Best countries for startups • Hacker News Board

Re: Best countries for startups

#11

Post by run4yourlives » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 4:27 PM UTC

erictobia wrote: post #7

Any (non U.S.) folks with startups in the countries on this list? Is the article consistent with your experience?

Canada here and yes.

I'm not sure what their definition of "Starting a business" is though, since technically in Canada all you need for that is a GST number, which you can apply for online for free and comes in the mail as soon as they can get it to you. You get a temporary number that you can use prior to that.

Trade is about right though, especially from the US. Where this free trade that we're supposed to have is I have no idea.

Re: Best countries for startups

#12

Post by run4yourlives » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 4:28 PM UTC

mojuba wrote: post #5

A curious fact: all English-speaking countries are in top 10. It would be interesting to speculate why.

Because modern capitalism was an export of the British empire. Simple as that.

Re: Best countries for startups

#13

Post by furiouslol » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 4:48 PM UTC

You should base your startup where your market is.

If your business is tech related, it would be best to do it in the US since they have the largest spending power for tech-related services.

If you are a mining contractor, you should do it in Australia as they are rich in resources.

Follow the market.

Re: Best countries for startups

#14

Post by JoelSutherland » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 5:04 PM UTC

axod wrote: post #9

"It only takes 24 hours to set up a business in New Zealand, the speediest start-up time in the world." How many companies do you need to setup???

When talking with a friend who wanted to start an on-the-side business I was surprised by how concerned he was with the legalities (and how little with marketing).

The value of speed is simplicity. Outside the hacker world, I think there are a lot of people that are simply too scared by even minor legal paperwork to see past it.

Re: Best countries for startups

#15

Post by tom_rath » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 5:06 PM UTC

axod wrote: post #9

"It only takes 24 hours to set up a business in New Zealand, the speediest start-up time in the world." How many companies do you need to setup???

Only one, but if it takes a filing cabinet of paperwork, three bribes, a $20k processing fee and a four-month wait after personally visiting the application centre 200 miles away, you'll be unlikely to start that business.

The time and resources required for incorporation are a good metric, but since the difference in the top-ten is only a matter of hours it looks trivial. In far too many nations, it's not.

Re: Best countries for startups

#16

Post by pchristensen » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 5:07 PM UTC

Also 10 worst: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/smallbusiness/0809/galle...

Congrats to Venezuela for being the only non-African country to make the list!

Re: Best countries for startups

#17

Post by fp » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 5:12 PM UTC

rglovejoy wrote: post #8

mojuba wrote: post #5

A curious fact: all English-speaking countries are in top 10. It would be interesting to speculate why.

Denmark is an English-speaking country? A lot of Danes speak English, to be sure, but their first language is still Danish.

He said "All English-speaking countries are in top 10", not "All countries in the top 10 are english-speaking".

Re: Best countries for startups

#18

Post by vaksel » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 5:20 PM UTC

JoelSutherland wrote: post #14

axod wrote: post #9

"It only takes 24 hours to set up a business in New Zealand, the speediest start-up time in the world." How many companies do you need to setup???

When talking with a friend who wanted to start an on-the-side business I was surprised by how concerned he was with the legalities (and how little with marketing). The value of speed is simplicity. Outside the hacker world, I think there are a lot of people that are simply too scared by even minor legal paperwork to see past it.

yeah I think thats one of the biggest obstacles people need to overcome when deciding on it

Re: Best countries for startups

#19

Post by davidw » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 6:05 PM UTC

run4yourlives wrote: post #11

erictobia wrote: post #7

Any (non U.S.) folks with startups in the countries on this list? Is the article consistent with your experience?

Canada here and yes. I'm not sure what their definition of "Starting a business" is though, since technically in Canada all you need for that is a GST number, which you can apply for online for free and comes in the mail as soon as they can get it to you. You get a temporary number that you can use prior to that. Trade is about right though, especially from the US. Where this free trade that we're supposed to have is…

> I'm not sure what their definition of "Starting a business"

Starting some sort of limited liability company that is its own legal entity, is my guess.

Re: Best countries for startups

#20

Post by tom_rath » Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 6:43 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #19

run4yourlives wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada here and yes. I'm not sure what their definition of "Starting a business" is though, since technically in Canada all you need for that is a GST number, which you can apply for online for free and comes in the mail as soon as they can get it to you. You get a temporary number that you can use prior to that. Trade is about right though, especially from the US. Where this free trade that we're supposed to have is…

> I'm not sure what their definition of "Starting a business" Starting some sort of limited liability company that is its own legal entity, is my guess.

And that's a breeze in Canada. Starting from a position of complete ignorance, I had everything finalized in a day and only had to leave my home to get a document notarized by a lawyer around the corner. Total out-of-pocket was around $200.

If you are Canadian and want to start a business, you can find everything you need on starting (and running) a corporation here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/cgi-bin/sc_mrksv/corpdir/corpFiling/regi...