Home | First Avenue Ventures

A Private Business Incubator in Birmingham, Alabama

First Avenue Ventures is passionate about Birmingham’s entrepreneurs. We are building a private business incubator dedicated to serving entrepreneurial companies. We help with strategy, accountability, marketing, and financing and we can leverage our network and expertise to accelerate your company.

We work to become your trusted partner towards meeting and exceeding your organization’s expectations and accelerating your growth.

The principal of First Avenue Ventures is T Michael Goodrich, II.

Embracing Paradox in 2021

by Mike Goodrich | January 7, 2021 | 2021, Business Lessons, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Start-Ups | 0 Comments

No paradox in my life has been more stark than the current COVID-19 paradox: with the great relief of vaccines on the horizon, we’re seeing massive increases in the amount of casualties. The former inspires hope and a quick end; the latter, destruction and...

The Unregulated Entrepreneurial Advising Industry

by Mike Goodrich | December 11, 2020 | 2020, Advising, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Financing, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups | 0 Comments

I came across an article recently that described the “entrepreneurial advisor complex.” While I unfortunately cannot find the article, it rightly bemoaned advisors who promise the moon but cannot deliver. Particularly egregious, according to the article, are...

Social Capital Resources

by Mike Goodrich | November 27, 2020 | 2020, Books and Resources, Entrepreneurialism, Financing, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Social Capital and Social Entrepreneurialism, Social Capital Series, Start-Ups | 0 Comments

For some of you close to me, SOCAP is a way-too-familiar refrain. SOCAP Global is an annual conference devoted to social capital or impact investing held in San Francisco. I love it and I talk about it often. When I first attended SOCAP in 2018, it was an eye-opening...

Unity and Grace in the Post-Election World

by Mike Goodrich | November 13, 2020 | 2020, Birmingham, COVID-19 | 0 Comments

I wrote this before the election; Emma can testify to that fact. So I do not know who won, which is purposeful. While I am for Biden, and while Biden is ahead in the polls, if 2016 taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain. So, really the only thing I...

What Calendly Is Teaching Me About AI, Or Why I Still Believe in Free Will

by Mike Goodrich | October 23, 2020 | 2020, Business Lessons, Technology | 0 Comments

Years, maybe decades, ago, I had a discussion with an executive about whether or not you should have an assistant manage your calendar. The argument in favor went something like this: scheduling meetings takes time and your time is precious; delegate it down to save...

Bears

by Mike Goodrich | September 9, 2020 | 2020, Business Lessons, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism | 0 Comments

This essay has one symbolic animal, two analogies, and a couple of disparate themes. That’s allowable in essays in 2020. While my fear of bears came into focus with Night of the Grizzlies by Jack Olsen, I can actually trace its origin to an earlier time. When I was...

Venture Capital and the Destruction of America: Why Marc Andreessen Is Wrong.

by Mike Goodrich | August 27, 2020 | 2020, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Financing, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Social Capital and Social Entrepreneurialism, Start-Ups | 0 Comments

In his essay released on April 18, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 Crisis, Marc Andreessen -- famed venture capitalist and founder of Netscape -- implored businesses, business people, and society to build great new things – in healthcare, in education, in...

Two Bills to Root for in the Next Stimulus

by Mike Goodrich | August 4, 2020 | 2020, COVID-19, Financing, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups | 0 Comments

Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has devastated the American economy. On July 29th, the Federal Reserve decided to hold interest rates steady in response to a lack of economic growth. While there has been some recent improvement, the Federal Reserve stated that current economic...

Current Perspective on the Birmingham Entrepreneurial Scene: Mid-2020

by Mike Goodrich | July 22, 2020 | 2020, Birmingham, Birmingham Funded Start-Ups List, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Start-Ups | 0 Comments

We provide this update every six months, and we've enjoyed doing so because it gives us a chance to reflect on the market that we love so dearly. However, this perspective is different, and for obvious reasons. In some ways, it’s the most difficult...

Blind Spots

by Mike Goodrich | June 12, 2020 | 2020 | 0 Comments

If you’ve ever taught a kid how to drive, you know it’s a harrowing experience. Unlike other teaching situations, the fact that the student can do both property damage and physical damage to both themself and their teacher introduces an additional element of terror....