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Stockyards Atlanta
stage founders and “communicating to our entrepreneurs about the potential of an upcoming POSSIBLE recession and talking about getting additional capital now, valuation changes, and working to close sales now.”
Joey Womack, founder/CEO of the nonprofit Goodie Nation, is also spending his time preparing founders to ride out the potentially bumpy ride ahead.
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As overall funding slows down, Womack said he is telling founders in the Goodie Nation network to contact their investors and mentors now to better understand their roadmap for the months ahead. For those founders without institutional investors, he suggests focusing on conserving cash, driving revenue, and “doubling down on what’s working, with perhaps a little less experimentation.”
Lessons learned from the pandemic, mainly how to conserve cash and operate without cross-country business trips, could come back into play as startups hunker down, Womack added.
Gooden also gave some tangible advice based on what she is seeing in the ecosystem. “I think [founders] should be prioritizing customer acquisition because being able to generate revenue and driving your company’s growth in that way in the early stage is honestly the best path,” she added. “And be open to capital outside venture capital.”
For A.T. Gimbel, Partner at Atlanta Ventures, this is a time for founders to return to the basics.
“We always go back to those core principles around why someone starts a business. And that’s because they’re solving a must-have, mission-critical problem for customers. And if you’re serving that niche for your customers, you’ll be fine. Things may take longer to grow. The valuations may not be exactly what you want at this point. But you’ll be able to weather the storm,” he told Hypepotamus.
He added that the “fundamentals of the business” will do more to attract investors now than most other metrics right now.
The startup and investing ecosystem is forged in up and down cycles. There will certainly be moments of stress, rebuilding, and uncertainty to come. But downturns have historically given way to industry-changing ventures and new household tech names.
And that creates an opportunity for local early-stage companies that are ready to dive in and tackle a new problem for customers or explore an emerging technology space. And that is something local ecosystem leaders are ready to see.
“We’re at an inflection moment,” Womack added. “Over the last year and a half, we’ve seen the start of the next era of the web…and that opens up opportunities for new technologies and new ways of solving problems.”
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Final phase of Stockyards project underway in West Midtown
A rendering of the 926 Brady building.
By Collin Kelley
Clarion Partners, LLC, and Westbridge have started 926 Brady, the adaptive reuse of a 1930s-era warehouse that was once part of the Miller Union Stockyards and meatpacking plant in what is now called West Midtown.
The warehouse is the final undeveloped building in the Stockyards Atlanta project, which was redeveloped by Westbridge in 2017 and has since become a popular dining and entertainment destination.
926 Brady will have more than 36,000 square feet of large-format creative office space with a second-floor addition featuring an outdoor rooftop terrace with skyline views. Construction is currently underway, with estimated delivery in the second quarter of 2023.
“We are thrilled to start work on the final piece of this three-acre campus steeped in 120 years of Atlanta history,” said Joshua Mandelberger, Vice President, Asset Management Clarion Partners. “926 Brady will complete the original vision of Stockyards Atlanta and tie into West Midtown’s rapidly evolving urban core with something truly unique in the market as the area transitions to mid-rise and high-rise new construction projects.”
Stockyards Atlanta is now home to the regional headquarters of energy drink giant Red Bull, global manufacturer Mannington Commercial, and advertising and marketing firm Fitzco. Painted Duck bowling alley, Italian restaurant Baffi, and neighborhood gathering spot Nick’s Westside are also part of the development.
