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. 

Beta Product of the Week: Circool is the product this week and they are hq’d out of Birmingham filling a specific niche in school safety. Several companies ensure doors are locked and all guests are checked-in. Circool software addresses safety around school events. Some of the functionality around Circool includes providing the ability to create events, invite school parents/guardians and staff, and host events knowing exactly who is attending. 

Articles to Highlight: In the Atlanta Ventures offices we always test theories and ideas around what makes a great entrepreneur. What ends up being the reason someone decides to dedicate their life to a specific problem and service? The Generalist has a great article on theories that make successful entrepreneurs: 1. The market misjudges you. I believe this is why so many companies get started in economic downturns. People who enjoyed safe, cushy roles find themselves out of a job and have limited fulfillment or desire to go work for a large corporation, so they take the leap. 2. The folks are an all around generalist and jack of all trades. I agree here as well. There are some people who cannot be boxed into a specific role. They will find ways to create and build. 3. Is around mental health issues. Examples include ADHD, OCD, etc. Lastly number 4 is a childhood trauma or difficult upbringing. Those that have overcome such setbacks early on know they can defy the odds of success in entrepreneurship.  

Event of the Week: This is less of a specific event, but this week it was announced through StartupAtlanta that the Atlanta ecosystem calendar is live. This calendar includes every major hub in the city, specifically the ones on last year’s tour which range in geography from the Russell Innovation Center to Tech Alpharetta. We put the link in the show notes so you can see all the events held in each location. 

Job Change Alert: After going from idea and market to a $2.4B exit in December 2021, Salesloft CEO, Kyle Porter is handing over the next growth phase of the business to David Obrand. The story of Salesloft is as homegrown as one can find. Georgia Tech graduate, worked several years on and around the ATDC. Co-founded the company with David Cummings and Rob Forman. Through fits and starts, Salesloft leads and revolutionizes the SDR movement and role and now their software is used by thousands of companies and their sales reps as the application of record for their sales workflow. A historic changing of the guard from a one room office in the ATDC to a skyscraper in midtown. Proud of you Kyle Porter. A story for the ages.

Company Coming Up: This company is called LoadHive and is headquartered out of Charlotte, NC. Their freight-tech software is making logistics and transportation much more efficient. Here is how they do it: once loads that fit the truck size and most convenient location of your driver have been identified, they are auto-assigned and show up in your driver’s Loadhive app within seconds after the shipment is published. Your driver can see how much they are making per mile, per month and you nor your drivers ever have to search a load board and scan between multiple tabs. Also, all your contracts and documents will be handled through the software as well. If you work with 15 drivers or more, check out LoadHive today. 

Companies Worth Applying To: This week it was announced SingleOps is hiring for several roles including customer success, product marketing, and SDR’s. If you remember, SingleOps raised $74M back in July of last year from FTV Capital. They are putting the plan to work with job openings now.   

Zinnia is looking for a technical lead. The authentic demand is strong with Zinnia which streamlines and organizes offsites and corporate retreats. CEO, Lauren Marturano and team are looking for their first full time engineer to build out the product. Zinnia, right now, is mainly services but there is a clear roadmap of features needed to reduce the headache and manual efforts to ensure every company who is not in the office 5 days a week yet still wants to build in-person culture, has an effective, productive, and affordable offsite or corporate retreat. 

Raise of the Week: Spiffy announced this week they raised $30M led by Edison Partners. We’ve covered Spiffy several episodes ago. They service 3,000-4,000 cars a day whether it is cleaning, oil change, or more. Congratulations to Scott Wingo and team on the raise and future growth!  

Annnnd that is five minutes!

Links discussed: 

🚀 Beta Product: Circool

📝 Article of the Week: Who Becomes an Entrepreneur

🗓️ Event of the Week: Startup Atlanta Events 

🧑‍💼Job Change Alert: Kyle Porter 

⬆️  Company Coming Up: LoadHive

🧑‍💼 Companies Worth Applying To: SingleOps and Zinnia

​🍾​ Raise a Glass: Spiffy