Welcome to Pursue ATL
Atlanta has a startup scene. It's got accelerators and coworking spaces and a ridiculous number of coffee shops where two people are clearly in the middle of a co-founder date. What it doesn't have — at least not in one place — is a room where all of those people are talking to each other.
Pursue ATL is that room. It's a Discord community for people building things in Atlanta and the people building alongside them.
It's free. It requires a small form and a brief manual review, which sounds annoying but is the entire point.
What this is
A Discord. Not a Slack, not a Circle, not a forum that requires you to check a seventh inbox. Just Discord, because everyone already has it open.
The rooms are organized around what you'd actually use them for — the basics, what you're building, and where you study.
Channel map
- start-hererules, guidelines, how to use the server
- introductionspost before anything else unlocks
- generalcatch-all
- randomnot-work-stuff
- eventsevery recurring ATL founder event
- asks"I need X" — intros, advice, feedback
- ai-ml
- fintech
- healthtech
- saas-b2b
- consumer-b2c
- creator-economy
- hardware-physical
- studentscross-campus student founder chat
Not sure where something goes? Post in #general, we'll redirect.
Every so often we'll go live — drop-in sessions on vibe coding, GTM, AI, or just talking through how to navigate the startup world. Nothing scheduled on rails, nothing you have to show up to. It's there if it's useful.
The events calendar alone is probably worth the form.
Who this is for
- Founders. Any stage. Pre-idea, pre-revenue, post-Series A, post-exit, it's all the same room.
- Aspiring founders. If you're currently employed but sketching something in the margins, you belong here. Most founders started as aspiring founders.
- Student founders. Georgia Tech, Emory, GSU, Spelman, Morehouse, Clark Atlanta, KSU, SCAD, UGA — if you're building something on a campus in or near Atlanta, come in.
- Operators at ATL startups. You're not the founder, but you were employee #4 and you basically run the place. You know who you are.
- Ecosystem builders. Program directors, community organizers, the people who actually make the networking events happen. You deserve a table.
Who this isn't for
- Recruiters trying to source candidates. There are better places for that. Several of them, actually.
- Agencies, consultants, and service providers looking to pitch founders. If your goal is to sell something to the community, this is not the community. If your goal is to be part of the community while also running a services business, that's different — introduce yourself as a human first.
- Investors and VCs. This one will surprise some of you, and it's deliberate. The dynamic changes when investors enter a founder room. People stop being candid and start pitching. Atlanta has excellent investor-founder events — Venture Atlanta, Startup Showdown, Atlanta Startup Battle — and you should go to those. This isn't one of them.
- People who don't actually live in or work in Atlanta. We're not going to card you at the door, but this community works because it maps to a real city where you can actually meet the people you're talking to.
How to join
Fill out the form below. It takes about two minutes. I read every submission personally, usually within 48 hours. If you're a fit, you'll get a personal email from me with a single-use Discord invite link.
If you're not a fit, you'll still get an email — just a different one. I'm not going to ghost you.
Apply
Send an application
Takes about two minutes. Reviewed by hand, usually within 48 hours.
Pursue ATL is organized by Kolin at Pursue Networking. It's free to join and free to leave. There's no premium tier, no paid newsletter, no upsell. If that changes, you'll know before it changes.
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