
Paul Kedrosky: Go ... Elsewhere, Young Man - nickb
http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2008/07/08/go_elsewhere_yo.html
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mechanical_fish
Ah, geographical market timing. It's like trying to time the stock market,
only with less liquidity!

You know, sometimes Tim Ferriss gets things right. For example, he once wrote:

 _What if you need to learn to do something your friends haven't done? ... If
the task is how-to in nature, I only read accounts that are "how I did it" and
autobiographical. No speculators or wannabes are worth the time._

Has Paul Kedrosky, resident of La Jolla, CA, ever even _been_ in Brazil for
more than a week, much less tried to get a job or start a company there? He
conspicuously fails to say so.

I remember the last news.yc item like this: It was about Dubai. And, wonder of
wonders, Kedrosky's sly commenters have already posted the link that threw
cold water on _that_ idea: "The Top 20 Reasons Not To Move To Dubai":

[http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/94/art_20_Reasons_Not_Move_...](http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/94/art_20_Reasons_Not_Move_to_Dubai.html)

A good principle: Before moving anywhere, find a "Top 20 Reasons Not To Move
To X" article and make sure you're okay with it. (The first item on Boston's
list is probably "snow"... unless you're a news.yc reader, in which case it's
probably "Boston is not near Palo Alto". )

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jrockway
_In the spirit of full disclosure, where would I go? Brazil. While I'm
painfully aware of the many problems -- infrastructure, crime, capital,
corruption, etc. -- that the country still has, I love the dynamism, growth,
optimism (mostly -- see my trip notes for more), etc. And it doesn't hurt that
the economic numbers are generally good too, with some exceptions._

I have thought about this a bit, and disagree. Going where there are problems
that have been solved elsewhere is counterproductive. Something I think about
frequently is "when is the US going to have real public transportation, like
Japan". I think that's basically never going to happen, so the solution is not
to stay here and try and fix it; you'll waste your whole life. The solution is
to move to Japan where they've already solved this problem.

In his example, he mentions Brazil's problems: infrastructure, crime, capital,
corruption, and so on. Do you really want to be distracted from your real work
by crime and lack of infrastructure? Do you really want to be distracted from
your real work by trying to fix an _entire society_? You just aren't going to
do it. Go somewhere where these problems have been solved, so you can use your
brainpower to solve _new_ problems.

I think this is the same reason tech startups want to be in San Francisco; the
problem of finding like-minded people has already been solved. Sure, I could
try meeting technical folks in Chicago, but there just aren't many of us. Why
try and fail to solve this problem when there are other things to worry about?

~~~
wallflower
Some of my father's friends live in Rio de Janeiro and when there is a robbery
- it's not like in the States - they rob all of the customers too - they lock
the doors of the supermarket and demand the purses and wallets of everyone.
It's happened to them several times.

Makes me double-think about living down in Latin/South America - many things I
assume/take for granted (like being able to drink clean tap water) sometimes
don't exist in second/third-world countries

~~~
kirubakaran
The robbers must have seen Pulp Fiction ;-)

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ojbyrne
If you're willing to forego working with your brain in favor of physical
labor, western Canada is probably one of the few places in the world that you
can make a 6 digit income right out of high school.

~~~
esja
And Western Australia is another.

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jraines
Details on each?

Western Canada is housing construction and oil, right? Calgary?

~~~
ojbyrne
Oil, natural resources in general, driving construction like you said.
Saskatchewan (to the east of Alberta) has some oil, but also has the world's
largest supply of potash, the price of which has tripled over the last few
years. And British Columbia to the west has the 2010 Winter Olympics driving
construction.

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senthil_rajasek
Culture, law and basic infrastructure matter more than some of us realize. If
you are waiting in line for half a day to pay your utility bills or if things,
a lot of us take for granted, such as sewers and potable water are not
available then its not worth it.

Sure, entrepreneurs succeed in any environment but fighting against the
environment is not the only problem that should be taking up an entrepreneurs
resources.

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davidw
I don't know if that's great advice business wise, but if I look at my life,
moving to Italy was the source of a huge amount of growth and learning. I also
met and married an intelligent, beautiful woman there, which helps me stay
positive even as Italy itself gently decays.

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chris_l
It goes against fashion these days, but I reckon it's still the USA. Anyway, I
would go to Cambridge, MA.

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seano
Much of South America looks promising. I'd probably avoid Brazil and head to
Argentina though, the world's spanish speaking market is huge.

~~~
helveticaman
You'd be best off in Santiago, IMO. Lower taxes, little/no corruption, lower
crime, etc. Not a bad place from which to serve the Spanish-speaking market.
Keep in mind, though, that SV is still a better place to be.

~~~
fortes
Santiago is more expensive, but you're otherwise correct.

~~~
seano
...and has terrible pollution.

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mattmaroon
But don't jog there, because you'll be less likely to pass a Starbucks with a
bathroom.

