ago
  By all means, count my Midtown living self in the 740 also.
  - noodle 17y ago
    i wonder what the ratio looks like for just midtown :)
    - brianculler 17y ago
      With GT right there I'd imagine its off the charts.

brm 17y ago

I can't help but be tangentially reminded of this: http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

wehriam 17y ago
Why?
- brm 17y ago
  2 days in a row, same author, 2 of the same article in the the atlanta journal constitution with the same spiel about Georgia having a high startup rate all with pretty much the same quotes from different state government related people...I'm sure there are more elsewhere if I look. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/05/19/entrepreneur0519.html http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/05/19/ent... http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/05/18/entrepreneurs_atlanta_georgia.html http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/05... If i had to guess its a positive pr push from business associations based on a study that found in the states favor... As for why the study is dumb see the thread thats the parent of this guy's comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=598317 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=598317 I'm not knocking atlanta in anyway, just didnt see the need for the downvotes on anyone who tried to offer a counterpoint to the lovefest

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

jcl 17y ago

Previous discussion about the study: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=597809 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=597809

zackattack 17y ago

As a job seeker, I'd expect a city with super-high startup activity to have its /eng/ section on craigslist flooded with job ads. It isn't. http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eng/ http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eng/

jonknee 17y ago
You're confusing startups with tech startups.
- mikeryan 17y ago
  This is always an interesting question for me. What exactly is a "startup" I recently created a technical services company (software design and development). I don't consider it a "startup" per se, mostly because I'm not creating a product so much as a service. Anyway this report is about new business creation which is an interesting data point.
timdorr 17y ago
This is a number of total businesses started, not just technical/engineering ones.
jhancock 17y ago
just because some areas might use craigslist for tech recruiting doesn't mean they all do.
pbz 17y ago
http://www.atlanta.computerjobs.com/ http://www.atlanta.computerjobs.com/ -- 1363 tech jobs http://www.newyork.computerjobs.com/ http://www.newyork.computerjobs.com/ -- 2674 tech jobs Metro NY is roughly 4 times larger than metro ATL and only has 2 times the number of tech jobs... Of course, this comparison is pretty much as valid as the craiglist one.

dkasper 17y ago

Here's a link to the original study: http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedFiles/kiea_042709.pdf http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedFiles/kiea_042709.pdf Interesting tidbit: "Internet publishing" was considered a low-income-potential business but "software publishing" was considered a high-income-potential business.

ajju 17y ago
They probably include blogging in Internet publishing.

stephenfleming 17y ago

Plenty of startup ideas, plenty of money, plenty of entrepreneurs in Atlanta. Not enough venture capital, but that's becoming less and less relevant to many classes of startups.

aneesh 17y ago

This is quite creditable for Atlanta. But I wouldn't say "Move over, SF". This includes all businesses, from new ice cream shops to new biotech companies. SF probably still leads if you look at tech startups.

coglethorpe 17y ago
You can see an informal list of the tech startups here: http://www.atllogos.com/ http://www.atllogos.com/ They are showing 158 right now.
old-gregg 17y ago
I seriously doubt if SF was ever leading in tech startups. I think you're confusing "digital media/entertainment" with "tech". SF is all about page ranks and eyeballs, just like TV channels are. Twitter is as much "tech" as Fox: each heavily depends on technology but hardly innovates/builds any. I think Seattle, with their rich ecosystem of Microsoft-centric startups easily beats SV/SF as far as technology startups are concerned. Austin/Dallas duo is also tech-heavy, as well as Boston area. Internet-media is only a niche and "technology" isn't just an alias to "web site", it actually has its own meaning.
- timr 17y ago
  I've lived and worked at startups in both places (Seattle, now SF), and the bay area is much more vibrant and active. You're right that the bay area startups that you /hear/ about are largely media-oriented, but that's just confirmation bias. There are just tons of other startups and small companies that you don't hear about. In Seattle, people still look at you a little funny if you work at a startup (why wouldn't you just work at Microsoft or Amazon?)
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]

quizbiz 17y ago

I really want to do a meet up here in Atlanta.