by First Avenue Ventures | Mar 10, 2023 | 2023, Alabama, Birmingham, Books and Resources, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Up News Round-Up, Start-Ups
Here at First Avenue Ventures, we’re passionate about our mission: supporting the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. As part of that mission, we’re devoted to providing resources to help Birmingham entrepreneurs and their businesses succeed. In that spirit,...
by Mike Goodrich | Feb 17, 2023 | 2023, Books and Resources, Business Lessons, COVID-19, Economic Development, Entrepreneurialism, Founders
I read for a lot of reasons, but I read business books primarily to help me shape my thinking. They provide new perspectives and help me to articulate thoughts not yet fully formed. Reading business books also allows me to hear stories that provide insight and...
by First Avenue Ventures | Feb 3, 2023 | 2023, Alabama, Birmingham, Books and Resources, Economic Development, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Start-Up News Round-Up, Start-Ups
The mission of First Avenue Ventures is to grow Birmingham organizations. We’re particularly passionate about Birmingham entrepreneurs and start-up businesses. As part of our mission, we’re dedicated to provided entrepreneurs with useful information and...
by Mike Goodrich | Jan 12, 2023 | 2022, 2023, Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham Funded Start-Ups List, Economic Development, Entrepreneurial Assessment, Entrepreneurialism, Financing, Founders, Start-Ups
I have said this before, and I will probably say this again, but to grow our entrepreneurial economy, we need to directly invest in companies. We do not need to blindly invest in them, but we do not need to commission another study on the ecosystem. We need to be...
by First Avenue Ventures | Oct 27, 2022 | 2022, Advising, Alabama, Birmingham, Economic Development, Entrepreneurialism, Life Science Fund, Start-Ups, Technology
First Avenue Ventures proudly received the 2022 Innovation Award for Community Partnership of the Year. The Innovation Awards, given by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HIIE), recognize UAB...
by Mike Goodrich | Sep 29, 2022 | 2022, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Mission-Driven Businesses, Social Capital and Social Entrepreneurialism, Social Capital Series
Social capital is a topic I have spent a lot of time with, both in my writing on this blog and website and in my own thinking. One pivotal moment for me was the SOCAP Conference in San Francisco, which is coming back in person this year (though I unfortunately will...
by First Avenue Ventures | Aug 3, 2022 | 2022, Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham Funded Start-Ups List, Economic Development, Entrepreneurial Assessment, Entrepreneurialism, Start-Ups, World Games
The best analogy that I have for start-ups and early stage companies in this time of tumultuous public markets is one of a submarine. A start-up shares the key benefit of being able to float beneath the surface — unaware and, to an extent, untroubled by the...
by First Avenue Ventures | Jul 19, 2022 | 2022, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Competition, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Marketing, Podcast, Sales, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, The Structured Start-Up Podcast
The fifth and final episode of The Structured Start-Up Podcast is all about the competitive landscape. For this episode, we turned to Lee Ross, the CEO of SlateXP, a Birmingham-based student safety software company. Ross has successfully launched two companies in...
by First Avenue Ventures | Jun 28, 2022 | 2022, Birmingham, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Football, Founders, Marketing, Podcast, Sales, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, The Structured Start-Up Podcast
The fourth episode of The Structured Start-Up podcast focuses on the importance of finding your entrepreneurial story. As Mike Goodrich, the principal of First Avenue Ventures, says, “If you don’t have a compelling narrative that people will buy into, your...
by First Avenue Ventures | Jun 23, 2022 | 2022, Alabama, Birmingham, Business Lessons, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, World Games
“And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?'”– The Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime” As Randall Woodfin and Protective Stadium get ready to welcome the world to Birmingham, we need to to remember that the journey towards...
