Why don’t southeastern VCs blog?

by Jeff Haynie on May 9, 2007 · Comments

We had a great turnout tonight at our YnR entrepreneurs mixer – the first one for the North Atlanta crowd. OK – not exactly North Atlanta, Sanjay, that was ITP. But, a great location: Five Seasons Brewing – the one just off Roswell Road. That alone made it worth it. When I got there, Ken Grisnak was hunkered down over his computer in the pool room area and there were probably 30-35 entrepreneurs in active discussions. Fun, I like seeing entrepreneurs talking about what they’re up to and what’s happening around town.

A couple of cool things I heard:

Biodiesel — yeah, that’s right. Low-tech/high-tech startup that David Ratajczak is doing. David’s got a new startup that’s focused on building these machines that can basically refine diesel fuel from bio products like oil fat – or something like that. Completely out of my league – but something green and something quite interesting. What was probably the most interesting to me was how the business was being financed – basically, from hedge funds. Yep, that’s right – those high-risk, cash rich funds that are seeming to creep in to startup venture deals more and more these days. Interestingly enough, I met one young woman that had graduated last year from Harvard Business with her MBA and had relocated to Atlanta to work for a $20B hedge fun. Her segment focus: technology. Why is she floating around a entrepreneurs mixer ? …. hmmmmmm.

David Cummings / Wayt King – David’s like your protege smart kid that started his first business when he was like 4 years old. I think he was born with a silver term sheet in his pocket. The guys got more things going on than 5 entrepreneurs combined – and he’s like 19 years old. He and Wayt have teamed up to get their new project off the ground – and basically validate something we’ve been talking about (and we’re both doing): can you launch a business and online product in less than 3 months with $50K? David has just hired 12 GA Tech / Emory students for the summer to build out his mid-market marketing product. It’s sounds really interesting – and potentially a LoopFuse killer. Sorry, Tom and Roy, the boy’s a stream roller and a successful software entrepreneur. And, best of all – he’s doing it with Ruby on Rails. It’s really hard to compare how fast you can build something in RoR over the traditional J2EE method. I can’t wait to get my hands on this product.

What’s coming up next? Well, Scott Burkett has done, yet again, an amazing job and has pulled together an impressive list of people for his Capital Connections event – next week. It looks like around 125-150 people are RSVP – and a few out of town VCs are coming. I’ve already had a conversation with one active southeastern VC in Raleigh, and it sounds like a few others are planning on being there. I’ll see you there if you’re going.

So…. why don’t southeastern VCs blog?

Geez… that’s like the $1M question – literally. Scott Voight and I pondered this a bit over lunch last week. Scott had an interesting perspective when I posed the question to him: it’s cultural. In Scott’s thinking, it’s all about the way business is still largely done in a lot of older communities in the south like venture capital. Well, probably, there’s something valid to that theory. I honestly am not fully sure why, personally. I know there are some young, up and coming investors like Jason Caplain who are blogging – heck, even Jason’s blog probably is somewhat representative of the entire VC blogging community (the title is Southeast VC). But where’s everyone else?

Is blogging necessary to be a good investor?

Well, no and yes. Blogging is an interesting medium. Some traditionalists have a hard time understanding the value of blogs. I also continue to hear that blogs are “all about personal things nobody cares about.” Sure, that’s probably one way of looking at it — and quite naturally, one that doesn’t surprise me. But, what’s valuable? One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. If you’re not blogging, you’re not participating in the conversation. And, for everyone that says they don’t need blogs, I would bet 95% of them are reading blogs. I’ve had people tell me that “don’t get the blog thing” and when I talk with them about what they read online and where they get information, well – it naturally comes back to some of the same popular blogs that we all read and love: TechCrunch, GigaOm, etc. To be a good investor, you have to be connected with what’s going on – even if you don’t fully embrace it or understand it. Twitter is a good example. If you’re not groking Twitter – regardless of it’s long-term value – you’re not going to get Web 3.0. You might as well start looking at the stock market or mutual funds for your investment strategy – or get back to low-tech. The world is changing so fast — and common people are part of the evolution — that if you’re not actively trying to follow it and understand it — you’re going to completely miss the next Google and Youtube. It’s going to sit on your desk, you’re going to talk one-on-one with the enterpreneur — and you’re going to completely miss it. You might as well do like some others have done and hang it up.

