If you have been following along you probably understand that it has been my intent for some time to leave ATDC and get back into a startup. That time has come. After four plus years of a totally awesome time I have decided to step away from my role as a startup catalyst and resign from ATDC. I’ve had the privilege of being involved with some amazing things during my time at ATDC, working with great startup teams, being on a few teams myself, and playing a small part in making Atlanta a better place for technology startups.

I have had the chance to be a part of a number of companies that have graduated from ATDC. They are BLiNQ Media, Clearleap, Endgame Systems, Izenda, Neurotic Media, PlayOn Sports, Purewire, and WorthPoint. Most of what these companies have already achieved is due to the passion of the founding entrepreneurs and the teams they built. Regardless, one of most rewarding aspects of my time at ATDC is working with these folks to help them build their companies. And there are more on the way.

BrightWhistle, LiquidText, Preparis, Regator, RentWiki, and ScoutMob all show great promise. And these are just a few of the thousands of startups that I have interacted with over the years. Hopefully those interactions created some small gems that helped an entrepreneur in some fashion.

During the past four years I have also been a co-founder of three startups. Skribit, Twitpay, and Socialytics. One of them is in the process of being shut down and the other two are struggling with traction. I have learned that going from zero to something is really hard. And once you have something getting to six figures in revenue is equally challenging.

Skribit and Twitpay came out of Atlanta Startup Weekend, something that I brought to life because I felt the strong need to get a bunch of aspring entrepreneurs together and try to do great things. While we may not have created any lasting companies of value just yet, Startup Weekend played a important role in invigorating the Internet startup sector. Atlanta Startup Weekend lives on as Start Atlanta and continues to build momentum. I dare say it will be around for some time.

I have been involved in more entrepreneurial programs than I can count but BarCamp, CapVenture, Entrepreneurs’ Night, GRA/TAG Business Launch Competition, Junior Achievement Fellows Shark Tank, Tech Marketing Awards, Social Media Atlanta, Startup Council, and Venture Atlanta come to mind pretty quick. I created @secretsig. And SeedSpace.

In my first two years at ATDC I gave them a clue and got on the train of inclusion which resulted in us going from about 30 member companies to 50. Over the past two years Stephen Fleming double downed on that inclusiveness and we are now helping over 440 startups.

And we could not have done any of this without the amazing talent of of MBA graduate assistants. Smart driven people that love startups. They really do make the place go.

And there are some amazing things that are about to happen at Georiga Tech that make it hard to walk away. I love Flashpoint and have been working to get it off the ground. If the timing were different I would do that full-time. But it has been too long. I am confident that under Nina Sawczuk’s leadership ATDC will continue to increase its impact on technology entrepreneurship in Georgia. My face will be seen in Tech Square supporting what ATDC is doing from time to time.

But at my core I love to grow Internet companies. To be in one. I found one that needs growing. That is what I am going to do.