Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
51–60 of 156 posts
Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#52Hm, sorry but ages of experience show that what mostly works is the other way around: You want to be a big city because you can find clients (users), meet people (e.g. possible investors) and generally speaking do any sort of networking that would be otherwise impossible. The internet is what it is, but you can never match the face-to-face relationship with an online approach. I totally understand that this is a drea…
Couldn't agree with this more. I worked for a startup-turned-recent-exit, and despite their big growth after a few years, if you go back and look at the first hundred customers or so, they were nearly all locals in the non-Silicon-Valley city the company was formed in, from other small shops to some of the bigger companies. Unless your product is niche to small fishing companies, this advice may not be the best.
"Unless your product is niche to small fishing companies, this advice may not be the best."
Yet the competition space for very young rich urban american white kids making products for very young rich urban american white kids is hyper crowded, and in "rural fishing communities" the marketplace is apparently nearly empty, so the odds of a big success appear much better.
There's a fad now of "home automation" as defined by a small ARM box with a thermometer and a microphone for $100 that does pretty much the same as the 20 competitors... you have a less than 1 in 20 chance of being the top dog alpha winner. On the other hand AFAIK there is no competition for "www.rate.your.diesel.fishing.boat.mechanic.com" social network shopping for diesel fuel filter group buy advice or whatever. And that idea only took ten seconds, I'm sure actually trying would result in better ideas.
Your odds of competing are higher if you stay in the city and follow (key word, "follow") the pack. Which is awesome if your goal is playing king of the hill and the sheer thrill of competition. On the other hand, if you want to make fat stacks of cash, you want the best odds of winning, not the best odds of being involved in an epic competition.
Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#53Is Morocco a save place now? A relative was there to help in the United Nations peacekeeping mission, especially the southern part of Morocco "Western Sahara". United Nations peacekeeping mission is still ongoing: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Nations_peacek... (blue region in north-west of Africa)
Western Sahara is not near this town at all. There's some trouble with terrorists in Morocco, but terrorist attacks are not on small fishing towns, they would be in the big cities.
Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#54Hopefully the name of that boat isn't a bad omen ;)
http://www.thebluehouse.io/#surrounded-with-the-best (scroll up)
Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#55Hm, sorry but ages of experience show that what mostly works is the other way around: You want to be a big city because you can find clients (users), meet people (e.g. possible investors) and generally speaking do any sort of networking that would be otherwise impossible. The internet is what it is, but you can never match the face-to-face relationship with an online approach. I totally understand that this is a drea…
I also agree with this, the biggest problem I got being in nice but small town is finding good people with the correct skill set.
Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#56For those of you in the UK/London - and want somewhere cheap and amazing to code in your own back yard, I highly recommend Hastings/St Leonards. It is (or was) a 'small fishing village' that retains a fascinating history. 1.5 hours from London, and 1 hour from Brighton, 1/3 the cost of flats and working space, good connection speeds, good coffee. If you come down to check it out, look me up and I'll buy you a pint. -…
May move there next year, if I do, then I'll take up your offer of a pint!
Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#57I live in London and I love the rain & grey skies. I cycle 15 minutes to work, but sometimes take public transport too. I feel plenty productive in this city, and if I were to start my own business, I'd have no problems being here. I think it really depends on who you are, not where you are.
I don't know how can you love cycling in the rain, considering that the bike needs cleaning afterwards.
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Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#58Is Morocco a save place now? A relative was there to help in the United Nations peacekeeping mission, especially the southern part of Morocco "Western Sahara". United Nations peacekeeping mission is still ongoing: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Nations_peacek... (blue region in north-west of Africa)
It's almost impossible to have a gun in Morocco then it's easy to assume that you are safer than in the US.
Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know how can you love cycling in the rain, considering that the bike needs cleaning afterwards.
For short city trips, you want to have an old cheap outdoor bike (otherwise it might get stolen anyway). I don't see why you have to clean those. (I clean my bike once every 6 months, tops, and I ride it every day. The dirt is from the dirt or forest tracks I have to cross once in a while.)
Not here in Bucharest. There's some mud on the streets and on my bike too. Though I admit I haven't cleaned it up too much yet :-D
Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town
#60Sounds like a great way to selfdestruct. "Hey, guess what, you have to move to $middleofnowhere." "Hey, guess what, I quit." Exactly how the conversation would go if it ever happened to me. What would happen in such a situation is the good employees would quit because they wouldn't want to compromise their salary, marketability, and ability to take a new job, while the dead weight would go with it because it's still…
Hey Mate, Think Remote! :)
The only place where I worked on the last 8 years that I couldn't work remotely is not the kind of place that I would work anymore.
For me these days, if a company doesn't have some remote policy in place (I mean... not full remote, nor once per week, but the option to, sporadically, work from home on a sick day or to be able to do some coding/admin stuff on the road) it automatically flares a red flag as a place that would not be a magical place where I could do the best that I can.
If the place doesn't have the remote-some-times flexibility it's probably a place with bad management practices and an out-dated culture.
Same thing regarding talent pool... Why on earth do you need to smell the emanating creative fumes of your employees every day from across the hall? :P