Introduction: Welcome to Five & Thrive: a weekly podcast highlighting the Southeast’s most interesting news, entrepreneurs, and information of the week, all under 5 minutes. 

My name is Jon Birdsong and I’m with Atlanta Ventures. 

Where to Focus in 2023: Over the holidays, I asked each partner Atlanta Ventures, if you had one piece of advice for the entrepreneurs and startup team members listening to the pod what would it be. Their suggestions are below. 

First off is Atlanta Ventures’ CEO, David Cummings. His suggested area of focus: the distance between you and the customer right now. Staying close to your customers in 2023 is arguably the most important area for one to focus on. Doing so increases product iteration and enhancements, ensures limited churn, and produces optimal chances to upsell. 

Second is Atlanta Ventures Partner, Kathryn O’Day. Kathryn’s number one area to focus: picking and building in the right market. With the current or eventual recession looming, new companies built today will be forced to solve a real need and the biggest factor to growth potential is market size, not just today, but market size growth in 3-7 years from now. 

Third is A.T. Gimbel, who always keeps the most complex as simple as possible — which we all know is very tough to do. His suggestion on one area to focus: assess what you can truly control and focus on that. Whether it be schedule, exercise, learning, diet, market you are building in, regardless of the macro economic uncertainties.

My two-cents on where to focus in 2023 is about honing your craft. I’ve seen so many articles recently about people quietly-quitting now coupled with several companies laying off 10-20% and one starts to wonder, what motivates the entrepreneur or employee of tomorrow. I believe there is an entrepreneurial muscle or even spirit in every motivated individual. I’ve known several successful founders who didn’t like their traditional J-O-B and when they commit to starting something outside of their regular routine, it can be energizing and magical. This starts with scratching your child-like curiosity and building around it. 

Product of the Week: This past week I caught up with entrepreneur and Equity Shift co-founder, Will Duckett. Will is building out of Raleigh, NC which we must cover more exciting companies out of Raleigh and North Carolina in general because there are so many, but that is a side tangent. Equity Shift manages all the complex transactions within private companies. Let’s say you have a company with 100’s of investors. Equity Shift offers a complete digital automation for primary offerings, convertibles, vesting, and a variety of secondary transactions. Track, pause, and approve transfers with ease and simplicity. If you’re looking for a company to Keep an eye on them and their product this year.  

Events of the Week: On January 11th, A.T. Gimbel is coming out hot in a dynamite interview with John Lariccia of WelcomeHome in the upcoming Atlanta Healthcare Entrepreneurs Meetup. WelcomeHome is a quiet giant and growing fast. John does not do many interviews and this one is guaranteed to be insightful. WelcomeHome is senior living CRM software designed to make senior living operators' lives easier. They are currently bootstrapped with over 30 employees and hiring. John’s story is fascinating. Before founding WelcomeHome, John spent 20 years at Bain and Company and took the entrepreneurial leap well into his career. More of the story, next week!

Companies Worth Applying To: As the coffee shop hours shifted around the holiday, signaling a time for slowing down, Christy Brown, CEO of Dr. Noze Best, was putting in recruiting cycles in the lobby of the ATV. You may remember we highlighted Christy taking over the CEO role last year on the pod and after learning more about their growth, they have some real hiring needs, number one being a product manager. If you want to be part of a company who is in a massive market with authentic demand, Dr. Noze Best is hiring. The product manager will own the relationship with product design firms, prototyping, and the manufacturing relationships in coordination with leadership. Check them out! 

Annnnd that is five minutes! Let’s go get this year, y’all! 

Product of the Week: Equity Shift

Event of the Week: Atlanta Healthcare Entrepreneur Meetup

Companies Worth Applying To: Dr. Noze Best

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