

Ask HN: Change Country to Ease Bootstrapping? - mhd

I might soon take the plunge and start working on a few startup ideas full-time (bit of saved money), and I was wondering whether I should do this from another country. Being European, moving around there doesn't cause any big legal complications. I live in Bavaria, Germany, and while it's a really nice place (especially after spending quite some time in New Jersey recently), it ain't exactly cheap. Going east and/or south would probably make for cheaper rents and a generally lower cost of living. As I still could aim my business (and possibly small contract jobs) at higher-paying economies, this seems like a good way to stretch my savings and thus give me more time to focus.<p>Still, I wonder whether getting accustomed to a new country, learning the language etc. won't distract too much.<p>So it would be great if anyone has some experiences about that, or has some nice cities/countries to recommend…
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davidw
I think you'd have to go a long way south to get a _lot_ cheaper. Here in
northern Italy, things are somewhat cheaper than up there (or at least than in
Tirol), but probably not so much that it'd be worth your while to pick up and
move (although my standard offer stands: come by Padova and I'll take you out
for drinks and/or pizza or something as time permits).

I think to get really _cheap_ , you'd have to go to Portugal, in terms of
"south".

Why not move to a cheaper bit of Germany, like Berlin? You wouldn't be so cut
off that way: you'd be able to meet and talk with other people working on
startups.

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mhd
I think I'd rather learn a new language than being subjected to the Berlin
accent all day. But seriously, I'm still talking about major cities, so I
don't think being cut off is that much of a factor. If we're talking about
friends and family, even a couple 100 km will do that. Moved a lot recently,
worked abroad for quite a while, so right now both material and social ties
are pretty low, which is part of why I can even consider this.

Portugal doesn't sound too bad. I'm not constraining myself to neighboring
countries.

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iaskwhy
If you have any question about Portugal, hit me up, my email is on my profile.

Oh, I'm in Lisbon!

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dgudkov
If your startup targets developed markets (US, W.Europe) so reducing
development costs by moving to another country can be a good idea. I think you
can find decent developers and designers in Eastern European countries like
Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Poland or Ukraine, for much less money than in
Germany. Cost of living is lower there as well. We're doing startup in one of
these countries and expect total cost of beta to be less than 20K.

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davidw
Croatia actually sounds nice. Fairly warm in the right parts of it, and I
found it to be pleasant the week I spent there.

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drtse4
Take a look at this thread (pros/cons of various eu countries):
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1565375>

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c1sc0
These kinds of stories make me wonder if there's a market for 'startup
holidays'. Jet off to some cheap location like Thailand or China, code like
mad monkeys for 3 months & then jet back for launch.

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hcho
Go to somewhere warmer, it will help you keeping your mood up. How's Greece
looking these days?

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mhd
Greece might be a bit depressing nowadays…

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hcho
If you have to make your living there, sure. How about bootstrapping?

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mhd
The bigger cities of Greece didn't used to be that cheap, because of tourism.
Rents might be pretty low, though. Still, while you are building your stuff,
people around you go bankrupt, and I don't know if there's a grudge against
Germans because of that whole Euro hullaballoo.

So, if I'd be thinking about that region, why not Bulgaria?

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hcho
Not warm enough.I also hear stories of corruption all the time. This of course
might or might not affect you.

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mhd
Well, Athens is setting European heat records all the time. Also, I'll
probably spend a lot of time inside anyway, and blankets are cheaper than air
conditioning.

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hcho
You open windows in mediterranean countries and buildings are made for
heat.And the extreme heat is around about 2 months. Winters are pretty mild,
fall and autmnn are much more enjoyable.

It's about the time you spend outside, I find I recharge a lot faster in warm
climates. Maybe it's the sunshine, maybe people's attitudes...

