Thread by @RomeenSheth

0 / I love what Miami’s doing. TBH though I’m WAY more bullish on Atlanta.

In the last 6 months, we've had 5 ATL 🦄 (@OneTrust, @Calendly, @SalesLoft, @GreenlightCard, @KabbageInc)

This ecosystem going to explode. Time for a thread on what is driving all this activity 👇👇

https://twitter.com/RomeenSheth/status/1354144909335388162

1/ Atlanta has historically been a Fortune 500 town. Today Atlanta is home to 26 F1000 companies (16 F500) - household names like @UPS, @Delta, @CocaCola. All have been instrumental to “increasing the size of the pie” - these companies cumulatively do $500B+ in revenue annually.

2 / Over the past 30 years, Atlanta has had tech success stories - but they’ve been few and far between. But in that timeframe, something deeper has been happening. Specialized industry expertise has been sewed into the city’s fabric - logistics, retail, manufacturing, payments.

3 / That said, two things were missing: (1) consistent local success stories and (2) organization. The biggest thing I learned from my time in SF was the importance of a flywheel that harnesses community energy. Hypergrowth companies breed more hypergrowth companies.

4 / The energy started shifting in 2007. @cohnhead started Cloud Sherpas, @davempayne and @tavani started @scoutmob, @davidcummings started Pardot. All successful outcomes, but more importantly these 3 (amongst MANY others I haven’t listed) started developing a founder community.

5 / David would go on to start @ATLTechVillage, which birthed @Calendly, @SalesLoft, @Terminus, @TeamRigor and more. @davempayne is one of the most founder friendly @techstars MDs in the country and @cohnhead went on to start @OverlineVC, of which Cox is a major LP.

6 / This same model is prevalent in the other winners - David/Alan Dabbiere sold Airwatch for $1.5B and co-founded OneTrust; Johnson Cook co-founded Atlanta Tech Village with David Cummings and is President of Greenlight; @pauljudge sold Cipher Trust and then started @pindrop.

7 / This mindset shift was a critical step in the right direction; it was the combined effort of everyone in the community that poured absolute gas on the ecosystem. @TAGthink, @atlchamber, @ACEOCouncil and many other organizations started building true community.

8 / We started harnessing our greatest commercial assets (F500s) and connecting them with startups - @engagevc started a fund with 10 Fortune 500s as LPs. Shoutout to @daleyervin and team - and my good friends at one of their success stories, @The_Mom_Project!

9 / We used to lose the best @GeorgiaTech engineers to the Valley. Now many of them stay. Empowering 17,000 GT engineers to build in Atlanta is infectious. The result is companies like @GetSTORD and @Flock_Safety. Shouout @lpolovets, @zebulgar, @alexisohanian, @garrytan.

10 / And outsiders are taking notice. Low cost of living, weather and downright good people are a plus. Atlanta has consistently been one of the top transplant cities in the country over the last 5 years.

11/ So what do you get when you get an engaged corporate community + 17,000 engineers (and awesome tech/non-tech talent from HBCUs like @Morehouse, @SpelmanCollege) the world’s busiest airport + successful founders pouring back into the ecosystem?

A world class tech hub.

12 / Excitingly, this has started to spin off cool stuff - @GoogleStartups is led by one of our own (@jewelmelanie); @Opendoor opened HQ2 here and @pauljudge is co-leading the Opportunity Fund for Softbank.

I talk to at least 1 Founder a week considering a presence in ATL.

13 / Similarly many of my SF friends ask me to “help them identify the next best ATL company” to which I say - happily, but good luck! I’ve never seen this much energy in Atlanta.

We have 17 early stage funds, majority of which have been started in the last 2 years.

14 / So who is super exciting in town?

(Unicorns): @Calendly, @KabbageInc, @OneTrust, @GreenlightCard, @Mailchimp, @SalesLoft

Next In Line: @GetSTORD, @Flock_Safety, @fullstory, @IonicSecurity, @soraschools, @Rubicon, @Bakkt, @switchyards, @PadSplit, Relay Payments and...

@Terminus, @TeamRigor, @GetGreenzie, @Charityvest, @UserIQ, @KayhanSpace, @GrubblyFarms, @TheGoodrCo, @GoCapWay and many many many more.

Shoutout to my friend @nickrmiller on the recent exit for Gather to @Vista_Equity!

15 / This ecosystem is about to blow the lid off. It’s been slowly compounding year over year, not visible to others.

The narrative over the next 5 years is going to quickly shift to how obvious it is that Atlanta is a tech hub.

16 / Shoutout to so many of my great friends in this city tirelessly shaping the future they want to see: @DuriyaFarooqui, @jkwade, @aaronhurst14, @JonnyBird, @davempayne, @tavani, @KatColeATL, @thakurster, @seanhenryatl and countless others.

LETS GO 🔥🔥🔥