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Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

startupworkaway.com

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Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#11

Post by itmag »

webwright wrote: post #2

I did the first StartupWorkaway in Costa Rica. The other 15 founders were awesome (handpicked from 200ish applicants if memory serves). The venue was epic (12,000 square foot villa with 2 pools on a cliff). And it was cheaper than any vacation that I've ever taken (the economies of scale when 15 founders rent a big villa and a chef are pretty amazing). In fact, it was probably cheaper than staying home. I'd recommend…

Very cool. Let's say I wanted to create something like this with 10 of my friends. What would it cost, ballpark-wise?

Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#12

Post by npt4279 »

mahyarm wrote: post #10

Why is it only 10 days? Is it to fit with most people's 2 week vacation slots? I would think a month would be more productive, or even better a 3 month y-combinator style intense MVP rush. Also isn't the internet on Ko Samui kind of shitty? Wouldn't a mainland location by a nice beach be better internet wise?

I think someone else does a 3 month program overseas. That's cool too.

We just like the shorter format - it's just enough time to feel mentally refreshed and more creative. Without leaving behind all commitments in the "real world" like talking to customers and stuff.

We made the resort upgrade to 12mps Internet, and upgrade all their equipment to handle more than 100 simultaneous devices. I warned them that we're likely all going to have 3 devices on average (Mac Pro, iPad, Kindle, iPhone/Android) that that we get VERY grumpy if the Internet goes down.

Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#13

Post by npt4279 »

itmag wrote: post #11
webwright wrote: post #2

I did the first StartupWorkaway in Costa Rica. The other 15 founders were awesome (handpicked from 200ish applicants if memory serves). The venue was epic (12,000 square foot villa with 2 pools on a cliff). And it was cheaper than any vacation that I've ever taken (the economies of scale when 15 founders rent a big villa and a chef are pretty amazing). In fact, it was probably cheaper than staying home. I'd recommend…

Very cool. Let's say I wanted to create something like this with 10 of my friends. What would it cost, ballpark-wise?

It depends on how fancy of a place you want to get, and if food is included. Last time, in Costa Rica, we had 16 people in a $4 million dollar mansion with a private chef preparing all our meals. It cost about $10,000.

Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#14

Post by jasonkester »

Worth noting: You don't need to join somebody else's program to take advantage of this. Big cool rental properties in exotic locations become really cheap when you split them among an entire product team, especially if you consider the alternative to be a month's lease at a cube farm.

My personal experience doing this:

http://expatsoftware.com/articles/2006/12/chamonix-branch-of...

Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#16

Post by npt4279 »

codenerdz wrote: post #8

So what did come out of original StartupWorkaway? Anything other than beach lounging with 20 geeks?

We were surprisingly productive - I create most of escapist.me there. I'd usually wake up at 7am sharp (to the smell of bacon), do something active like waterfall rappelling until around noon, then work until 8pm.

But no amazing companies launched out of the first Startup Workaway. Maybe in Thailand. :)

Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#17

Post by rvenugopal1 »

npt4279 wrote: post #13
itmag wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very cool. Let's say I wanted to create something like this with 10 of my friends. What would it cost, ballpark-wise?

It depends on how fancy of a place you want to get, and if food is included. Last time, in Costa Rica, we had 16 people in a $4 million dollar mansion with a private chef preparing all our meals. It cost about $10,000.

Do you mind sharing a) How long was your stay? b) Was that $10,000 per person or for 16 people c) Any information about amenities included

Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#18

Post by itmag »

npt4279 wrote: post #13
itmag wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very cool. Let's say I wanted to create something like this with 10 of my friends. What would it cost, ballpark-wise?

It depends on how fancy of a place you want to get, and if food is included. Last time, in Costa Rica, we had 16 people in a $4 million dollar mansion with a private chef preparing all our meals. It cost about $10,000.

Tell me more!

Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#19

Post by npt4279 »

rvenugopal1 wrote: post #17
npt4279 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on how fancy of a place you want to get, and if food is included. Last time, in Costa Rica, we had 16 people in a $4 million dollar mansion with a private chef preparing all our meals. It cost about $10,000.

Do you mind sharing a) How long was your stay? b) Was that $10,000 per person or for 16 people c) Any information about amenities included

It was $10,000 for 16 people. 10 days. Food and private chef included. That's about it for amenities.

You can find great places on http://homeaway.com/

Re: Startup Workaway II: Thailand. 25 founders. 10 days. 1 kick-ass resort.

#20

Post by kyebosh »

This looks great, I hope it goes well!

If I may make a suggestion for next time though: please consider finding a place with better wheelchair access. It's very disheartening to see the de facto bias towards able-bods reenforced. Of course, I'm certain this wasn't by intent, but it's something I'd love to see improved.

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