Venturing Out: Chattanooga

Few things can top setting out on the road from Nashville to visit Chattanooga. Two hours away from my home, Chattanooga is on the other side of lush mountainsides, the Lodge Factory Store (for you cast iron fans), and a brief, two-minute venture through the state of Georgia on the I-24 before returning to Tennessee. My first visit was in November of 2017, less than a month after relocating to Nashville from Los Angeles.

What I knew about Chattanooga going into my trip:

· Chattanooga is located at the halfway point between Nashville and Atlanta, just 2 hours away

· Chattanooga is on EST and Nashville is on CST, which is a totally disorienting factoid when planning meetings for the very first time (and never having driven across time zones for meetings)

· The song “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” ringing in my ears at various points during childhood

I hit the road one morning and settled into a relaxing two hours in the car listening to Spotify on my way to Chattanooga. A few things delighted me right away, namely the greenery and lack of traffic. I pulled into town and went straight to The Company Lab (CO.LAB), where I was greeted with fresh cinnamon rolls gifted by another company in the building.

CO.LAB’s CEO Marcus Shaw and his team run excellent programs for startups, capitalizing on Chattanooga’s natural resource (or so we call it lovingly) — city-wide and highly affordable internet up to 10 gigabits. It’s only fitting in Gig City for CO.LAB to offer the GigTank accelerator, paired with a sister program for Consumer Goods. One of my favorite quotes since moving to Tennessee came from Marcus, who said:

“The American Dream is alive and well in the suburbs of Chattanooga.”

— Marcus Shaw, CEO of CO.LAB

This tumbled out casually in conversation during our first meeting, when Marcus referred to the city’s growing economy. Factories regularly employ workers just outside of town where affordable housing, public education, and other such cornerstones of a quality life for families are attainable.

I returned to Chattanooga for the Rise of the Rest tour in May 2018, where local companies including CPR Wrap and FreightWaves pitched for a chance at $100k in startup funding, joining the Rise of the Rest’s portfolio and extensive network.

FreightWaves took home the $100k prize, in line with the city’s leading role in the trucking and logistics industries. Chattanooga offers advantaged geography for trucking connecting major cities including Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham, and Huntsville. Add to this the fastest internet in the United States and you have a strong foundation for private companies to not only emerge but thrive.

In addition to CO.LAB, Chattanooga benefits from a close-knit and supportive venture capital community including Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, Dynamo, and The JumpFund, to name a few. Most recently, Chattanooga-based Bellhops closed on their $31.4M Series C, capturing the attention of restless venture capitalists from coast to coast.

I ran into Bellhops and Weebly on the street in Chattanooga walking back from a fun lunch this past October at Public House with the CO.LAB team. This restaurant has sentimental value, as it was the first place they took me to on my very first visit to Chattanooga a year before. Other than having the most delicious pot roast and mashed potatoes, it is also worth mentioning that Marcus and his team can barely walk through the restaurant without encountering friends, both from the entrepreneurial community and city leadership.

I’ve talked about the importance of what I call the “heartbeat” of a growing startup ecosystem, and Chattanooga has a strong one.

Travel Tips

For anyone visiting Chattanooga in the near future, here are a few highlights to keep in mind:

• Best outdoorsy activity? Lookout Mountain — You can see 7 states at the same time from the top (Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia)
• Best coffee shop to sneak in a few hours on your laptop? Frothy Monkey at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo
• Best coffee shop for meetings? Goodman Coffee — Super central, delicious coffee, and plenty of table options
• Best local lunch spot? 2 Sons Kitchen (you’ll thank me later)

P.S. Want to receive a random postcard from me on my next visit? Say hello and include your best mailing address. You might just receive something in your mailbox.