The Hypomanic Edge in Entrepreneurship
Last week, I was meeting with an entrepreneur, and after we finished the conversation, I reflected on how fully he embodied a term I had heard a few years ago to describe a certain type of entrepreneu
Author: David Cummings
David Cummings is a Partner and co-founder of Atlanta Ventures and co-founder of Pardot (acquired by Salesforce). He has invested in and supported hundreds of early-stage startups in the Southeast and writes regularly about entrepreneurship, SaaS, and the Atlanta tech ecosystem.
The Entrepreneur’s Shift From Yes to No
One of the areas where I’ve had to improve is saying no to things. For many years, I defaulted to yes. I would try a new networking group, meet a new person, or evaluate something where I had no prior
The Multi-Startup Founder Conundrum
Last week, I spoke with an entrepreneur who shared his vision, his journey to date, and a compelling story. Toward the end of the meeting, he threw me a curveball. That was just one of two startups he
The Shift to AI-Enhanced Employees
One of the hottest topics right now is whether AI will increase demand for employees in laptop-based jobs or decimate many of those roles and create more unemployment. There is a growing narrative tha
The First Five Questions to Ask After a Startup Pitch
Last week, I met with an entrepreneur to hear his pitch for the first time. This wasn’t a fundraising pitch. Rather, it was a casual catch-up to share what he’s working on and how he’s thinking about
The Second Time Around: Why Founders Come Back
Last week, I spoke with two different second-round entrepreneurs. Second-round entrepreneurs are founders who built a business in a given space, made meaningful progress, and either raised capital or
8 Moats for Sustainable Software Companies
With all the continued talk about the SaaS apocalypse and the challenges facing software in the age of AI and “vibe coding,” last week on the podcast 20VC, startup investor Gokul Rajaram shared his ei
Product Value vs Product Distribution in the Early Days
Last week I was talking to an entrepreneur who is going all in on a new idea. Halfway through the conversation, he asked whether he should optimize for signing new customers as quickly as possible or
Every Bit of Effort Helps
Recently, I was meeting with an entrepreneur who lamented that they weren’t making much progress in their startup. My immediate response was simple: every bit of effort helps. The crazy thing about st
15 Angel Investments and All Failures
Last week, I gave a talk at a conference. After the event, a gentleman came up to me and started asking about the local startup community. After going back and forth for a bit, it became clear that he