Eric Bykowsky

Not to brag, but Atlanta might just be the ultimate startup playground. We've got EVERY kind of event— whatever your style, Atlanta has it! The next few months are gonna be the best yet, so make sure to mark these on your calendar! 1. Founder + Funder Social Jog (TOMORROW) 📍Atlanta Tech Village 📅 Fri, Aug 16th, 7:45am Nothing brings people together like suffering in the Atlanta heat. Thanks to TrackCred and Denis Cranstoun for hosting! 2. Office Hours with Atlanta Ventures 📍Virtual 📅 Wed, August 28th, 9am Join me and fellow Atlanta Ventures partner, A.T. Gimbel, for an informal Q&A sesh. 3. Georgia Institute of Technology + ATDC Entrepreneur Spotlight Panel 📍ATDC Office in Tech Square 📅 Thurs, Sept 19, 5-7p Join me and some of my favorite folks — Kaitlin Hagan, Rahul Saxena, Seth Radman 🎷, Robert "RED" Daniel, MBA— for a high energy panel on entrepreneurship! 4. Venture Atlanta Conference 📍The Woodruff Arts Center 📅 October 8th-9th *THE* event of the year. Largest venture conference in the Southeast. Investors come from all over the country to check out the top startups in the region. 5. InnovATL (Metro Atlanta Chamber) 📍All Over Atlanta! 📅 Tue, Oct 1 - Sat, Oct 19 Come for Venture Atlanta, stay for InnovATL. 😉 A coordinated calendar of startup and innovation-focused events over 2 weeks in the glorious early October weather. 6. Fireside Chat with Christine de Wendel 📍Atlanta Tech Village 📅 Wed, Nov 13th 12-1:30p I’ll bring the hard hitting questions for Christine, who scaled multiple unicorns before founding sunday, where she is CEO and raised over $125M. Oh yeah, she also has 3 kids and is a wonderful human. I posted a full blog with allll the details + more resources and event calendars! — Who’s joining me?! Which events are you looking forward to? Any other events that you would add to this list? Share this with an entrepreneur that needs to know these are happening!

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Chipotle's landscape shifts as its CEO steps down, leaving behind both a substantial legacy and to-do list for his successor. While Brian Niccol spearheaded growth and innovation, challenges such as supply chain issues, labour disputes, and the need for digital advancements remain. How can Chipotle's next CEO build on past successes while addressing the operational challenges and lack of customer experience left behind? https://lnkd.in/gqEJx8g2 #LeadershipChange #BusinessStrategy #Chipotle #FastCasualDining

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When you master communication - the vision becomes clear. When the vision becomes clear - action flows. #leadership

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Christine co-founded BlueSpace.ai a few years ago and it's amazing how they have expanded their technology offerings to not only provide autonomy for consumer vehicles but a whole slate of technologies for defense, space, mining and other industries. (Bluespace part of video begins at 1:30 left) Winning a contract with the U.S. Army was the first step, and now they are working with defense companies building for the modern battlefield with their GPS-denied positioning, predictive perception, real-time mapping, and other cutting-edge technologies in the works. "Redefining Autonomous Solutions for Defense and Industry with AI Built for the Toughest Conditions: BlueSpace.ai, a leader in next-gen autonomous vehicle (AV) software, operates at the crossroads of defense and industry. Focused on 'doing more with less', BlueSpace excels in challenging and austere environments, where the infrastructure required by conventional autonomy is not supported. Whether it’s lacking GPS signal or lacking relevant data to train on, BlueSpace delivers best-in-class higher accuracy and lower latency solutions." #defense #usarmy #nasa #AUSA #GPSdenied #autonomousdriving #autonomy #autonomousvehicles #Infrastructurefree #OffRoadAutonomy #Bluespaceai #GPS #AI #artificialintelligence Christine Moon

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Had a great conversation with Dylan Hendrickson about startups, AI in finance, and football. Dylan started a fractional CFO company called STAXX and is crushing. In our discussion, Dylan share some insights into how he grew his company, low hanging fruit that startups can do now to best position themselves come tax season, and lots more. Some highlights for me: 🌟 What Dylan learned about business from playing college football 🌟 Why startups should think about accounting and bookkeeping now 🌟 How he structures his weekly meetings with his co-founder More insights in the full episode: https://lnkd.in/enzSE3QF

