I spoke with a close friend about her work today. She’s in corporate America and is rethinking where she works. She’s in an extremely expensive city with no family nearby. Three years ago, her boss asked her if she wanted to stay there or move back home. Her response was that technology would allow her to live and work from anywhere. She said moving home and working the same business hours as her colleagues would be ideal. Her boss looked at her like she was crazy. She was frustrated, but she understood. To stay in her role, she would have to remain in the expensive city far from family.

Fast forward to today. She may propose the same remote work arrangement to her boss again. She’s confident that this time it would get serious consideration. The pandemic has been tough on everyone, and we’re ready to move past it. For all the negatives, I think one positive thing will come from it: empathy. Large segments of the workforce experienced the same things at the same time: working from home and a lack of community. Suddenly many of us have reason to understand what others are going through and how they feel.

We’re at a pivotal point in how we work. Remote work is mainstream and company leaders have a high level of empathy for their employees. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I think this period will shape how we work for the foreseeable future. I’m hopeful that more people will be able to do their dream job from the location that’s best for them.  

In the last month I’ve had an opportunity to speak with a number of tech investors outside the Southeast. Some well along in their careers and others just starting. I’ve noticed a consistent theme: they’re all paying VERY close attention to what’s happening in Atlanta. Some are even looking to relocate here. One seasoned investor at a reputable firm said he and his team think Atlanta is a top-five city for tech startups.

I’ve lived in Atlanta a long time. I’ve been watching the tech startup landscape evolve. I’ve always thought Atlanta is special and a great place for entrepreneurs. Now outsiders are taking notice. I think Atlanta is at a tipping point and a convergence of factors will make the city the mecca of startups and entrepreneurship (if it isn’t already). The city has logged some big fund-raising rounds and exits in the last few years. That’s putting capital in the hands of employees at local startups, who can angel invest in more emerging local companies. It’s also increasing awareness among the national investor community, who want to invest in local startups.

Working from home has more people rethinking where they want to live. Atlanta offers a unique mix of characteristics that makes it an attractive place where people can see themselves putting down roots. Working from home has also removed geographic limitations on investment. Founders in Atlanta and investors outside Atlanta no longer have to get on a plane to connect. They can meet and close deals on video. There are a ton of other factors too, but these are some big ones.

Atlanta has always had scrappy founders who’ve done amazing things. I think local founders will continue to see the resources and knowledge available to them expand as the profile of the Atlanta ecosystem continues to increase. This can only accelerate their success and allow them to pursue bigger and bolder ideas. I’m excited to see all this come to fruition!

Today marks my 365th consecutive day of sharing my thoughts. Exactly one year ago, I began posting because of a friend's challenge. Little did I know the impact that decision would have. Our sixty-day challenge has gone on for a year and counting.

Thanks, Ethan, for encouraging me to share more. I never would have gotten to this point without your suggestion. I’d also like to say thank you to everyone who’s read any of my posts. Your time is valuable, and I appreciate your spending some of it with me. I hope they were helpful and added value to your life.

Posting over the last year has been one of the most challenging, but also fulfilling, things I’ve done in a long time. It’s become something I look forward to and plan to continue!

I recently spoke with a founder who shared an interesting vision of the future of community. He believes community lead growth will be a way for companies to acquire and retain customers. Companies will create digital communities where people of similar interests come together. The company will support each community and provide resources to help it thrive. It will become the go-to place for people interested in its topic. People will go to not only learn but also share their expertise. Users will become loyal customers and evangelists for the community, the company, and the company’s brand. It will mushroom— more people will contribute to the community; the company will get more customers. There’s more to it, but you get the gist.

I’ve shared my thoughts on community before. The world has evolved so much in the last year. People are seeking digital communities focused on the things that matter to them. I think providing them is a huge opportunity. I like this founder’s idea, and I see it as a way for companies to connect with people in an authentic manner. I’m interested to learn more about community lead growth and how technology can support this movement.

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Today I attended Outlander’s first-ever demo day. All the presenters were Outlander portfolio companies. They’re tackling interesting problems and are great representatives of Southeast start-ups. Here are the demo day companies:

• Talli – An IoT device and software that provides one-touch, mobile, and hands-free logging for infant care, senior care, and home health.
• ChipEleven – An open-source chip-building ecosystem that will spur hardware innovation just like Linux did for software.
• Barometer (formerly Vericrypt ) – AI-based software to help companies analyze, identify, and score bias in their writing.
• Spaceship – A continuous-delivery platform that helps companies deploy software faster.
• Strapt  – Cashless and contactless IoT dispensers that drive new brand engagement and insights for brands through free product sampling and actionable consumer data.

I personally worked with some of these founders to prepare for demo day and couldn’t be prouder of them! They did a great job and I’ll be excited to watch their continued success.

