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Are You a Truck or a Trailer?
One useful way of thinking of potential hires in startups is determining if the candidate is a truck or a trailer. Who is a Truck? Trucks typically… Who is a Trailer? Trailers typically… In my experience, your key leadership positions must be occupied by Trucks. You can win with an occasional Trailer, but they need Continue reading
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Why We Grade Our Marriage
It’s a Thursday and our favorite sushi spot is bustling. My wife and I sit down and each order a glass of wine. After soaking in the silence of a dinner without the fighting of kids, we begin. I slide a piece of paper over to Ginger with the letter ‘D.’* “You graded our marriage Continue reading
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The Snickers Theory
This is a story about Snickers and how it’s kept us happily married for 20 years. Before I set the scene, you should know that my wife is one of the sweetest people alive. We were newly married and whenever she went on a grocery run she’d come back with a “happy” – a little Continue reading
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Setting the Table to Spark Joy
At Atlanta Tech Village, culture and community drives everything we do. You don’t have to walk around very long to notice that our core values (Be Nice. Dream Big. Pay it Forward. Work Hard, Play Hard.) are everywhere – from the lanyards, to the walls, to even the wifi password (shhh…don’t tell anyone). We’re kinda fanatical about Continue reading
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Embrace the Contact
For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of coaching my daughter and her friends on their middle school basketball team. It’s been such a fun journey, not just for the girls, but for our entire family. Not only did we create many great memories, but one constant encouragement I used while coaching – Continue reading
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Assumptions, Questions, & Insights
Creating a successful startup is incredibly hard work. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs make it even harder on themselves by not validating the idea before jumping in headfirst. Ah, jumping off this cliff and building a plane on the way down is TOO easy. I think I’ll do it blindfolded as well. Ok, so what do I Continue reading
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It’s Time to Pull the Plug on Your Startup
At Atlanta Ventures, we meet many great entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, too many are working on the wrong idea. They’re talented, smart, and resourceful, but they’re not achieving true traction – seemingly locked into a Sisyphean cycle of pushing the boulder up the hill. Through sheer will they’ve brute forced some sales or some users, but there’s no Continue reading
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What Should I Do After I Graduate College?
Last week I had someone who was looking for some advice message me on LinkedIn. She’s a recent graduate who’s looking to find her way professionally. What would I do if I were just getting started after college? Because I get some version of this question pretty regularly, I figured I’d share my answer. Here Continue reading
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I Have a Great Startup Idea, Now What?
A couple of weeks ago, a good friend in tech referred to me a coworker that had an “revolutionary” startup idea. “It’s Uber for X…It’s going to be massive. I just need someone to build it! Can you help me find a developer?” I have conversations that start like this on the regular. Here’s what Continue reading
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Hike The Narrows
Over the past few years we’ve had the opportunity to visit many of the beautiful National Parks across the United States. One of our very favorite parks is Zion National Park. Zion has many amazing hikes, but the standout though is The Narrows – a 8+ mile hike up the Virgin River. Large swaths of The Continue reading
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David Lightburn 