There is no doubt that the business scene is thriving in and around metro Atlanta. With the number of small businesses growing rapidly among us, having organizations that support entrepreneurship is vital. One of those organizations, TiE Atlanta, provides resources to entrepreneurs through every stage with hope to invent, invest, and inspire. Joining us on the Atlanta Small Business Show today to talk about the organization and their upcoming event, TiECON Atlanta, is Dr. Paul Lopez, president of TIE Atlanta, and Amyn Sadruddin, executive director and TiECON Atlanta chair.
For more information on TiECON Atlanta 2018, please visit our coverage in the post “ASBN is Proud to Partner with TiECON 2018: An Event for Entrepreneurs Lead by Industry Leaders”
About TiE Atlanta
Founded in 1998, TiE Atlanta is one of the Top 5 TiE chapters in the world. TiE Atlanta fosters entrepreneurs in all industries, from ideation to exit, by providing access to funding, educational programming, and mentoring by local and global leaders.
TiE Atlanta sits on the foundation of TiE Global, the largest entrepreneurial organization in the world. There are currently 11,000 members, including more than 2,500 charter members in 60 chapters across 17 countries.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Jim Fitzpatrick:Â For those people that are watching today’s show and this broadcast, tell us about the TIE organization.
Amyn Sadruddin: First, thank you for having us to the entire network. So, TIE Atlanta, we are a non-profit organization with a focus being on entrepreneurship. So what our organization does is that we have key focuses, one of them being mentorship, that’s what the organization was founded on. It was founded by a bunch of successful entrepreneurs, West Coast, that wanted to build a group together so they could collaborate, grow, and again, not make the same mistakes as some of the other folks did prior to their generation.
Amyn Sadruddin: So with that being said, today, the organization has grown tremendously. We have 61 chapters all around the world. And again, the key focus hasn’t changed. It’s still mentorship. The mentorship from serial, successful entrepreneurs that want to help you grow.
Amyn Sadruddin: So, in terms of our audience, we have about 500 plus members, a lot of that consists of small business professionals, high school students, university students, mid-stage professionals, and anyone that wants to take advantage of the resources that Atlanta has for entrepreneurs.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s phenomenal.
Paul Lopez: Basically, our members start at 14 years old all the way to, I believe, 80 years old [crosstalk 00:01:50]. So it’s quite a range.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah, that’s pretty cool. Yeah. And the knowledge that you’ve got available for these folks seems endless.
Paul Lopez: It is. Especially, I think as we … To put it in really a nut shell, the whole intent of the mission of the organization is to foster entrepreneurship, primarily to build the next generation of entrepreneurs, so most of our programs are really trying to do that and hence, to your point, there’s a lot of content and networking.
Jim Fitzpatrick: For the parents or students that are watching this today, how is it that they get started, if it sounds like something that they’d be interested in. What’s the next step for them?
Paul Lopez: So, if you’ve got a high schooler in your household, whether you’re a parent or a grandparent, etc, just check on our website. That particular program is called The TIE Young Entrepreneurs, TYE is the acronym for it. And if you go to Atlanta.TIE.org, you’ll see front and center, and particular I’m very proud to say that a few weeks ago at our international conference in Prague, the Atlanta chapter won the world-wide award for all our youth education programs in entrepreneurship.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Wow, that’s phenomenal.
Paul Lopez: So, we’re doing a lot of the right things with them. If you’re a college student, I’d say, again, we can certainly reach out. We typically reach out through the Deans of the business school, the faculty, etc, but if you wanna know how to get in touch with us, you can certainly write to …
Jim Fitzpatrick: We’ll show right here on the screen that that address, so they can get ahold of you. And I would imagine, with a global organization like that, with 61 chapters, the support that’s available to these young entrepreneurs is just abundant, right?
Amyn Sadruddin: By coming to these events, not only do you build your network, not only can you get the education about the given topic that you’re coming to hear about, but it’s also that you’re building a community around that say that, hey, we’re all here in one place and we wanna help you succeed. Right?
