A Northeastern entrepreneur is prepared to grow a new blockchain startup, and he’s relying on Atlanta’s tech ecosystem to do it.
Jeff Siegel, founder and CEO of digital currency company BitRail Inc., is growing an eight-person team out of the Spaces office building at The Battery Atlanta in Cobb County. But Siegel isn't moving South. He's staying in Connecticut.
Siegel has found Atlanta talent to be better for his startup BitRail, which allows companies to create their own branded digital currencies to offer customers at online checkouts. Meanwhile, he's staying remote, a trend among both employees and employers. Less than half of U.S. mid-market CEOs have returned to the office full-time, according to a survey by accounting firm Marcum LLP and Hofstra University’s school of business. About 10% work entirely remote.
Atlanta's tech talent
Atlanta has strong talent in financial technology because of its reputation as a payments hub, and people seem to show more enthusiasm toward his product, Siegel said. Georgia Tech also makes Atlanta a top city for tech talent.
“The ability to create digital currency is a new phenomenon, it's hard to find talent that can build a platform from scratch that scales and works repeatedly,” Siegel said. “We found when we post a position, we get interesting resumes from people who are eager to work in Atlanta.”
Plus, office space and salaries are considerably less expensive in Atlanta than traditionally major business hubs.
Cheaper to do business
Salaries for startup workers in Atlanta is 84% that of New York and San Francisco, according to management platform Carta. Average rent cost for office space in Atlanta is $33 per square foot compared to $81 in New York and $78 in San Francisco, according to commercial real estate services firm Jones Lange LaSalle.
“I don’t see us moving to midtown Manhattan as a financial technology company, it doesn’t make sense to spend our money there,” Siegel said. “I’d rather spend money on the people, save money on the office, invest in the product and scale the company out of Atlanta.”
Siegel is set to grow his startup following a $300,000 investment. Most of those funds will go towards hiring engineer roles to scale the platform and onboard new customers, along with marketing and legal roles, Siegel said. Most, if not all, hires will be Atlanta-based.
BitRail's growth plans
BitRail has 13 enterprise customers and aims to onboard an additional eight following the recent investment. Siegel declined to identify the businesses. Staff will increase depending on growth of demand.
Prior to BitRail, Siegel had spent decades in marketing roles. He spent 13 years at ESPN working up from a manager of affiliate ad sales to the senior vice president of media sales and marketing, according to his LinkedIn.
Siegel became an entrepreneur in 2014. He launched the media company Media Lodge that focuses on extreme sports, motorsports, hunting and shooting activities. In 2018, he launched its sister business, outdoor lifestyle media company Avid Outdoorsman Media Group.
The conception of BitRail came to Siegel when he wanted to create his own digital token to avoid fees with credit card companies, offer incentives to attract customers and receive data analytics from consumers. Once the platform was created, he began to sell the software to other businesses.
