I bet you can get a cheaper ticket to Puerto Rico and take advantage of all the tax exceptions for startups. No passport needed if you are a US citizen.
How To Build A Startup From A Beach
31–40 of 79 posts
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#32As a YC founder of a venture backed company that lives in Hawaii now... Like everything in life, it's all a balance. My quality of life in Hawaii is hard to beat. My tech scene is hard to find. Which is why I come back to SF & NYC almost monthly. The travel is a bit of a pain, but I feel like I'm living a close to perfect balance.
It helps that I'm from Hawaii, so I'm not in "vacation" mode... I'm in "home" mode. Where I feel relaxed, comfortable, inspired & supported. From that place is where I run the chaos of a startup.
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#33I spent a lot of time this winter up in Tahoe. My days consisted of hitting the mountain for first lift, snowboarding for a few hours, back at the condo by noon and spend the rest of the day working. My productivity during these days was absolutely insane. Not being able to meet anyone for drinks, dinner, etc. just means you end up with an awesome 8-12 hour block of completely uninterrupted time to just crank through…
Didn't you find that socially isolating although?
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#34All of this advice is great except "Hawaii" which is merely good advice. There are much cheaper beach towns with unbelievable weather that aren't so isolated. Hawaii is particularly nice for US residents without a Passport, but you should get a passport! I recently did something very similar, though I was at several beaches and in a couple mountain ranges. There is a sort of inverse relationship between adventure and…
On the flip side, Hawaii is basically wired for fiber and is the connection point for a large number of transpacific fiber runs.
That said, I've lived in Hawaii. Island time is real. When surrounded by a bunch of people who all stop working at 3 pm and constantly have parties, you stop getting stuff done.
Also, I missed people to talk to about books, politics or even culture.
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#35This was my favorite quote, "Being in paradise lets everyone open up and share their own dreams and ideals." I've never been to paradise, but the promise of that is worth a try on my next startup.
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#36Hey - if anyone is starting a startup and wants to go to hawaii for an early code phase AND I can get a solid 1 hr surf session morning and evening in around coding....sign me up.
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#37Well, it worked for Megadodo Publications.
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#38I was an intern in a startup that tried exactly this. It was a lot of fun. We got a ton of VC cash to burn and so why not do it in a nice environment? In the end, the company failed. We all got too much into a "holiday" mood. The webdesigner won a surf contest. The CEO started an affair with not one, but two of the female employes. We all got fat from eating delicious food from the 5-Star hotel and high class Restaur…
We didn't and still don't have "tons of VC cash" to burn - only our own savings accounts at that time, so no 5-star hotels or high class restaurants for us. Also, I would not say we had a holiday mood at all during our time there. We started working the same day we arrived, but being in Hawaii had so many unexpected positive effects on productivity and product vision, we really wanted to share. And, I could never win…
I'm guessing you're with Simplehoney, by that post -- can you confirm that the site is supposed to be up?
I'm eager to sign up, but it's not responding at all to me.
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#39Less time at beach, more time focusing on uptime.
Re: How To Build A Startup From A Beach
#40Please don't sell that startup from a beach dream on exoticism. I would like to cast a diverging opinion from my personal experience. For various work-related reasons I left Europe in early 2008 to live in Martinique, in the French West Indies. It is very close to what the article describes - tropical weather (you will never get cold - 25 C/ 77 F is what we call cold and take a jacket for - home weather station on ht…
I'm from New Brunswick, currently living in Moncton, and I'm really surprised you mentioned New Brunswick, and then called it exotic! But it is indeed all relative.