Groundbreakers

Before selling his company, marketing automation platform Pardot, for roughly $95 million in 2012, David Cummings says he used to play a game he called Real Estate Roulette. Cummings’s experience, coupled with his desire to kickstart a tech community, led him to found Atlanta Tech Village.

Founded in 2009 by Rob Frohwein, Marc Gorlin, and Kathryn Petralia, Kabbage provides small businesses with a convenient funding source. Once approved, small businesses can draw on their credit lines, immediately accessing a six- or 12-month installment loan issued by Celtic Bank.

Jeff Arnold founded WebMD because he thought health should have a homepage. Early on, he met Dawn Whaley, who was a pioneer in dotcom-era public relations. The two have worked together ever since, collaborating on the Convex Group, a media and internet investment organization that ultimately acquired HowStuffWorks in 2002.

The annual Venture Atlanta conference is basically our city’s version of ABC’s Shark Tank, where fledgling entrepreneurs pitch their concepts to investors from across the nation. In fact, “Shark” Mark Cuban delivered last year’s closing keynote address.

Paul Judge has spent nearly 20 years developing, leading, and launching new tech companies in Atlanta. A graduate of Morehouse College and Georgia Tech, Judge holds a doctorate in network security, helping found and cofound companies like Luma, TechSquare Labs, and Pindrop Security.

A marketing automation and email marketing cornerstone for small businesses, Mailchimp might be the most familiar name in Atlanta tech. The 17-year-old brand is instantly recognizable thanks to its colorful billboards, murals, and hyperlocal involvement in events.

This year's Atlanta Magazine Groundbreaker Awards will recognize “Environmental Leadership.” We will be focusing on imaginative and effective approaches to preserving Georgia’s environment. If you have a nominee, submit them here!

Jeff Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has been at the apex of fintech, where technology and finance intersect, for nearly 20 years. Time after time, his company has consolidated, organized, and demystified the trading of financial assets.

John Yates, who had moved to Atlanta to practice law, realized that elements of the Silicon Valley ecosystem would benefit Atlanta’s nascent tech community and the Southeast as a whole. Yates has blazed a trail for Atlanta’s tech ecosystem for more than 30 years.

You could argue that no leaders are as critical as the ones working to save our planet. For this year's Groundbreakers, celebrate a few of these innovators who have found novel ways to champion our environment.