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Ask HN: Any desperate things you did just to keep your startup alive?

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Re: Ask HN: Any desperate things you did just to keep your startup alive?

#11

Post by old-gregg »

Ha, we didn't consider selling cereal since we're not good at it. :-) So, when we needed money we decided to stick to what we knew best and started another service-oriented, and therefore instantly profitable, startup: http://buildasandcastle.com

Re: Ask HN: Any desperate things you did just to keep your startup alive?

#12

Post by jasonkester »

edanm wrote: post #2

Haven't done it myself, but I'm guessing most startups can and do take on consulting/outsourcing gigs for side money.

That's not particularly desperate though. Often the startup ends up boosting the consulting side of a business to the point that it's making you more money in business development than in actual on-site revenue.

Re: Ask HN: Any desperate things you did just to keep your startup alive?

#13

Post by volare »

benologist wrote: post #10
volare wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the details. This is getting a bit off-topic, but can you describe how a foreigner should go about finding a place to live in Central America? Did you just fly there and look for "For Rent" signs or did you line something up beforehand?

They really aren't into things like Craigslist or real estate listing sites. Houses/apartments for rent is literally done by a sign on the place combined with word of mouth, and often purely word of mouth. Probably your best bet would be going to a backpackers hostel and finding one while you stay there - they'll set you back as little as $10ish a night, have internet and interesting people to talk to, and the people…

Excellent. Are short-term (1-3 month) leases available? What precautions do you take to stay safe?

Re: Ask HN: Any desperate things you did just to keep your startup alive?

#14

Post by benologist »

volare wrote: post #13
benologist wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They really aren't into things like Craigslist or real estate listing sites. Houses/apartments for rent is literally done by a sign on the place combined with word of mouth, and often purely word of mouth. Probably your best bet would be going to a backpackers hostel and finding one while you stay there - they'll set you back as little as $10ish a night, have internet and interesting people to talk to, and the people…

Excellent. Are short-term (1-3 month) leases available? What precautions do you take to stay safe?

You'll probably forfeit your one month bond (aka $200 - $400) if you leave that soon.

Staying safe is pretty simple - be smart. An iPhone is a month's salary down here so don't wander around talking into it or wearing those pretty white earphones. Don't carry a satchel around that says Dell, and generally don't take more than you need when you hit the street ... if you're getting a carton of milk you don't need your wallet or the credit cards and $500 in it.

Re: Ask HN: Any desperate things you did just to keep your startup alive?

#16

Post by andreshb »

volare wrote: post #8
benologist wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nicaragua, but all of Central America's a great place to live ridiculously cheap and hack away. Plus they're beautiful countries and latinas are so hot. The internet's not fantastic (a crappy 1 megabit, and outages happen at least once a week), half of the TV is in Spanish, and you have to be careful sometimes since white guys are usually cashed up tourists and ripe for a mugging. But when push comes to shove it beat…

Thanks for the details. This is getting a bit off-topic, but can you describe how a foreigner should go about finding a place to live in Central America? Did you just fly there and look for "For Rent" signs or did you line something up beforehand?

I constantly travel to Latin America, speaking at conferences and recruiting talent. I've lived/worked in Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Peru Colombia and traveled to Honduras and Guatemala.

If you want to go to central america let me know. I can introduce you to the tech/startup community there. They can hook you up with the best/safest placest to live, work areas, and the whole thing.

My personal experience is with Guatemala and Honduras, though I know top notch developers and entrepreneurs (all bilingual) throughout the whole region.

If I were you, I'd pick costa rica to live in if you want to live in Central America. Bigger expat community, great nearshoring tech talent. Though Chile will give you $40k to startup in Chile.

When I go live/work at a LATAM country my process is usually:

1. Stay in a hostal for two days, those two days I check out places to rent 2. In south america, you can find great stuff on craigslist, furnished rooms or studios from $200-$500/mo 3. Meet local entrepreneurs, and find coworking spaces/become an office guest.

If you need more tips/intros for living in LATAM, my email is in my profile, or @andresbarreto

Re: Ask HN: Any desperate things you did just to keep your startup alive?

#18

Post by joshstrike »

benologist wrote: post #5

I live in a little house in one of the poorest countries in the Americas, making Flash games every now and then to fund me and my startup. If I was back home (AU) then I couldn't have come anywhere near as far as I have - my cost of living here is like $500/month. I'm able to devote a tremendous amount of time to my startup.

Been doing the same thing - Argentina, then later Thailand and Vietnam - while working on my startup and turning flash projects to pay the bills. Telecommuting from the third world is where it's at.

Made the arguable mistake of spending 9 months in Australia on my way to S.E. Asia and it ripped my pocketbook to shreds. That was when the AUD was almost 1:1 with the USD.

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