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Today is a great day for the future of digital marketing in the world, as Ibotta, Inc. founded by Bryan Leach raised $577 million in IPO. Every founder has some inspirations. David Vélez had Capital One as one of his inspirations for Nubank. Being a much more mature market for entrepreneurship and innovation, the US has several benchmarks for Brazilian startups. As someone encounters a problem worth solving in our country, it is natural and wise to think someone else might be actively tackling the same problem elsewhere, as the timing of our market is different. Ibotta, Inc.'s IPO represents a bright moment for everyone who believes and foresees that first-party data players are the next generation of digital marketing, consumer insights and loyalty. By the end of 2024, Google is shutting down third-party cookies on Google Chrome to adapt its policies to GDPR. Chrome has 75% of market share and this completely changes the dynamics of the market. Brands have no option: in order to create better audiences for their marketing campaigns, they must partner with players which can access behavioral data in different ways. I have been lucky enough to have had some 1:1 lunches with David Vélez in the early days of Nubank and I never forget some of his words: "when it comes to disruption opportunities, if you ever find a market that could not have access to data at scale because simply there was no technology to make it happen, by the time the technology is ready, you have your window of opportunity". In other words, he was explaining to me the concept of "why now" for a startup thesis. In Brazil, there are QR codes on purchase receipts that made the tech side of our thesis possible, allowing us to extract the data. The cookieless era is the cultural shift in the market we needed in order for brands to push the demand for a product like ours forward. Well done, Ibotta, Inc.! Your resilience and journey inspires us all. Let's get back to work. Link to the news: https://lnkd.in/dnfaMR9b #startups #digitalmarketing #ipo #exits

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Forerunner Ventures' $500M Fund and the Growing Opportunity in Consumer Tech Kirsten Green’s Forerunner Ventures, known for its early investments in Warby Parker, Away, and Glossier, has closed its latest $500 million fund, signaling strong confidence in the consumer tech sector despite the challenges of the past two years. With a focus on seed to Series A investments, the firm will write checks between $1 million and $20 million, raising its total assets under management to nearly $3 billion. Despite a tough market, Green remains bullish, stating that AI’s rise is driving consumer expectations for more personalized, high-quality products and services. Recent investments include AI-driven startups like Daydream and MindTrip, indicating Forerunner’s commitment to evolving with emerging tech trends. Implications for Hiring: As consumer tech heats back up, law firms need to start strategically hiring emerging companies associates and partners. With the return of investor confidence in this sector, especially in AI-enabled startups, firms need talent that can navigate early-stage investments, growth, and complex IP issues. Being ahead of the curve in these areas can position your firm as a key player in the evolving landscape. The Implication of Doing Nothing: Failing to act now means missing out on the next wave of high-growth consumer tech companies. As the market warms up, firms that aren't proactive in securing top talent could fall behind, missing valuable opportunities to work with the startups and investors leading the charge in this space. https://lnkd.in/ejDJuhUY

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Copy culture is so real and prevalent. Article that I clicked into on Business Insider was blocked by a paywall, so what did I do? I googled the headline. While I was happy to read the article about my favorite airline (sorry Biz Insider), I was dismayed at the blatant headline copying (down to the word?!) of mainstream news sites within hours of publication. It's not just news sites; this is super common is SaaS companies too. Adam Robinson noted in a recent post how his competitor (Opensend) copied Retention.com's website (go check sites both out). I know Chili Piper has had to deal with foreign companies like RevenueHero copying much of their product (and nabbing a top spot when googling Chili Piper). Not saying this practice is new, but the prevalence and shamelessness is striking. The more digital we become, the more relationships matter IMO #differentiation #relationships #copyculture

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Waymo and Uber a Fusion into a Symbiotic Relationship. #Convenience #Time #Comfort Starting in early 2025, Waymo and Uber will introduce autonomous ride-hailing services exclusively on the Uber app. Uber will operate a fleet of Waymo's fully autonomous Jaguar I-PACE vehicles, which will gradually expand to hundreds. Riders can enjoy this experience by requesting UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort, or Uber Comfort Electric services. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's CEO, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, "Soon, riders in Austin and Atlanta will be able to experience that same mobility magic." Co-CEO of Waymo, Tekedra Mawakana, also shared her excitement, mentioning, "We can't wait to bring the comfort, convenience, and safety of the Waymo Driver to these cities in partnership with Uber." This collaboration builds on the success of their existing partnership in Phoenix, where tens of thousands have already experienced fully autonomous trips. Waymo's mission to become the most trusted driver aligns with Uber's commitment to innovation and safety. Stay tuned for a new era of autonomous transportation in Austin and Atlanta! #AutonomousVehicles #Uber #Waymo #Innovation #Time #Safety #FutureofTransportation #Austin #Atlanta #SymbioticSynergy #ecosystem #SystemsThinking #Mutualism #Collaboration

