My two favorite cards in my wallet #atlantatechvillage #switchyards

  
These are my two favorite cards in my wallet. One is my access pass to the Atlanta Tech Village, and the other is my access pass to Switchyards Downtown Club.

I’m so excited about these two buildings co-working spaces beacons of entrepreneurship. Ok, maybe that’s too much, but there’s definitely something more to these two buildings than mere labels can properly capture.

I’ve seen first-hand what the Village has done for Atlanta. Incredible businesses have been created there, major corporations have relocated to Atlanta after taking a tour, dignitaries and elected officials have made sure to visit while in town, CEOs of Atlanta’s biggest companies have made a point to bring their leadership teams to spend time with startups, and people have relocated to our city because of it.

You might doubt that last point, but the head of our game studio at Dragon Army moved back to Atlanta (after moving to Silicon Valley for six years) after reading about the Village and thinking, “Wow, there’s a much bigger startup community in Atlanta than when I left!”

Even though Switchyards has been open only a few months, I’m starting to see the same kind of momentum happening there. Some of my favorite entrepreneurs and startups have moved in (including FanBeat, my pick for startup of the year in 2016), and fantastic people are finding their way into the building to visit. While the vision behind the space is in some ways very different than the vision for the Village, they’re also incredibly similar in the impact they will make on Atlanta.

We’re all blessed to have these two places incubators lightening bolts of opportunity (ok, I’ll keep working on it) in Atlanta, and if you haven’t visited yet, what are you waiting for?!

  
My interview with Charles Brewer at Switchyards.

  
Kate Atwood (ChooseATL), Michael Tavani (founder of Switchards), and me hanging out on the bleachers at Switchyards.

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