How the American Underground Serves a Growing Community of Tech Startups

In this installment of our small business series, Tim Scales, Executive Director at the American Underground in Durham, North Carolina, shares how the organization is meeting the growing needs of their clients through cutting-edge technology and a whole lot of coffee.

It’s really hard to grasp the sheer depth of who we are and what we do until you’re within the walls of the American Underground. Sure, we can tell you we’re a Google for Startups Tech Hub, but it’s only really once you step inside our building that things become clear.

When you visit our space, you’ll begin to understand the palpably energetic community within our walls. Most of our members consider themselves high growth technology startups, over half of which are POC and women-led.

Our clients also represent 39 different industries. Healthtech and medical device companies, B2B SaaS companies, nonprofits, VC firms, marketing agencies — there’s no lack of entrepreneurial spirit at the American Underground. And it’s our job to make sure that we’re providing these incredible businesses with the most effective services possible.

Especially because we’re a tech hub, it’s critical that we have best in class technology in order to attract and retain tech companies that work from American Underground. That’s why we have Google Fiber.

Even when we’re first touring with prospective clients and showing them our space, the fact that we have high-speed, fiber optic internet is one of the first things we bring up — and it’s of mass appeal. I can assure you that before we had Google Fiber, we were not mentioning our internet speeds as a selling point for being a part of our community. Now, it’s a bolstering talking point.

In order for our members to effectively run their businesses and work seamlessly with their teams to showcase the best of what they have to offer to customers and investors, they need high-quality, reliable internet running 24/7. 

We often say that the American Underground is powered by strong coffee and stronger internet. It’s no understatement. The strength, availability and uptime of our internet is possibly the highest priority to our members. (And on our side, we’ve actually saved 90% on internet costs for faster internet by making the switch to Google Fiber. Yes, 90%. I couldn’t believe it either.)

Without reliable internet, the American Underground isn’t a functioning business — and our clients’ wouldn’t be either. We’re happy that our internet connection is now one of our strengths.

Posted by Tim Scales, Executive Director, American Underground.