Isn’t all this web2.0 stuff just a flash in the pan like all the web1.0 companies that went down in flames?

Sure. Lot’s of crap being slapped on the virtual Internet wall…. that’s for sure. Many, many things out there today are absolute crap and will fail – like almost all businesses and most ideas. But, that’s not the point anymore. The anatomy of the deal is changing. Businesses are being created, absent of traditional capital sources, and with real value, real revenue and with a lot less capital. This is the age of the solo, lifestyle entrepreneur. That’s not to say that venture capital is in trouble – it’s just changing, quite rapidly. Smart venture investors are adapting and figuring out how to be relevant. Others, the dinosaurs, are going to become extinct. There memories forever lost in the web1.0 bone yard. Web2.0 represents more than just a shift in technology and the rapid socialization of communities and micro social networks – it also represents the changing face of business and the rapid globalization of transactional commerce. The new age of entreprenuership is about creative value and building a business – in some cases, with no startup capital.

So, why don’t VCs in the southeastern U.S. blog?

Well, probably because they don’t understand the value. Partly, because it’s un-natural for them to talk about what they’re doing in a public forum to an unknown, uncontrollable audience. Partly, because they’re not participating in the Web2.0 evolution. Partly, because they’re still trying to figure it out – and the world is changing more rapidly than we all can understand. I honestly don’t know. The good news: there’s largely an open field for some of them to step up, take the lead and starting participating in the conversation.

If you’re reading this and you’re an investor and you don’t blog — tell us why. Join the conversation with me.

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  • Scott Voigt
    Good catching up recently, Jeff. Just wanted to clarify my point a bit. Personally, in fits and starts, I’ve contemplated maintaining a blog a number of times. The cycle starts with me penning an elaborate diatribe about something that usually pertains to business in Atlanta. But before I hit submit, I reread my post and start to go through a series of questions: Who will read this? Am I disclosing something that could be construed as confidential? Offensive? Self-indulgent? And so on…In the end, I always pull the plug.

    I certainly can’t speak for Atlanta’s venture community as I am 4+ years removed from day-to-day involvement. However, if I were in their shoes, I doubt I would do much blogging. IMO, to have an engaging blog, you should write about the interesting aspects of your day-to-day interactions. For a venture professional, I’d wager that 90% of these interactions are (or should be) confidential in nature. So while they are fun for us to read, venture posts such as “I met with an entrepreneur this morning. Nice guy, but his plan needs some work” or “One of my portfolio companies is imploding,” are potentially bad for business and, perhaps, ill mannered. This is especially true in Atlanta, where the chances of spotting a well-known VC at breakfast with an entrepreneur is probable at a handful of greasy spoons.

    Now, put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur sitting across the booth from a VB (Venture Blogger). Knowing that some aspects of your conversation may end up as today’s post, you are going to carefully measure your comments and play your cards closer to the vest. After all, you’d probably fear the reverberations of a negative review from VB even if his comments are scrubbed for anonymity. Again, having the entrepreneur on guard would, IMO, be bad for business.

    If you pull the gossipy posts from a venture blogger’s arsenal, then you’re left with the educational posts. “When you are submitting you business plan to a venture capitalist, be sure to use a readable font…” To me (and I suspect others) these tend to be semi-educational and mostly lame.

    “Cultural” was probably the wrong word to use. Still, for good and ill, word travels fast in the Southeast. Perhaps this reality is a contributor to a lack in venture blogging.

    Just my $.02.
  • Great throw down Jeff and I'll go one more - if the concern is about consistency of posting, how about joining our BigThinkr collective (www.bigthinkr.com) and posting there? It says we're a "collection of entrepreneurs" but I'm happy to change that and add "VCs" as long as the goal is improving what is going on in Atlanta/Georgia/Southeast. Like Jeff says, we don't need constant posting (or as Alan says "self boasting" posting) but we do need to hear your thoughts. If you guys are game, I'm happy to make you accounts and start reading your pontifications.

