Lessons from Appcelerator’s Move to Silicon Valley
As reported by The Atlanta Business Chronicle, (subscription required) Atlanta based Appcelerator and its CEO Jeff Haynie (blog) are heading to Silicon Valley as part of a $4 million deal led by Storm Ventures. Rumors had been swirling for a few weeks and shame on me for not chiming in earlier.
The announcement is great news for Jeff and disappointing news for those of us trying to grow and sustain Atlanta’s tech community. It’s also ironic that the Atlanta Business Chronicle would break the news. As of late The ABC has been criticized for not readily embracing the local tech community or even having a regular tech reporter.
But break the news they did and kudos to them.
However tempting, I am not going to speculate on who lost Jeff Haynie to Silicon Valley. What I will talk about is what we do from here.
I have been following companies like Appcelerator in my quest to promote social media awareness and adoption. Appcelerator allows developers to incorporate interactive features into their web sites without the need for JavaScript or plug-ins.
Haynie himself has been a leader in Atlanta’s tech community. Previously, he was co-founder and CTO of Vocalocity and has been regularly involved in such technology events as SoCon08, Barcamp, and Atlanta Startup Weekend.
Over the last couple of months I have talked to several entrepreneurs like Jeff. He represents the opportunities and challenges of the Atlanta tech community.
Jeff cut his teeth in Atlanta but it’s hard to compete with the Silicon Valley. Atlanta lacks the Valley’s intensity. It can’t provide the same level of financial support. The investment community here is not as large and is its level of commitment to high tech is not as strong.
According to John Yates, a leading technology attorney in Atlanta, 10 percent of Atlanta companies get funded by Silicon Valley VCs and then move there. Esgut and Fuzzwich are two examples of local companies who saw more opportunities out there.
And Sig Mosley one of the deans of Atlanta’s tech community speculated that Google might not have been funded if it had started here.
So what lessons can we learn from Jeff’s departure?
Entrepreneur Scott Burkett says we are at a crossroads;
The Atlanta community has a choice to make. We can continue to play second fiddle to communities with half of the innovation present here. Or we can treat Atlanta as a greenfield opportunity and evolve. There are plenty of problems to tackle, and lots of work to be done - but it can, and will happen. But certain views, approaches, cultural hangups, and models will either need to evolve, or be pushed out of the way (this is already beginning to happen).
Now I know he wasn’t referring to me when he said “a greenfield opportunity.”
But I do agree that we need to approach things differently. Part of the solution is web 2.0 and social media. Web 2.0 is driving new business opportunities, and social media is helping us get there.
Through the power of blogs and tools like Twitter, the entrepreneurial community is starting to engage in an open, meaningful dialogue. We are no longer beholden to traditional media and connections to obtain information and access.
The online discussions may be messy. We may later regret the emotions that pour out, but we have at our disposal a forum to address real needs and present solutions. Through the collective wisdom of the community we can offer advice and help enterpreneurs create more fundable business models. Through social media, we can foster a creative environment where ideas matter. Yes we may vent, yes we may rant, but along the way we are taking advantage of these new channels that will hopefully spur investment in Atlanta.
Finally, I can take heart in knowing we can create successful high-tech companies. The challenge is keeping the homegrown talent here.
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Jeff Haynie; Scott Burkett; Atlanta; Appcelerator; Sig Mosley; John Yates; Social Media; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;
Broke the news? I live in Florida and knew this a few weeks back. Following Jeff’s twitter stream provided most of the background on the move.
thanks for the comment. I suppose it’s case in point in how social media is driving the discussion.
Here’s my followup with some more color on the details:
http://blog.jeffhaynie.us/whats-wrong-with-the-atlanta-startup-ecosystem-and-how-to-fix-it.html