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Ask HN: Socialize to make software

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Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#11

Post by rnl »

While the US is likely the largest market, there are plenty of opportunities elsewhere. Ignoring those might be part of your strategy, however if you are willing to take look at what Europe or Asia have to offer you might be facing something quite unexpected as there are tech start-ups everywhere.

I live in Finland and there is an emerging start-up scene here already. Also there are plenty of older, steady-going companies, that have proven business models, who have start-up mindsets towards new things.

If your plan is to create a thriving project that aims to address a specific business problem, you are going to need a group (even small) of likely minded people. There should not be any "work for food"-ethics attached. No body will work for you for food, but many people are willing to work to create something they believe in.

Why exactly do you want to be in the US? I've lived in Moscow and St. Petersburg for quite some time. It is hard to imagine, that you won't find anyone in those cities with summed population of almost 20 million, who is willing to work with you on your or their ideas.

Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#12

Post by epicureanideal »

Do you have a degree related to software engineering / computer science? What's your email address? Put it in your profile and I'll contact you.

If I were you I would change location if possible. Generally it's harder to change your environment than to just move to a better one. I recommend the SF Bay Area because it's the most tech friendly, and can recommend some places nearby where you'll have access to the Bay Area but live cheaper if you're not moving here to work for a big company.

Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#14

Post by Nate75Sanders »

theprestig3 wrote: post #2

I'm kind of in a similiar boat. I'm currently based in a small town outside of Seattle called Olympia, where there is really know tech/start-up scene. But I see the potential in this town to harbor start-ups and innovation. Pretty much south of seattle, it's going to be hard for dev and entreprenuers alike to start-up. So I started a small business that I work in with my free time, to help build a foundation for peop…

I'm in Seattle and I'd like to know more about what you're doing.

Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#15

Post by Abundnce10 »

Nate75Sanders wrote: post #14
theprestig3 wrote: post #2

I'm kind of in a similiar boat. I'm currently based in a small town outside of Seattle called Olympia, where there is really know tech/start-up scene. But I see the potential in this town to harbor start-ups and innovation. Pretty much south of seattle, it's going to be hard for dev and entreprenuers alike to start-up. So I started a small business that I work in with my free time, to help build a foundation for peop…

I'm in Seattle and I'd like to know more about what you're doing.

Same here. Let's hear more!

Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#16

Post by olalonde »

I am in a similar boat (living in China) and HN is really my only way of keeping in touch with the startup/hacker community and "socialising". I really wish there was a IRC channel/website dedicated to people in our situation who are looking to socialise or collaborate together on projects/startups.

I was thinking about this problem recently and one idea that I came up with was to build a "MVP league" that would combine aspects of eSports leagues and online hackatons (e.g. Node Knockout). Participants could form teams and submit a new MVP every X weeks. Another option would be to have theme/technology based tournaments (e.g. "open source", "node.js", "education"). Winners could be selected after each cycle, new teams could be formed, there could be a leaderboard of teams/participants, etc. Sponsors could offer prizes to winners or investors could offer funding.

There are already a couple of websites that aggregate online hackatons (http://challengepost.com, http://www.wehack.it/) but I haven't seen one that operates as a league and most online hackatons are one off things or once a year things.

Curious to hear HN's thoughts...

PS: I added #lfl on Freenode to my auto-join if anyone wants to hang out :)

Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#17

Post by colinbartlett »

A lot of people here will recommend Silicon Valley, but I am not one of them.

I believe you will find New York more hospitable. Here we have investors, technologists, and an extremely diverse culture with accommodations and activities for a wide range of budgets and tastes. А тут у нас много русских. Foreigners and non-native English speakers here are just the norm, they are pervasive and not treated like second-class citizens. My experience in the rest of the country is not so welcoming, even in the SF Bay area.

Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#18

Post by v_ignatyev »

epicureanideal wrote: post #12

Do you have a degree related to software engineering / computer science? What's your email address? Put it in your profile and I'll contact you. If I were you I would change location if possible. Generally it's harder to change your environment than to just move to a better one. I recommend the SF Bay Area because it's the most tech friendly, and can recommend some places nearby where you'll have access to the Bay Ar…

No, I have degree in power supply systems engineering and power electronics. My e-mail is ya.na.pochte@gmail.com and skype is vladimir.ignatyev. Follow me on Twitter: @v_ignatyev I do a lot of retweets about tech and entrepreneurship, following up trending topics.

Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#19

Post by v_ignatyev »

rnl wrote: post #11

While the US is likely the largest market, there are plenty of opportunities elsewhere. Ignoring those might be part of your strategy, however if you are willing to take look at what Europe or Asia have to offer you might be facing something quite unexpected as there are tech start-ups everywhere. I live in Finland and there is an emerging start-up scene here already. Also there are plenty of older, steady-going comp…

Moving to Moscow is not an option if you are going to spend time writing code and talking to customers, not go for hours in a subway

Re: Ask HN: Socialize to make software

#20

Post by v_ignatyev »

olalonde wrote: post #16

I am in a similar boat (living in China) and HN is really my only way of keeping in touch with the startup/hacker community and "socialising". I really wish there was a IRC channel/website dedicated to people in our situation who are looking to socialise or collaborate together on projects/startups. I was thinking about this problem recently and one idea that I came up with was to build a "MVP league" that would comb…

Have you already took part in one of virtual/online hackathons?
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