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Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

thebluehouse.io

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Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#71

Post by banino »

blueskin_ wrote: post #45

Sounds 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…

It clearly can't work for all startups. It has to be something that is rooted in the company's culture. The guys at Maptia received a crazy amount of applications when people heard they were based in a Moroccan surf town. There are lots of people that are interested in this. Also, remember, it can also be only for a few weeks.

Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#72

Post by lotsofmangos »

melling wrote: post #11

First of all, the guy is selling startup space in a small fishing town. Second, is there any evidence to support his case? How many successful startups began in idyllic locations?

Lots of British game companies. You can find world class game development studios scattered more or less at random throughout the UK landscape.

Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#74

Post by blueskin_ »

lewaldman wrote: post #60
blueskin_ wrote: post #45

Sounds 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 flare…

Remote is nice when it works, but it doesn't always or for every company. Where I work right now, for example, people work remotely but still have required days in the office for meetings etc., while I couldn't work remotely as too much of what I do is physical work with networks and servers that wouldn't be possible remotely - those are the people that will be hit with "you have to move" and so quit, especially since chances are that in the middle of nowhere, there will be few to no career opportunities for them.

Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#75

Post by arbuge »

lotsofmangos wrote: post #72
melling wrote: post #11

First of all, the guy is selling startup space in a small fishing town. Second, is there any evidence to support his case? How many successful startups began in idyllic locations?

Lots of British game companies. You can find world class game development studios scattered more or less at random throughout the UK landscape.

Might work better in the UK than the USA. Average fishing town in the UK is closer to a big city than the average fishing town in the USA.

Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#76

Post by throwaway90446 »

melling wrote: post #11

First of all, the guy is selling startup space in a small fishing town. Second, is there any evidence to support his case? How many successful startups began in idyllic locations?

Not sure about idyllic, but iD software started in a lakehouse in the middle of nowhere a distance out from Shreveport, LA.

You don't need ready access to endless city noise, light pollution, or urban gang violence to launch a successful startup or attract talent to it.

Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#77

Post by metra »

tinco wrote: post #40

Where are the pictures of the lodgings? It sounds very interesting, but it's also rather expensive. I've never been to Morocco, but from what I've heard I bet it's possible to sleep in a four star hotel and eat every meal in a restaurant for under 500 euro per week. Of course you are offering extras like being networked in with the other residents, and you are marketing to Europeans so it's not crazy to charge this a…

Just got back from 5 weeks in Morocco, 2 of which were in Taghazout. My girlfriend and I were living very, very simply -- shared bathroom, toilet didn't have a tank, no meals included, internet only in the restaurant downstairs -- but we were paying 10 euros a night, each. You can actually see the place in the pictures they've put up, it was very beautiful, right on the beach.

There was a surf hostel that we also stayed in but it was more expensive (15 euros a night) for bunk beds but it had internet, good bathrooms and showers, breakfast included.

Morocco's a bargainers paradise. If you haggle you can get the prices down. It's the offseason now. Out of all the places we visited (Taghazout, Sidi Ifni, Mirleft, Agadir, Ouarzazate, Tinghir, Boulemane, Merzouga, Chefchaouen, Marrakesh), for a total of 2 people, we would average around 20 euros a night, sometimes paying 10 euros and sometimes 30. Of course, we weren't looking for all the bells and whistles, just a clean bed for the night. Sometimes we got just that, sometimes we got a luxury suite for 20 euros cause it's the offseason. The big cities were indeed surprisingly more expensive. But nothing about Morocco is sketchy -- the hasslers are annoying but I never once felt threatened (it was also always the 2 of us). The coast is beautiful and you should explore beyond Taghazout -- Essaouira and Sidi Ifni if you can.

Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#78

Post by lotsofmangos »

arbuge wrote: post #75
lotsofmangos wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of British game companies. You can find world class game development studios scattered more or less at random throughout the UK landscape.

Might work better in the UK than the USA. Average fishing town in the UK is closer to a big city than the average fishing town in the USA.

I think it works for industries where things are tightly project based with sizable periods of downtime. It is a cliche in the music industry to have a studio in the middle of nowhere in which to try and focus, and I don't see why this couldn't work elsewhere. There is also no reason not to have an in-town office and a larger out of town campus. Might even work out cheaper than an in-town office big enough for everybody.

Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#79

Post by mironathetin »

atmosx wrote: post #6

Hm, 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…

"Hm, sorry but ages of experience show that what mostly works is the other way around …"

I think it is a business by itself: you pay for your exotic startup location. What we just read is a travel agency that focuses on startups.

I agree with atmosx, that towns are better suited for startups. When we worked on our startup many years ago, one of the largest obstacles for investors was the location: a mid size sleepy town, away from where the money is. One reason for it was of course, that investors back then didn't get what internet means (they still don't). The other reason is, they want control. If their investment is out of reach, there will be no investment.

Uhh, funny idea: take their cash and disappear to a moroccan beach. Sounds certainly nice, but looks so bad.

Re: Why you should move your startup to a small fishing town

#80

Post by WhitneyLand »

santoriv wrote: post #42

Well, I think this strategy might work if you want to keep your burn rate unbelievably low while you are writing v 1.0. But to be honest 300 Euro per week for space is actually not optimal. I've been in the mountains of Vietnam for the last year and rent has been between $50 and $125 per month, which has made it possible for me to be unemployed for a long time and write v1.0 of my startup's app. I think that Southeas…

What is the fastest Internet connection you can get while paying $125/month for rent?
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