3 Things I’ve Learned From Startups in the South
The startup culture in the south is red hot. Founders here tend to be young, creative men and women from all over the country determined to make a difference without the urge to head straight to the west coast. They desire the life of a new kind of founder. They are well aware of cultural nuances and more conservative investment opportunities, but founders who live and build in the south also naturally leverage several advantages.
Founders are attracted to the area because of the low cost of living and high concentrations of young people- especially in Charleston, Louisville, Nashville, Atlanta, New Orleans and Miami. These cultural centers foster the arts, music, healthcare, media/content, consumer tech, and web design/development. They’ve realized that it’s easier than ever to raise money in any part of the country (thanks SEC syndication) and they are the brave volunteers to pioneer the southern tech startup trail first.
They run lean, without getting caught up in themselves. Most startup teams here are small and lean without a permanent workspace or a huge ego. Most of them are camera shy. They strive to execute an MVP. They care for their product and don’t have much use for frills. There’s a guy I know here with plenty of capital, plenty of money from selling a previous startup, and he continues to sleep in a hostel. I’ve known several founders to not take a salary from their startup, and founders who take on 3 or more jobs at once to pay the bills. Not to say founders don’t do the same types of things in all other parts of the country, but I do think the attitude of the south helps founders stay down to earth.
We live in a positive/encouraging environment. It’s pretty easy to break in to the southern startup community if you are willing to put in the work to learn. The phrase “a rising tide lifts all ships” is how I would describe the attitude of startup founders here. You can approach who you deem to be the most successful person in the community and you will generally get 15 minutes of their time.
That’s one of my favorite parts of being in a startup in the south. Since startup life can be lonely, it’s nice to be able to reach out for encouragement. I think it’s important for a teenage kid who is into math and science in Chattanooga to read and discover that he has a chance to startup right inside his city. I hope we continue to cheer each other on as our regional scene matures. Southern startups are definitely on the map and growing at exponential rates. If you want to learn more about them, I write about them every day- my media company is in my contact info.