Call it my years of technical marketing in the 2D and 3D graphics world, but I’ve always been mesmerized by the invention and rise of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) within the walls of Nvidia. I remember carting  Windows NT towers around with dual Pentium processors at SIGGRAPH to demo the latest iteration of our illustration software. And it was an amazing demo when we could show a customer an unsharp mask being processed in under two minutes in our photo editing software (even if those...

When people think of affiliate marketing, it’s all about links that generate cash for the referrer and ideally save the end consumer money. Or, let’s be honest – many people have never even heard of affiliate marketing. The litmus test has always been around which brands are included, and the size of the discounts. Other than discounts, there hasn’t ever been a killer reason to go through the hassle of visiting a separate site to click through ­– until now. Endorse For A Cause (EFAC)...

I’ve spent virtually my entire career surrounded by startups – including helping huge brands like Rand McNally and The Discovery Channel figure out the Internet in the early 90s. I’ve also created tech startups from the ground up with Vulcan Ventures money and have bootstrapped 2-3 into decent little opportunities. I’ve seen them soar and I’ve seen them crash. I’ve landed strategic customers hands-on, and had my company vaporize while on a Florida fishing vacation. No matter what happens,...

Many folks around town wax poetic about the good old days when the security cluster was in full boom. It was led by the ISS crew, and spawned lots of companies that otherwise probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day – or had the attention of early stage investors. Among the most vocal proponents of the security cluster is our own Russell Jurney. He’s written on the cluster, and even diagrammed the cluster in his article. The number of people and companies included are a testament to...

Having spent years in loyalty marketing, I’ve been a Scoutmob fan since Day One. I love the idea of group buying power driving great deals at great merchants. I love the idea of being incented to try new local businesses – and yes, I’ve become a regular customer of some based on my trial experience. And I ultimately love it when a service like Scoutmob intersects with a local boutique where our family spends a decent chunk of money. This was exactly the case on Saturday when one little iPhone...

Since others have started the practice of giving out first names of active high-tech angels in Atlanta, I thought I’d name my five. These are "striving" angels you don’t see on the tech scene, but they can be relevant prospects to fund your deal: 1) Ferd – Has worked 30 years for a large corporation, no major domestic disturbances during his life to drain his wallet, more than adequate 401(k), stable finances, $500K in liquid investment capital that is earning little or nothing, stands to...