Comments on: GRA’s New Venture Fund http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/ Entrepreneurship, startups, and technology in Atlanta and the East Coast. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:05:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Gov. Perdue’s State of the State - Bilgistic.com http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/#comment-79 Gov. Perdue’s State of the State - Bilgistic.com Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:01:28 +0000 http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/#comment-79 [...] So from this, it sounds like the focus will not only be solely on research out of Georgia colleges but also with a focus on life sciences.  I guess everything will be a lot clearer once legislation starts making its way through the system but this is turning out to be a bigger bummer than I thought. [...] [...] So from this, it sounds like the focus will not only be solely on research out of Georgia colleges but also with a focus on life sciences.  I guess everything will be a lot clearer once legislation starts making its way through the system but this is turning out to be a bigger bummer than I thought. [...]

]]> By: Sanjay http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/#comment-71 Sanjay Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:29:53 +0000 http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/#comment-71 Heh. Thanks for the notes guys. As I wrote this post I felt like I was being a wet blanket over everything. I suppose my biggest concern is that the focus on this investment will be too narrow (only college originated research) which will lead to poor financial results which will inevitably lead to the comment "there aren't good companies in Georgia". We all know that isn't true (BTW - congrats on the recent financial results Scott!) but people make that leap with results from faulty attempts. Heh. Thanks for the notes guys. As I wrote this post I felt like I was being a wet blanket over everything. I suppose my biggest concern is that the focus on this investment will be too narrow (only college originated research) which will lead to poor financial results which will inevitably lead to the comment “there aren’t good companies in Georgia”. We all know that isn’t true (BTW - congrats on the recent financial results Scott!) but people make that leap with results from faulty attempts.

]]> By: Scott Burkett http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/#comment-70 Scott Burkett Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:10:41 +0000 http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/#comment-70 Hi Sanjay. Good post. I definitely agree with your point regarding researchers, though. I have personal relationships with many of the researchers down at Georgia Tech. Our CTO is one of them (PhD candidate there). They research because they are passionate, smart, curious, and have a desire to advance science. Not because they are necessarily trying to create jobs or add to the economy. If that is a byproduct of their efforts, then great - but that isn't what drives them. I don't think I was more positive than you ... perhaps more subtle. :) Any additional venture capital capacity is a good thing, in my view. I just think that there are other ways that they could/should approach the larger problem. Cheers. Scott Hi Sanjay. Good post. I definitely agree with your point regarding researchers, though. I have personal relationships with many of the researchers down at Georgia Tech. Our CTO is one of them (PhD candidate there). They research because they are passionate, smart, curious, and have a desire to advance science. Not because they are necessarily trying to create jobs or add to the economy. If that is a byproduct of their efforts, then great - but that isn’t what drives them.

I don’t think I was more positive than you … perhaps more subtle. :) Any additional venture capital capacity is a good thing, in my view. I just think that there are other ways that they could/should approach the larger problem.

Cheers.
Scott

]]> By: Rob Kischuk http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/#comment-67 Rob Kischuk Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:52:10 +0000 http://www.bilgistic.com/gras-new-venture-fund/#comment-67 I think this will continue the local trend of creating companies that are a) enterprise-focused, and b) tied into some sort of hardware (vs. pure-play software/SaaS). Whether this is good or bad is a matter of debate. If Atlanta develops a leadership position in research-based startups, it could be better than jockeying with the Valley for reputation. It is worrisome that it is not getting any easier for local entrepreneurs to independently cook up ideas, bootstrap or seed fund them, and find local VC backing. We need to do more to spur innovation and hope in the minds of prospective entrepreneurs who are already away from academia. I think this will continue the local trend of creating companies that are a) enterprise-focused, and b) tied into some sort of hardware (vs. pure-play software/SaaS).

Whether this is good or bad is a matter of debate. If Atlanta develops a leadership position in research-based startups, it could be better than jockeying with the Valley for reputation.

It is worrisome that it is not getting any easier for local entrepreneurs to independently cook up ideas, bootstrap or seed fund them, and find local VC backing. We need to do more to spur innovation and hope in the minds of prospective entrepreneurs who are already away from academia.

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