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Moving to Ireland

hvasconcelos.github.io

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Re: Moving to Ireland

#41

Post by rusureabouthtat »

EamonLeonard wrote: post #40
rusureabouthtat wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Several high quality incubators. NDRC, Wayra I really wanted to believe this but after spending a good 15 minutes trawling through both of those incubator's portfolios, I'm left with the inescapable feeling that they're simply well polished investor fleecing vehicles with a specialization in putting lipstick on pigs... How are any of these "startups" remotely likely to make any kind of respectable return for an incu…

Throwaway comment from a throwaway account. Stay classy. Two obvious statements: The vast majority of startups (incubated or otherwise) either fail, or plateau without giving a "respectable return". Investment, regardless of the stage is risky.

Yes, those are very obvious statements.

I might add a third: if an "incubator" is peddling investment opportunities off the back of such an obviously sub prime portfolio, wise money should stay well away as should wise startups.

Re: Moving to Ireland

#42

Post by EamonLeonard »

rusureabouthtat wrote: post #41
EamonLeonard wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Throwaway comment from a throwaway account. Stay classy. Two obvious statements: The vast majority of startups (incubated or otherwise) either fail, or plateau without giving a "respectable return". Investment, regardless of the stage is risky.

Yes, those are very obvious statements. I might add a third: if an "incubator" is peddling investment opportunities off the back of such an obviously sub prime portfolio, wise money should stay well away as should wise startups.

Sounds like you have an axe to grind.

Re: Moving to Ireland

#43

Post by eshvk »

krapp wrote: post #38
eshvk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somalia might fit your bill. They have a non-functioning government. No working law enforcement. Not sure about the health infrastructure though.

But I'm sure it's a paradise compared to the cultural ignorance and savage tyranny of life in these United States...

Maybe it is because I have been living too long in this country, but I am not actually sure whether you are being serious or not. This country irrespective of whatever its faults is still light years ahead of many parts of the world; Ethiopia where I grew up used to have a policy where the family of people who used to get shot by the government had to pay for the cost of the spent bullets before the body would be released.

Re: Moving to Ireland

#44

Post by raverbashing »

Sorry for the rant, but as someone who has done the process I find this post cringeworth (and not only because of the lowercase 'I's or the huge image on the header)

1 - Daft.ie. Period.

2 - It's not a "Welfare office", and you should go there (or not) depending on your address

3 - Or you just slide it on their mailboxes (depending where you are, the mail option may be more convenient)

4 - NIB? Well, AIB is good (but expensive), Bank of Ireland is not good, Ulster bank can't get their cronjobs right, but these three (and not NIB) are everywhere

5 - "Buy a mobile phone" or you just, you know, buy a sim card for your phone. This can be had in 5 min. And don't worry, it's cheap

6 - No crap sherlock.

"and compare the cost of living and taxes with your city in order to properly negotiate your salary"

And here's some good advice. I learned this, let's say, not the hard way, but I was "surprised" nonetheless. Always ask how much your net salary would be (and how much rent costs). For Ireland, expect around 40% of your salary to be taken for taxes, and you can have a small single apartment in the city center for between 600€ to 900€ (of course it's always possible to go higher)

Re: Moving to Ireland

#45

Post by krapp »

eshvk wrote: post #43
krapp wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I'm sure it's a paradise compared to the cultural ignorance and savage tyranny of life in these United States...

Maybe it is because I have been living too long in this country, but I am not actually sure whether you are being serious or not. This country irrespective of whatever its faults is still light years ahead of many parts of the world; Ethiopia where I grew up used to have a policy where the family of people who used to get shot by the government had to pay for the cost of the spent bullets before the body would be rel…

I'm not being even remotely serious. I was mocking slashdotaccount's "wish list", which amounted to little more than a list of prejudices and grievances about the United States.

Re: Moving to Ireland

#46

Post by rusureabouthtat »

EamonLeonard wrote: post #42
rusureabouthtat wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, those are very obvious statements. I might add a third: if an "incubator" is peddling investment opportunities off the back of such an obviously sub prime portfolio, wise money should stay well away as should wise startups.

Sounds like you have an axe to grind.

Yes, it upsets me watching the startup scene slowly mutate in to a cheap, low budget facsimile of the financial crisis. Fast money from naive investors, cynical players and unlimited wet behind the ears 20 somethings used to be the sole preserve of the financial industry.

Sadly, the same rot seems to be spreading to the tech industry and, if left unchecked, I fear will one day soon result in our own subprime/CDO style watershed moment. If (when?) that happens, it will make it a lot harder for honest/sensbile startups to attract the investment they need.

Re: Moving to Ireland

#47

Post by EamonLeonard »

rusureabouthtat wrote: post #46
EamonLeonard wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you have an axe to grind.

Yes, it upsets me watching the startup scene slowly mutate in to a cheap, low budget facsimile of the financial crisis. Fast money from naive investors, cynical players and unlimited wet behind the ears 20 somethings used to be the sole preserve of the financial industry. Sadly, the same rot seems to be spreading to the tech industry and, if left unchecked, I fear will one day soon result in our own subprime/CDO styl…

"Honest startups"? Have you lost money yourself? You seem really bitter about this.

Sensible startups will never have a problem raising money, that's if they even need it. A lack of local funding does not mean that funding cannot be secured from sources outside Ireland -- plenty of Irish startups have done that btw.

I think your view of what's going on in Ireland is tainted, and it's not the same as the property boom or the financial crisis associated with it.