    BTW, I've had occasion to ping Alan for random thoughts and help before and I'll say he's been more than helpful. I wouldn't want you to start blogging and stop doing that for myself and others so temper the request with that in mind. ;-)
  • Knox Massey
    Beware what you wish for.

    :)
  • Fair enough. I will contribute something.
  • No excuse except for the time commitment.

    But here is my carbon offset to that statement. The more transparent an investor is on their investment philosophy the more entrepreneurs will know with what type of opportunities to approach them with.

    As an example, because of Fred Wilson's blog I have a pretty good idea of what type of deal to approach Union Square Ventures with. Even if I had the most kickin capital efficient Internet app (their sector) in the world, with a defensible position due to a data asset (what they look for), and wanted to raise $1.5 million (their sweet spot) I would not take it to them. Atlanta is out of their region (NYC/DC).

    I do know most of the folks that you mention are reading, and that is a start. I was reading blogs for over a year before Toby and Joe Reger pushed me over the edge.
  • Thank Alan,

    You're probably the perfect example of what I think we need more of in Atlanta in terms of VC bloggers. While I understand your concern about self-promotion - especially given Noro's classic self-deprecating professional investor brand - i think it actually cuts both ways. We need more "smart VCs" who get it - who are more vocal through blogging - who can talk about the exciting things that are going on, interesting investments they're making, things they're looking to get interested in and what's not working well. The transparency in my mind is part of what's occurring in other areas impacted by blogging - and which could really benefit the entrepreneur/venture community. It's a symbiotic relationship as you're well aware of. If more enterepreneurs could have "access" to you - maybe not directly - but indirectly through your public blog about what you're doing (as it relates to your professional investing) -- it could help provide context and instruction. Also, it would provide a wonderful medium for people to interact with you in a more controlled way in which you probably can't do in other mediums easily.

    Self-promotion without value is meaningless. However, in the southeast US we need more meaningful dialog about what is happening. Evidence from today's ATDC $1B celebration shows us that there are interesting things happening. Sometimes, it's hard to find out about who's doing what.

    So -- my challenge to the local VC community - which I dearly respect: start blogging.

    Here's my public challenge. I'd like to see the following at least start a blog and post one meaningful article related to venture capital and what they're interested in:

    <ul>
    <li>Stephen Fleming, Chief Commercialization Officer, GT Venture Labs</li>
    <li>Alan Taetle, Partner, Noro-Moseley (YOU!)</li>
    <li>Fred Sturgis, Partner, HIG</li>
    <li>Knox Massey, Atlanta Technology Angels</li>
    <li>Sig Mosley, Imlay Investments</li>
    </ul>

    And here's my offer: I'll help in anyway I can - set up the blog, provide the hosting, find the templates - even help give some tips on how I do it.

    NO excuses now. :)
  • I do think Scott Voigt is right (he should know, he used to work at Noro-Moseley!), the lack of blogging is a cultural phenomenon in the VC community and really it's in the entire private equity community in the Southeast. One of the things we have tried to at Noro-Moseley is to be as helpful as we can be without boasting about our accomplishments. I find some of the vc blogs to be more about self-promotion and less about content. We want to be known for being the exact opposite: all about content and less about self-promotion. I think many of our VC colleagues in the region feel the same way. I am a large consumer of blogs including yours. You didn't mention Smart Mobs or Freakonomics, two of my other favorites. I am generally not a big fan of many of the VC blogs.
  • Nolan Wright
    Roy - as usual, I find your open-minded perspective quite refreshing.
  • RoR + little kid + emory students = I quake in my boots.
  • Thanks to David for a few small clarifications about Pardot. Sounds like he's spread the love to some different schools and he's using a Rails knock-off called Symfony.
  • Oh yeah, I meant to say - I know it was still technically ITP but at least it wasn't in midtown this time. We'll do better next time. ;-)
  • Dang, you beat me to posting about the event. I still really don't get the girl from Harvard. She didn't have money to invest in startups, she wasn't looking to join a startup, so what was she doing there and who thought it was a good idea for her to come...?!? Oh well, whatever.
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