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Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

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Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#51

Post by josscrowcroft »

I run https://openexchangerates.org essentially "from the road", so this is hugely relevant and I'm bookmarking it to read over once everyone's had a chance to weigh in :)

At the moment, I'm based between the UK and Jersey (Channel Islands – I'm resident for tax, which is nice), around Europe (recently Amsterdam, Berlin, Lisbon, back to NL in a few weeks) and planning a move onto South America later in the year. Previously it was Hong Kong, where the project began life.

From these, I got the best vibes in Berlin, and would love to spend more time there soon.

London, where most of my business took shape and which I'd consider my practical home, is fantastic for diversity of ideas, people and places. As of now I plan to spend 3 months per year here (maximum allowed unless I want to pay UK tax!) in the warmer months to really get into the city.

Still looking for the place, though, the one where I settle in for a year or two.

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#52

Post by cpursley »

geoka9 wrote: post #44
nirvana wrote: post #30

Five years ago I quit working for other people and started working for myself. At the same time, we decided to start traveling, to get a better idea of other cultures for our products (which are internationalized) and to see if we found a place we liked to stay. First off, one thing you notice, once you get out of the USA, is how much of a bubble the USA is in. The perspective given by US news sources, for instance,…

It's not that the countries won't welcome you, it's that the US punishes them for it. (At least as it comes to bank accounts.) This makes a foreign bank account a bit of a prized possession for Americans. I know that some countries (particularly some of the post-Soviet ones) make it a criminal offense to have a foreign bank account, but I thought that for the US it's just a question of sending in an extra IRS form. O…

Yes, but the tax compliance is so complex now that many foreign financial organizations don't find it worth the cost to do business with Americans due to the paperwork. This is why the number of Americans relinquishing their citizenship has skyrocketed over the past three years.

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#53

Post by geoka9 »

hect0r wrote: post #34

UAE. Free market economy, law and order, easy air travel to anywhere in world via Emirates/Etihad/Qantas, majority of world's people live within +/- four hours of timezone, access to both low cost resources but also some highly skilled resources, etc

When people bring up places like this, it makes me wonder if they've considered the implications of inadvertently breaking the laws that are based on traditions/religion. Like being caught with a porn magazine in your bag or even crossing a province border with a bottle of booze (even that can be illegal there).

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#54

Post by cpursley »

subsystem wrote: post #27
cpursley wrote: post #8

Hacker News, Quora, etc are supportive of entrepreneurship - that is your support and mentorship network. Incorporate in a low-tax low-regulation business-friendly jurisdiction like Singapore, bank in stable country like Switzerland and live/work wherever you like. Consider the 5 flags-theory for web-based business: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_traveler

Nice in theory, hard in practice. Especially if you're doing a startup and not a lifestyle or small business. Edit: Ridiculous how people downvote. I've researched this area more than most and the flags theory just doesn't fit most startups as the core concept is having your tax residence and company in different countries. The only case I know of where it did or could have worked is Skype.

I agree - it really dependes on if you're going for the 'home-run' or for a lifestyle/bootstrap business. I should have mentioned that. Speaking of Skype, I'd really like to visit Estonia. Low flat tax, nice capital city, part of EU but lower cost of living, forward thinking government, etc.

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#55

Post by geoka9 »

saching90 wrote: post #25

India: If you are up for a challenge, where there might not be straight forward solutions, but if you crack the plethora of problems present there, its a dream come true.

> Its a dream come true.

What are the pros besides low cost of living? Can you elaborate?

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#56

Post by cpursley »

josscrowcroft wrote: post #51

I run https://openexchangerates.org essentially "from the road", so this is hugely relevant and I'm bookmarking it to read over once everyone's had a chance to weigh in :) At the moment, I'm based between the UK and Jersey (Channel Islands – I'm resident for tax, which is nice), around Europe (recently Amsterdam, Berlin, Lisbon, back to NL in a few weeks) and planning a move onto South America later in the year. Prev…

openexchangerates looks useful for something I'm planning - bookmarked.

Curious, what's your technical stack? I'm researching ways to build a Restful api to be consumed by web apps and mobile apps.

Quite nice to be a resident of Channel Islands! Seems that everyone likes Berlin. Maybe checkout New Zealand?

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#57

Post by cpursley »

gamblor956 wrote: post #32
cpursley wrote: post #8

Hacker News, Quora, etc are supportive of entrepreneurship - that is your support and mentorship network. Incorporate in a low-tax low-regulation business-friendly jurisdiction like Singapore, bank in stable country like Switzerland and live/work wherever you like. Consider the 5 flags-theory for web-based business: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_traveler

Singapore is low regulation, but law heavy. While businesses generally have the freedom to do a lot, the people that work for the business do not. As long as you plan on being a perfectly law abiding citizen (or resident), Singapore is a great place. But once you have a crime on you record--including something as simple as jaywalking--it stops being such a great place.

Singapore for business domicile - not residence. It's also a great base to all the southeast Asian countries with super low cost of living if that's your thing.

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#58

Post by mongol »

jpwagner wrote: post #22
cpursley wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, Hong Kong's future belongs to China. http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking

Can you elaborate on what you think the implications of China's involvement are? I mean, "one country, two systems" seems to be allowing HK to be very free.

One country two systems is for 50 years from 1997 as I understand

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#59

Post by cpursley »

heelhook wrote: post #24
cpursley wrote: post #8

Hacker News, Quora, etc are supportive of entrepreneurship - that is your support and mentorship network. Incorporate in a low-tax low-regulation business-friendly jurisdiction like Singapore, bank in stable country like Switzerland and live/work wherever you like. Consider the 5 flags-theory for web-based business: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_traveler

> Hacker News, Quora, etc are supportive of entrepreneurship - that is your support and mentorship network. That is nice and all, and yes, you are right, those are great resources for entrepreneurs along with a handful of other sites. Speaking as an entrepreneur that has sat on both sides of the fence - I partially live in Buenos Aires, and spend a lot of time in Boston: have done the /self served/ mentoring you hint…

I agree. These web resources have actually been springboards for me to discover people and mentors who I later meet with in 'real life' - so yes, actual face time is extremely important.

Re: Ask HN: If you could start a start-up anywhere in the world

#60

Post by josscrowcroft »

cpursley wrote: post #56
josscrowcroft wrote: post #51

I run https://openexchangerates.org essentially "from the road", so this is hugely relevant and I'm bookmarking it to read over once everyone's had a chance to weigh in :) At the moment, I'm based between the UK and Jersey (Channel Islands – I'm resident for tax, which is nice), around Europe (recently Amsterdam, Berlin, Lisbon, back to NL in a few weeks) and planning a move onto South America later in the year. Prev…

openexchangerates looks useful for something I'm planning - bookmarked. Curious, what's your technical stack? I'm researching ways to build a Restful api to be consumed by web apps and mobile apps. Quite nice to be a resident of Channel Islands! Seems that everyone likes Berlin. Maybe checkout New Zealand?

Thanks! I have heard NZ is a top place to work from – it's the countryside that appeals most to me, though it's a bit remote. How's the startup scene?

OXR is built out with PHP and (for a bunch of processes) nodeJS. PHP gets a bad rap, but it's fastest for me to work with and hasn't presented any problems so far.

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