David Cummings: The Visionary Shaping the Future of Downtown Atlanta

I just read David Cummings David Cummings’ latest blog post and stand amazed. The best way I can summarize what he is about to undertake is this: He is starting a new company called Downtown Atlanta.?

I met David when he came to Atlanta from Durham, NC, in 2002. I was introduced to him by his fellow Duke alum, John Yates, our most famous tech attorney, connector, and community developer. At that time, I was in the center of Atlanta's startup universe and wondered, “Who is this young man that John is so impressed with?”

David was in his early twenties at the time. His company was Hannon Hill, a web content management company he started as a student at Duke under the guidance of a professor and which still exists today. He established himself in Atlanta by renting an office on Lenox Road, down the street from Lenox Mall and across the street from Imlay Investments and Sig Mosley.

I still remember Meeting David for the first time. He was all about startups. His identity was clearly "entrepreneur." But what made him different from the other young entrepreneurs I met back then was that he wanted to start lots of companies. He wasn't sure how, but his first step was to start a startup incubator in his space.

With Hannon Hill throwing off cash, he opened his incubator, but his focus quickly turned to starting another company under his leadership called Pardot. The only thing I knew about the company was it was all owned by him. It was named Pardot. It was in the digital marketing automation space.

Seven years later, he sold the company for $95.5mm.

Most entrepreneurs hang it up and coast on their laurels…and money. My friend, Ben Dyer, a famous entrepreneur from the eighties and nineties, called this post-exit goal, “A boat and two Cadillacs.” In other words, take the money and enjoy life, but check out.

Not David.

He bought an oddly shaped, oddly situated, seemingly hard to get to the building in Buckhead. He moved out all the tenants, including the high-profile publisher of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Ed Baker. David renamed the building Atlanta Tech Village. He redesigned the entire building's exterior and interior to be the Atlanta hub for tech entrepreneurs and their startups. The word on the street from the commercial real estate people in the know was, “He will never get his money out of that building.”

They didn't know his real reason for a $15mm real estate investment. He wanted instant exposure, instant credibility, instant community impact, and instant access to the very best startups as investments. All this happened in, well, an instant.

David surrounded himself with excellent leaders in Johnson Cook, David Lightburn, and Karen Houghton. With David's vision, money, and now city-wide credibility, they established ATV as the place to be for startups and entrepreneurs. It was amazing how quickly this happened.

In short order, David was approached by talented entrepreneurs with some great ideas pointed at potential growth markets in and around the digital marketing space, his space. A few years later these early-stage investments began "graduating" from ATV as they grew and attracted institutional funding.

The first high-visibility investment hit was SalesLoft, founded by Kyle Porter, who was quickly joined by Rob Forman. Then came Calendly and Terminus—all winners.

And two of these weren't just winners; they were unicorns and billion-dollar valuation companies.

The first billionaire angel investor

SalesLoft raised money at ever-increasing valuations, with the ultimate purchase price north of $2B. The first and last round for Calendly from a VC was at a valuation of $3.3B. David owned a very healthy share of these two companies. the simple math establishes David as a billionaire.

You would think, "Now he'll adopt the “boat and two Cadillacs” lifestyle.

Not David Cummings.

He started Atlanta Ventures, his own early-stage VC firm. One of the higher profile companies started by him and his team is InTown Golf Club. A successful private club startup now in multiple cities. This “club” positions David, once again, in the middle of the tech world movers and shakers and the high-quality deal flow that they bring along with them.

His new startup is “Downtown Atlanta.”?

I was sitting with Blake Patton, the managing partner of Tech Square Ventures, over lunch a few months ago he told me David bought something like 11% of downtown Atlanta. Now, I thought, he is moving on to become a bigger landlord and collect rents. Like a few ultra-successful entrepreneurs, he has moved to real estate. I heard nothing for a while, and then yesterday, David published a blog on davidcummings.org that outlined his vision for his new startup...Downtown Atlanta.

I am writing this article as a direct result of reading his blog . When I read it, I sat back in my desk chair and said, "Go, David. God speed. You are amazing."

When I came to Atlanta in January 1977 with my co-founder Richard Brock, I heard stories about the business leaders who built this city. In the 1960s, the men who had the vision for Atlanta included Robert W. Woodruff, Ivan Allen Jr., and Charlie Laudermilk. These men built the airport and the stadium, got the funding for the interstates, and even pulled in the Falcons and Braves. These men put Atlanta on the map and made it a business-friendly city.?

With this foundation in place by the mid-seventies, many great leaders followed and built on the foundation these men laid. It was the vision of these early leaders and their tireless investment in our city that attracted me and many of you, my readers, to this city and the opportunities it offered.

Our next Atlanta business leader - David Cummings.

David is almost in his mid-forties. He has a vision for Atlanta. A vision that is different from many of the current leaders. A vision of early-stage companies and business vitality. A vision to attract young, ambitious, and fearless young leaders. The men and women who will help him build out his vision, add to it, and then build upon this new foundation.

Yes. I get where he is going. He continues to put his reputation and fortune on the line. One might think it is all for even more money and more power. But what little I know about David, I never saw these two values drive him. He sees, and he does. Why? Maybe because that is how God made him.

I am a fan of greatness.

Books are written about their boldness, their vision, and their leadership. I believe David is that for our city in this new generation. He will build upon what other greats like Andrew Young and Arthur Blank contributed to our city.

Jesus said, “To those who use what they are given well, even more will be given.” This quote has always inspired me and served as a warning. But the visionary leaders in our city embrace this. They were all of means, yes, but they were built by God for such a time as this—designed to build our community.?

From the day David came to Atlanta his vision was all about building community. He began by focusing on what he loved, starting companies. And now his vision is far beyond what was possible when he arrived here in his early twenties.?

Startup: Downtown Atlanta

David, I admire you. I am grateful you chose Atlanta to be your home in 2002.

God speed!