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We just wrapped our annual company all-hands retreat at the stunning Chateau Elan outside Atlanta! These events take a ton of time and effort, but they’re a powerhouse of alignment and energy. Here’s why it’s all worth it for a fully remote company like Launch Potato: 1. Face-to-Face Collaboration There's something irreplaceable about gathering our incredible talent in one spot. Discussing our biggest challenges and brainstorming face-to-face beats any Zoom call. It’s where strategic magic happens. 2. Breakout Activities We mix serious business with serious fun. From pickleball and wine tasting to mindfulness workshops, we ensure there’s something for everyone. It’s not just a meeting. It’s a team-building experience. 3. Fireside Chats & Strategy Sessions Conversations with leadership and tactical meetings across different business areas allow us to dive deep into our future as a company in real time. 4. The Energy Boost Every all-hands fuels our team for the year ahead. We leave connected, energized, and ready to tackle our next challenges at full speed. The outcome? A team that’s aligned and excited about our future. The change of scenery doesn’t hurt either. For more on building remote companies, follow me Greg Van Horn.

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This could be a big year for M&A. As a consumer health investor, I had a lot to say about the Walmart news last week. Thanks to Modern Retail and Modern Healthcare for featuring my perspective. The bottom line is that I expect to see more retailers learning their lesson and doing more “buy” than build. This could be a boon for the digital health sector, as I expect we’ll see a lot more buy-ups of high-quality clinic businesses with a loyal patient population already onboarded. This is not the end of retail health care, it’s just the end of a specific strategy that was never setup for success. https://lnkd.in/gbCQqYHi https://lnkd.in/guKNHUkE

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Shake one hand and your life can change forever. Let me explain. One year ago, William King and I went to Venture Atlanta Conference, and it had more of an impact than we ever thought it could! (Crazy that it's already back again!) First off, who would have thought we would even be in the same room as Robert Herjavec?! His stories were profound and furthermore deeply empathetic as well. But it's also just so cool and inspiring to see fellow friends and colleagues pitching and presenting in front of some of the biggest VC's in the world. For all my fellow aspiring entrepreneurs venturing out to conferences like these, remember that it's not just about finding potential investors. (BUT IS INSANELY AWESOME IF YOU DO!) It’s also about building out your network, discovering mentors, and connecting with like-minded individuals who truly emphasize with the highs and lows of startup life. You really meet so many great people doing some amazing work! Who knows where that one conversation will take you? 🤝

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🪔 A Diwali Reflection: What Does the Shopping Cart Theory Reveal? As we celebrate Diwali, bringing light and meaning to our surroundings, here’s a question worth considering: Would you return a shopping cart when no one’s looking? This little test—the Shopping Cart Theory—is oddly revealing, hinting at how even small actions reflect the values we bring to our communities ✨ https://lnkd.in/gNCiN73J

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Hey Nashville Founder and Funder friends: StartupNash is hosting events! We are having a happy hour during the week of #3686, and I want you to come. This event is for high-growth founders in Nashville launching something new (or an interest in newly launched startups)! Founders should expect to meet peer connections. Let me share a bit more. - Startup founders have a lonely road. It's important to make/invest in professional friendships. - 3686 is a great time to share new things you're working on/launching. - We practice peer mentorship (founder knowledge sharing) every day in StartupNash. - We are bringing our community experience to life with this ongoing event. There is a mix of founders and funders already signed up. Those attending 3686 can attend the conference happy hour, then StartupNash in East Nashville, then LaunchTN's after-party. It'll be a busy day but we can do it! I'll be attending every event. How you can help: - Share this event with a founder new to town - Be open to knowledge-sharing with founders - StartupNash is seeking sponsorships for our founder events in the future Details here: https://lu.ma/03h7wpei

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Our Runway Podcast by Black Unicorn PR is in full bloom with Season 1 🎙️🎧 If you haven't tuned in yet, now's the perfect time (everyone has time for a good pod!) ⏰ We're sitting down with industry leaders to share insider tips, tricks and untold stories from the world of startups and business: whether it's sales, journalism, marketing or anything else you can think of 👀💡 Expect plenty of insights, a few surprises and inspiration to take your career (or your business!) to the next level 👾🚀

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Gracias Sonia Thompson! I truly appreciate how you are shedding light on these increasingly important topics of diversity and inclusion. It was fantastic diving deeper into effective strategies for engaging the Hispanic community the latest podcast session. For everyone looking to enrich their marketing approaches, I highly recommend the Inclusion and Marketing podcast. #Marketing #MulticulturalMarketing #Inclusion #EngageAndServe #hispanicMarketing

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