The Garage hosts Startup Exchange in 2016

The Garage under SQ5 is outlined with a rectangle

Disclaimer: This work was done as part of a class assignment for Georgia Tech’s CS4464/6465 Fall 2016 (https://github.com/jacobeisenstein/gt-compj-class/). The opinions expressed here, if any, are solely those of the students working on this assignment and not of the Instructor or Georgia Tech.

Startup Exchange

Startup Exchange held its first meeting of 2016 at The Garage under SQ5. People from all over the Georgia Tech community were invited to start the semester off with light refreshments, industry talks, and entrepreneurial workshops — and of course to see what Startup Exchange has planned for the coming weeks.

What is Startup Exchange?

From their website:

Startup Exchange is the entrepreneurial community that empowers students to support and inspire each other to build their dreams and live an alternative lifestyle.

To be less hand-wavy, Startup Exchange is a club run by Georgia Tech students that aims to connect people interested in entrepreneurship and to help them hone their craft.

Brett Garcia, a student at Georgia Tech studying Computer Science, said “The club offers a space for members to socialize and learn from the other members. The club brings in guest speakers with a wealth of experience who can provide guidance. Most important, the club puts you in contact with other students who have similar goals and aspirations which facilitates finding the right people to grow your startup.”

As for why people come to these meetings, Naveen Chandran — another Computer Science student at GT — says it’s about “the motivation and wisdom of the people that attend the sessions”. He continues: “They say in order to better yourself, you should surround yourself with people that are better than you but have like-minded interests — that’s exactly what I’m attempting to do.”

The club hosts weekly meetings where attendees can share their ideas, stories, and struggles in the space.

Startup Exchange Logo. Source: https://www.facebook.com/StartupExchange/

The Event

The 2016 inaugural event kicked off with attendees introducing themselves to the crowd. Each person stood up, was given a microphone, and answered the prompt:

• What is your name?
• What is your major? (If you’re still in school)
• Why are you here/why are you interested in Startup Exchange?
• If you have a startup, pitch it to us in 60 seconds. If not, what is your favorite startup?

Of those in attendance, a vast majority were current students at Georgia Tech. Others were recent alumni or people who worked in and around Tech Square.

Surprisingly, only about 1 in 5 people shared that they were currently building a startup. Unsurprisingly, the unanimous answer to “Why are you here?” was something along the lines of learning more about entrepreneurship, finding a place/people to bounce ideas off of, and connecting with people who are also interested in creating their own company.

The Keynote

“Whatever you do, do the shit out of it”

After the introductions, Kyle Porter, the CEO of SalesLoft, took the stage. Kyle is a GT Alum (MGT-2004) who started out under the College of Engineering before jumping on the M-Train. He told his story of evolution from living the college life party to party to CEO of a company rated #1 best place to work for midsize companies by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Along the way, he shared some advice that he’d gained in his time building his company such as:

• “Whatever you do, do the shit out of it”
• Enmesh your core values into your business at every level
• Figure out what you’re good at and partner for the things you aren’t
• Have a clear vision of what your business’ purpose is, how you’re going to accomplish it, and why you’re going to accomplish it.

The Alumnus

The next speaker to take the stage was Hunter Rosenblume, CEO of Cosmos Labs and past director of Startup Semester at Georgia Tech. He began by saying he was part of the crowd listening to speakers talk at Startup Exchange just a year ago and now he’s CEO of his own company.

Hunter shared his own advice about being an entrepreneur:

• “Be around people doing cool shit all the time.”
• “Pickup side projects you don’t have time to do”, especially those that look cool or that will make you learn a lot.

The Garage

The Garage

The last speaker to take the stage was Scott Henderson, CEO and Co-founder of Sandbox Communities. Around Tech Square, he’s most known for the Atlanta division SandboxATL — a company that “connect[s] you to events, media content, and collaborative spaces at the heart of Atlanta’s tech scene.” They host events at various tech spaces around the city that encourage members to mingle and share ideas.

The Garage’s location. Source: http://startupexchange.gatech.edu/

The Garage is a new event space under the Square on Fifth (SQ5) tower that is run by SandboxATL. Scott pitched it as a clubhouse for “people creating the future of tech.” The space is aptly named, evoking a no-frills, functional vibe with exposed concrete walls, bare wood, and metal components.

It’s split into two levels. The top floor has three medium-sized areas with desks along the railing overlooking the bottom floor and stage. Along the interior wall, it sports a few break-out rooms furnished by a small desk and door, providing some privacy in an otherwise communal space.

The bottom floor has an open floor plan with an overhang under the cover of the second story as you first walk in. The check-in desk sits nestled against the stairs that curl up to your left. Further in, the space opens up around the stage — a raised platform where audience seating (accommodating up to 250 guests, according to the website) can be arranged.

Startup Academy

The last piece of programming for the night was the first ever instance of Startup Academy. Startup Academy is the educational offshoot of Startup Exchange that provides workshops and other interactive activities for club attendees.

The first lesson was on Ideation — or the process of coming up with ideas for start ups. It involved a short presentation introducing the concept followed by an interactive portion grouping people into teams to brainstorm and categorize on the fly using lots of sticky notes.

Startup Exchange meets weekly on Fridays from 4–6PM at The Garage with Startup Academy directly after semiweekly.

Hamilton Greene is a current student at Georgia Tech studying Computer Science. If you liked this post, consider clicking the heart icon or following him on Medium. For more info, visit his website at http://sirhamy.com.