For one thing, there is no "startup boom" in Ireland. At least not in the same way as there was in property. The level of investment isn't even in the same ball park. Most startups can't even get a bank loan of a few grand, for starters. And banks are not cozying up to founders in the same way they did to property developers.

There are no dodgy dealings going on behind closed doors, and no one has the ear of a Minister.

You're not going to see your average taxi driver borrow to invest in a startup because he's suddenly rich on paper.

And unlike the finite amount of land available to develop in places like Dublin, there are no such constraints on good business models, with good market potential, backed by a strong team.

Also, I don't remember there ever being a property "scene".

What we need is a healthy startup ecosystem. I've been active in the "startup scene" since 2007. I've seen the growth of startups, I've seen the rise of a strong tech community, I've seen the rise of all the accelerators. The level of investment has risen, but not at the same pace or scale. These are some of the necessary component for a healthy ecosystem.

And like in nature-based ecosystems, things die to make way for new lifeforms.

Anyway, I'm rambling now... need coffee :)

Your view is your view, but I don't see things the way you've painted them.

Re: Moving to Ireland

#48

Post by shaydoc »

Kudos wrote: post #27
shaydoc wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends who you work for, Ireland is full of big name companies, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter..... Not only that there us a tonne of big financials there too... So, there's a wealth of choice.. From what I hear, the Google offices are really something, they have an amazing setup... I live in Belfast, and there isn't the same variety of big tech, but still tonnes of IT jobs If I lived in Dublin, I'd go al…

I'm sure large corporations like Google would suit some people, for everyone else there are plenty of startups hiring in Dublin. Unless you're a sysadmin, I don't think there are a whole lot of jobs going in Ireland at Facebook, Twitter or Amazon.

I beg to differ : http://careers.stackoverflow.com/jobs/39355/senior-software-...

Also, you can work from a Dublin base for these companies I am fairly sure.

I am just illustrating that there is plenty of opportunities for those who go looking!

Re: Moving to Ireland

#49

Post by Kudos »

shaydoc wrote: post #48
Kudos wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure large corporations like Google would suit some people, for everyone else there are plenty of startups hiring in Dublin. Unless you're a sysadmin, I don't think there are a whole lot of jobs going in Ireland at Facebook, Twitter or Amazon.

I beg to differ : http://careers.stackoverflow.com/jobs/39355/senior-software-... Also, you can work from a Dublin base for these companies I am fairly sure. I am just illustrating that there is plenty of opportunities for those who go looking!

Twitter just aren't really hiring for technology in Dublin. Maybe some of the 100 new jobs promised for next year will change that, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Just to illustrate what I meant about sysadmins being a priority for these companies, look at Facebook's job page: https://www.facebook.com/careers/locations/dublin

And Amazon's (note, it's paginated): https://uk-amazon.icims.com/jobs/search?pr=2&searchLocation=...

I wasn't telling people not to investigate these companies, just that their isn't a glut of jobs that their size would suggest. There are companies a fraction of the size hiring more developers than the big guys at any given time.

I'm sure you can sometimes work from a Dublin base for these companies, I'm also sure that would be an exception to the norm.

If you're a sysadmin by trade or want to be (a minority here I think), you could do far worse than apply to Google, Facebook or Amazon.

Re: Moving to Ireland

#50

Post by anjc »

anjc wrote: post #2

Do you still think that there's a dynamic fast-paced IT industry here? I'm a native, and to me it feels, for the most part (excluding some exceptional companies), stagnant and dependent on cheap non-EU labour.

I can't edit my comment, but in reply to myself, I didn't mean to suggest that there aren't exceptional talents and exceptional companies in Dublin and Ireland. I'd consider many of my friends and peers geniuses, and their talents astound me consistently.

What I meant more so was that government policy seems to be pushing Irish innovation into a corner, while cheerleading a 'knowledge economy' that probably doesn't jive with our ideas of what a knowledge economy is. You only have to look at the recent reductions in the wage-floor for importing tech workers, on a fast-track visa scheme, from outside the EU, to see what I mean. If we had a thriving tech sector then why are wages stagnant? Why did Sean O Sullivan bleat on about needing to issue, what was it, 15k visas to non-EU people per year? We have a massive EU wide workforce, with massive unemployment and masses of graduates graduating each year. A significant number of STEM grads leave the industry because they can't find work, and yet we don't have enough workers? And if we don't have enough workers then why do they need to lower the wage floor for importing people? Shouldn't wages be rising?

Government policy is purposely driving wages down. Jobbridge internships have been extended to 18 months, and I fear for the effect that this is going to have on the country, in terms of brain-drain for graduates, and general morale.

It sounds like you guys all feel good about our tech sector. I'm glad, because as well as the above, all i've heard for the last 10 years is how terrible our graduates are, and how companies are annoyed that they have to spend money bringing people in from elsewhere. This isn't true of course, they don't have to, it's just part of the same 'we only want geniuses' narrative that's taking place in the US and elsewhere, which is handily also stagnating wages. I could link to probably 50 interviews and articles (if i had enough time) from CEO's of Havok, Demonware, Paypal, Google etc etc saying how poor our country is for talent, and whether you feel good about our tech sector, the statements coming from our indigenous companies, and MNC's, don't make me feel good.

So i'd suggest that if the sector is thriving, it's in spite of our culture, political climate (except for corporation tax), and whatever else, rather than being a thing that was destined to happen.

Anyway nevermind that, if anyone has any more suggestions for meetups, i'd love to hear them. Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

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