Amyn Sadruddin: And because of our organization, we have methods set in place because again, we’re a mentorship organization so that will not change. So our goal and our service to the community is that we help provide mentorship from successful serial entrepreneurs. That doesn’t change. And Paul always says this really well, it’s for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s phenomenal. Well, here at ASPN, we’re excited to be your exclusive media partner for the upcoming annual conference TIE Con that takes place September 28th at the Avalon Hotel in Alpheretta, which is an amazing venue.
Jim Fitzpatrick: What can attendees expect to take away?
Amyn Sadruddin: So, TIE Con is our annual conference that we do every year. And what this is, again, with Paul Mitchel, we appeal to just about any industry in any stage. We’re bringing this all together in one day. So, the objective of this conference is, again, in a given day, so this day it’s gonna be on September 28th, Friday…
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sounds like it could be a month-long program with all that you’ve got to offer.
Amyn Sadruddin: It can be, yeah. And again, our goal, we do have a lot to offer that day. So, if we haven’t mentioned this, it is our 20th anniversary so we are celebrating.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah, congratulations on that.
Amyn Sadruddin: Thank you. And our theme for this year is invent, invest, and inspire.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Amyn Sadruddin: So with those key words, that’s kinda how we put together this entire conference. We want it to be inspirational, so you hear from entrepreneurs through their success journeys, figure out what they did, how they incorporated family life balance. So almost like a TedTalk, but you’re hearing from someone that has a success story to articulate.
Paul Lopez: We also end the day with awarding the top entrepreneurial companies in the state of Georgia. We hope that people will come and hear a story or get to network with people like that, and say, “How can I be up there next year or the year after? Or five years from now?”
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah, for sure. I’m sure it’s very inspiring for everyone that attends.
Amyn Sadruddin: Right.
Paul Lopez: Absolutely.
Amyn Sadruddin: So, in addition to that, we also have … The day, in terms of a [ROY 00:05:28], if you’re coming, obviously you’ll get fed. There’s a reception afterwards. All those aesthetic pieces will definitely be there for you to enjoy the conference. But as a business professional, small business professional, large business professional, the opportunity that you’ll get to meet with the ecosystem in Atlanta that is pride on entrepreneurship, that want to help support the ecosystem, and again, we have tracks as well in the middle of the day which are gonna be talking about, how do you plan for your exit? How to raise money first go around? And we have some …
Amyn Sadruddin: The two other topics are gonna be [FinTec 00:06:01] and block-chain because they’re hot. So we listen to their audience and they wanna learn more about it. So, again, the speakers that we’ve plugged in, I would say the majority of them are our TIE Atlanta mentors as well. And again, through their connections and through their industries, they’re able to bring in industry leaders to help talk about that particular subject matter as well.
Jim Fitzpatrick: And this is not just for entrepreneurs and business owners, but it’s also for the person that’s thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
Paul Lopez: Well, we think of that person as being the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s right.
Paul Lopez: So, absolutely. We say it’s anybody … because, by the way, you’re getting to talk to people who are running businesses, have grown successful businesses, people who have exited businesses, some of us who are in the capital-investing kind of business. So you just get networking opportunities that help you out.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah, for sure. So, for the people that are watching right now, how do they go about getting tickets to the event?
Amyn Sadruddin: So it’s again, everything has been nice enough to be on our website. So if you just go to the URL, Atlanta.TIE.org, that’s where you’ll find pretty much everything. And actually, the first banner image is for TIE Con. So if you click on that, you’ll get all the information in terms of pricing, agenda, speakers, that kinda thing.
Jim Fitzpatrick: I would imagine that this could be something that’s gonna be sold out, right? So, for the people who are watching right now, jump in and get your ticket, right?
Paul Lopez: We’re a month away and we’re well on our way from what we’ve seen in past years, given that we’ve been doing this for a long time. So, absolutely. This is a good time to sign up immediately and I think it’ll be worth your while.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure. And we at ASBN will be there with our cameras rolling. So, if you come by, say hello to us, and who knows? We may be interviewing you, so that’s …
Amyn Sadruddin: Another ROY.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s exactly right. When does it stop?
Jim Fitzpatrick: Alright, well, gentleman, thank you so much for joining us on the Atlanta Small Business Show. This has been very enlightening for our viewers and I can’t wait for the event. See you out there.
Amyn Sadruddin: Thank you.
Paul Lopez: Yep, we’ll see you there.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Thank you so much.
