
Corporate innovation leaders spend the morning exploring the current innovation landscape and learning best practices through case studies, panels and workshops.
In the afternoon, they are joined by a group of heavily-vetted, B2B startups for curated introductions and brief meetings to explore potential POCs and pilots.
Participating startups supplied by -
BridgeCommunity
Techstars
The Farm
Invest Atlanta's International Startup Exchange Program
Advanced Technology Development Center
Atlanta Tech Village
Greenhouse Accelerator
Engage Venture
BIG Accelerator
Growing list of corporate participants includes -
Porsche
SunTrust
Delta
Capgemini
Coca-Cola
COX
MailChimp
Kellogg
Siemens
thyssenkrupp
Atlanta Beltline Inc.
Hearst Autos
Saia, Inc.
J. Walter Thompson
MagMutual
AGCO
Anthem
Mercedes
Stanley
Home Depot
ADP
Marc Gorlin has been a successful entrepreneur in Atlanta for almost 20 years. Marc founded Roadie in 2014 as the first on-the-way delivery service that puts unused capacity in passenger vehicles to work by connecting people with items to send with drivers heading in the right direction. Working with national brands like Delta, Home Depot and Tractor Supply, Roadie has delivered to more than 11,000 cities and towns across America -- a larger footprint than Amazon Prime.
Before starting Roadie, Marc co-founded and was Chairman of Kabbage Inc., which provides working capital to small and medium-sized businesses. To date, Kabbage has raised more than $500 million in funding and has provided over $5 billion in capital to small businesses.
Prior to Kabbage, Marc co-founded VerticalOne Corporation, a content personalization service that was sold to S1 Corporation (Nasdaq: ACIW) for $166 million.
In 1996, Marc was a co-founder and an original board member of Pretty Good Privacy (“PGP”), a company formed to commercialize one of the most prevalent security standards on the Internet, popularized in the book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Marc assisted with the initial formation of PGP and oversaw the financing, growth and eventual sale of the company to Network Associates in December of 1997.
Tracks
Effective Corporate + Startup Meetings
This action-oriented workshop focuses on best practices for kicking-off relationships with startups that lead to fruitful pilot opportunities. A panel of startups with a recent enterprise pilot will be on-hand so you can learn from both sides. Leave ready to develop deeper, faster connections with startups and make the most out of the 1:1 startup speed meetings immediately following lunch.
Exponential Innovation with Artificial Intelligence
In this (AI powered) interactive session, participants will have an opportunity to look at and discuss some of the toughest challenges facing enterprises navigating AI adoption.
Subjects will range across Cultural, Skill, and Organizational Challenges enterprises face on their journey to smart automation. This session will benefit anyone dealing with strategy and logistics of scaling their organizations AI capabilities.
Problem Statements: You’re thinking about them all wrong — and that’s a problem
A well-written problem statement is key to the success of any innovation initiative. If done right, it will focus your team, remove uncertainty and set the table for rapid progress. If not…let’s not even go there. In this 30 minute workshop, 352 Inc.’s VP of Innovation, Kevin Lewis, and Director of Innovation, Rich Goidel, will show you how to craft a great problem statement.
6 rounds at 30 minutes each
Facilitated using a double opt in method.
To participate in 1:1s you must register and opt-in to participate in this portion by October 8th (within this site's registration form). We'll follow up with corporations to learn about what type of discussions you're interested in. Startups also need to fill out a short application.
Experts on hand for questions -
Your Ideas Are Terrible
(strategy)
Tyrannosaurus Tech
(technical soundness)
352 Inc.
(web dev and growth marketing)
The Gathering Spot is a next-generation private membership club. The club serves as a hub of diverse collaboration, connections and experiences uniquely positioned to build the future of what community looks like. Founded in Atlanta in 2016, The Gathering Spot is expanding to additional cities beginning with the DC location coming soon.
+ CEO Fireside Chat - "Innovation as a Strategy" with Bill Connors, President of Comcast Cable’s Central Division
+ Panel on Innovation Big & Small with Kabbage, Cox Enterprises, IBM/The Weather Company & Coca-Cola Company.
+ Workshops
"Better Together - A Playbook for How Corporations and Startups can Work Together"
"How Design is the Key Enabler to Corporate Innovation"
"Evaluating a Startup: The VC Perspective"
+ Over 20 B2B & B2B2B, enterprise-ready startups showcasing their soultions in Startup Alley
+ Metrics from 1:1 corporation + startup meetings last year -
Corporations Represented: 12
Startups Attended: 46
Total meetings: 73