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David Payne

David Payne

Atlanta startup Awards winner

ATL's Finest Crowned As Inaugural Atlanta Startup Awards Winners

Over 150 of Atlanta’s startup ecosystem members gathered last Friday night for the inaugural Atlanta Startup Awards to find out who would take home the trophy in each of five company and three individual categories. Organized by Startup Atlanta, the Awards aim to celebrate the city’s most successful

Switchyards Studios to Transform Concepts into Companies in 90 Days

Switchyards Studios to Transform Concepts into Companies in 90 Days

Switchyards has emerged as the hub for design and consumer startups in Atlanta. Its visionaries, David Payne and Michael Tavani, serial entrepreneurs, most noted for co-founding Scoutmob, launched the renovated downtown club as a place for 100-plus resident startups to work, gain mentorship, and learn through events like

Real Founder Lesson: Be Skeptical of Customer Feedback in the Idea Stage

Real Founder Lesson: Be Skeptical of Customer Feedback in the Idea Stage

Lately, I’ve been been working closely with a group of startup founders in the idea stage. In other words, they know the space they want to focus on, but don’t have the complete business model ready to validate. During this stage, customer feedback is always tricky. I’ll

Growing Companies & Children | Fathers Share Work-Life Advice

Growing Companies & Children | Fathers Share Work-Life Advice

Four Atlanta dads share how they balance burgeoning empires and budding households. Here’s the fatherpreneurship advice of Rob Forman, co-founder and COO of Salesloft, David Payne, co-founder of Scoutmob and Switchyards, Rodney Sampson, founder of Kingonomics and partner at TechSquare Labs, and Christopher Turner, co-founder and

Founders Flashback with Picture Perfect Moments

Founders Flashback with Picture Perfect Moments

The road to startup success doesn’t necessarily smell like roses. It holds a signature scent of sweat, musty cement, and coffee — lots of coffee. The sounds resonate roaring cheers, wall-punching thuds of frustration, and rapid keyboard strokes rhythmically typing ideas into action. While we can’t fully relive

David Payne Founder Lessons

Real Founder Lessons: Three Pieces of Advice for Early-Stage Founders

My name is David Payne and I’ve been working on startups for the better part of twenty years in NYC, SF, London and (now) Atlanta. My best-known startup in Atlanta is Scoutmob, but my most recent project is Switchyards, a consumer-focused startup hub in downtown Atlanta. Both