Today I had a great conversation with an old friend. We talked about working from home, and he pointed out something interesting. He’s mostly working from home, but he feels a need to go to the office some days. Pre-pandemic, he enjoyed working from home occasionally because it was peaceful and he wouldn’t be interrupted. Today, though, his children are doing virtual learning and his home is rarely quiet. He can do without his commute, but he still needs a space where he can focus. Currently, that’s his empty office building. He wishes there was a quiet place he could work closer to home.

I doubt that most companies will go back to requiring employees to be in the office five days a week. It’s clear that people can be productive working remotely. I also doubt that most employees will want to work at home five days a week. Some sort of separation between home and work is helpful for many of us. So where does that leave us? I think we’ll end up with a hybrid situation.

People will go to an office periodically when it makes sense—say, to meet with their team or clients. When people aren’t in the office, they’ll work remotely. Not necessarily from home, though. “Remotely” means outside the office. People will work from their community or neighborhood or somewhere else that works best for their life. I can see local coworking spaces becoming very popular. Large coworking spaces like WeWork will continue, too. And companies will begin contributing to the cost of employees using these spaces.

Historically, people had to go where the work was. Because of technology, that’s becoming unnecessary for more and more people. We’ll see a trend of people working away from the mothership in the communities and neighborhoods where they live. I’m just not sure when.

When I spoke recently with an investor in a medium-sized city in the Southeast, I asked him about his tech ecosystem. He thinks his city is moving in the right direction, but it keeps running into a couple of major barriers:

• Nontechnical founders – He comes across excellent founders regularly, but they can’t build a technical product. They struggle to find technical co-founders. If they don’t give up, they hire a development shop. His portfolio companies haven’t had great results with outside development shops, even when they have strong founders.
• Funding – The community has wealthy individuals and families. Their wealth derives from legacy industries that have historically been economic drivers in the city (not so much anymore). Founders struggle to raise funding because people who have the means to invest don’t understand tech start‑ups. It’s gotten better, but they’ve got a long way to go. They’re actively organizing a network of angel investors so people can educate one another.

I was happy to hear that this investor is working hard to help tech start-ups succeed in his city. Our conversation reinforced something I’ve thought for a long time. The South has talented founders, but to succeed they need support. Funding is a big piece. So is community to help them connect more easily and form well-rounded founding teams. I’m looking forward to working with this investor and others across the South to help founders reach their full potential!

Atlanta start-ups have been on a tear lately. Calendly raised $350 million at a $3 billion valuation, Rigor was acquired by Splunk, SalesLoft was valued at over $1 billion, and CallRail raised $56 million . . . all in the last few months. I spoke with a fellow investor about these wins. The founders’ styles and the companies’ circumstances are different, but we agreed there’s one thing they have in common that contributed heavily to their success: culture.

Each of these founders focused on culture early. They were intentional about the environment they wanted for their team. They took the time to think deeply about their core values, mission, etc. And they took it even further, making sure the decisions they made as they grew the company (including hiring) aligned with their values and mission. The results speak for themselves.

Some founders pay no attention to company culture. Big mistake. I’ve noticed two things that happen when they don’t:

• By any means necessary – Without clear values, sometimes people take the gray route in tough situations. Individual decisions may not be shady or bad, but over time they compound. People stray further and further from operating in an ethical way. One day you wake up and you have a company that achieves its goals by any means necessary. It’s Game of Thrones inside the company.
• Unmotivated team – Why you want to do something is usually clear to the founding team (or it should be). But as the team grows, everyone won’t understand the why if communicating it isn’t a priority. When people don’t understand why they’re doing something, they don’t work as hard. You can’t blame them. It makes sense. It’s hard to get someone to run through a wall if they don’t see any purpose or benefit to it. Next thing you know, you have an unmotivated team giving 50%.

Not making company culture a high priority produces lots of other perils. These are just two that I’m familiar with because of my own shortcomings as a founder. Take it from me, you don’t want to experience either of them. Once they set in, it’s hard to reverse them.

Congrats to Calendly, Rigor, Salesloft, and CallRail. They’re testaments to the idea that culture matters. Founders, take note: culture is a big part of success. Act like it.

Over the last few days, we’ve heard about the GameStop Reddit WallStreetBets saga playing out in the stock market. If you’re not familiar with it, you may want to read up on it. It will likely be remembered as a major historical event. The story centers around a Reddit community called WallStreetBets.

I’ve been a fan and user of digital communities since high school, and I’ve shared my thoughts about them in one of my daily posts. Some of these communities have helped me accelerate my learning and navigate unfamiliar situations, including my transition to corporate America and a new city.

What we’re witnessing is how powerful digital communities can be. Let me be clear: I’m not taking a position on current events. What I’m saying is that the fact that a group of ordinary people online can organize a call to action so big that it shakes Wall Street is a testament to the impact digital communities can (and will) have on our lives.

Love them or hate them, the people have spoken and digital communities are here to stay!

I hope the new year is off to a great start for everyone!