David Cummings is an Atlanta entrepreneur and the founder of Atlanta Ventures and Atlanta Tech Village, which has grown into the fourth-largest tech hub in the country. Over the years, he has launched and invested in some of Atlanta’s most successful tech companies, including Pardot, SalesLoft, Terminus, and Calendly, helping create thousands of jobs and further cementing the city’s reputation as a growing tech powerhouse.
In this edition, David Cummings shares how he stays focused on just a few high-impact priorities as a leader and delegates the rest with intention, and the importance of building a lifelong learning system that keeps curiosity and growth at the center of his work.
How do you decide when to delegate?
My favorite approach is to focus on three projects as a leader. I identify the three most important things I can do for the organization, and do my best to delegate everything else. Sometimes that means getting into the weeds, but most of the time it’s about focusing on the three most forward-looking priorities: Where are we going? What’s around the corner? Where do we need to be 1–3 years from now?
What advice would you give to a new leader?
One of my favorite pieces of advice is that there’s a difference between a manager and an executive. A manager focuses on the details and the day-to-day—what’s happening in the business right now and within the team. An executive, on the other hand, is responsible for looking around the corner: What’s going to happen next? What dominoes are about to fall? What pieces might the management team miss because they’re focused on the near term, while I need to look further ahead?
What accomplishment are you particularly proud of?
One accomplishment that means a lot to me is the Atlanta Tech Village. In 2012, after selling the company I had started, I set out to create a place where entrepreneurs could increase their chances of success. I bought a building in Buckhead near GA-400, originally imagining it as a small, intimate community for founders. Instead, it quickly became the center of gravity for startup activity in Atlanta. Watching a simple idea grow into something far bigger and more impactful than I ever expected has been incredibly rewarding.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
A piece of advice I often share is to become a learning machine—figure out a combination of how you like to learn and what you like to learn, and then build a system around it so it’s continually reinforced. It could be reading blog posts, listening to podcasts, reading books or magazines, or talking to people.
Personally, I like the combination of following entrepreneur and startup bloggers and listening to podcasts. I intentionally spend about an hour a day continually learning. So, figure out how to set up that system yourself and keep it going for the rest of your life.
What are some of your favorite books that you’ve read recently?
One of my favorite books I’ve read recently is Six Types of Working Genius. The author, Patrick Lencioni, has written some of my other favorites – in this, he talks about different working styles. We often think about personality frameworks like Myers-Briggs or DISC profiles, but this gives another lens for understanding what you enjoy doing in a team and work environment.
