
Startup Workaway: 20 founders. 10 days. 1 beach house in Costa Rica. Apply now - npt4279
http://startupworkaway.com/
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rmason
Do you want to concentrate on your startup or take a beach vacation?

Join me in downtown Detroit if you really want to work on your startup. I
guarantee you won't be tempted to leave the building for ten days and will get
lots of work done.

~~~
bugsy
Is there a $500 application fee?

~~~
npt4279
No, it's $500 if you actually get accepted and want to go.

~~~
bugsy
I was asking the guy who was saying he would do the same thing in Detroit.
Maybe Detroit is cheaper?

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gourneau
These bootcamp style hackathons foster a atmosphere that gives me that little
extra boost I sometimes need to create.

This reminds me of the Buddhist idea of a 'Sangha' which translates roughly to
"community with common goal, vision or purpose". One of the most important
things that emerge from these communities are relationships that will be
forged.

This is the hacker right of passage that I have been yearning for in the
subconscious parts of my mind. I will be there, and I will make something
beautiful.

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clueless123
Somehow beach house and programming doesn't jive to me. When I am "in the
zone" the last thing I want to do is leave my desk to enjoy the beach & when I
am enjoying the beach the last thing I want to do is go back to my desk.

Ps. I talk from experience, as I am right now sitting in front of the beach !
(surfing HN!)

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vKvAy8svSE>

~~~
pyrhho
Nah, I need breaks man! Can't just be heads-down all day. Your work starts to
deteriorate. May as well make your breaks _awesome_!

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geekfactor
Please rig the house with cameras and make this a reality TV web show!

~~~
gourneau
hah, I invision something like "Beauty and the Geek", but replace the girls
with VCs.

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bugsy
You have to pay a $500 application fee and cover the cost of your own airfare?

I stayed at a pretty nice place for $10 a night in Costa Rica, so $500 covers
50 days during which one can code or swim and ends up owning outright whatever
they write.

Have to be crazy to take this deal, it makes no sense.

~~~
npt4279
Just to be clear, we're doing this at cost. We're renting a mansion with cooks
and servants and stuff.

And we own 0% of your IP.

~~~
bugsy
Er, OK, so the idea here is that it's a bunch of different guys working on
random ideas of their own and afterwards they each go their separate ways? If
that's the case, it's not so clear from the web site.

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mariorz
I have a feeling there may be more people interested in doing the reverse of
this: Startup Workaway: 20 founders, 10 days, 1 house in Palo Alto.

~~~
ratsbane
Given the typical size of houses in Palo Alto, 5 founders to 1 house might be
more practical :)

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m1ster
Sounds awesome. Almost guaranteed to get a sunburn and some techcrunch
coverage if you come out of it with something cool, considering all the ink
startup bus got.

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apsurd
Take with grain of salt.

I'm all for supporting but these guys already tried this

<http://stomp.io/>

I signed up and did not receive so much as an email.

If the founders are on here:

Great work, I hope it happens and I get where you are coming from. But don't
make this _just_ about you trying to get covered on techcrunch.

~~~
npt4279
I created Stomp, and I'm one of the organizers of Startup Workaway.

Stomp needs much more iteration before it's ready for prime time. I don't want
Stomp tech crunched until then, and Startup Workaway is a completely separate
project that doesn't even mention Stomp on the web site.

However, I do apologize that I haven't emailed the 10 folks who expressed
interest in the Startup Workaway on Stomp, or notified them of the date
change. That's completely my bad.

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brandoncasci
The concept is a good mix between a a fairly inexpensive vacation and peer
driven entrepreneurial fun. It sounds like a refreshing alternative to being
holed up in some corporate office for a weekend eating crappy pizza.

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rch
This is a really great idea, and definitely something I would like to take
part in. I would need more time to plan for it though - 3 months lead time is
about right for me.

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geeosh
Awesome looking house Nick! I'm trying to decide whether to go, already have a
conference booked during same time. Congrats for getting this off the ground,
I remember exchanging travel/tech ideas at SXSW.

I've been working with Chelsea on launching Startup Abroad -
<http://startupabroad.org> \- this September, which is also about bringing
founders together in an awesome place abroad.

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gte910h
West coast Costa Rican resorts are awesome. I stayed at this one before =>
(Non-aff) <http://www.occidentalhotels.com/allegro/Papagayo.asp>

You can usually get 30-40% off list price, and they're truly all inclusive. I
suggest hitting one before or after the startup weekend since you're buying
the plane ticket anyhow.

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jrubinovitz
Take the $500 and put it towards your start up.

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jallmann
I moved to Honolulu about 2 months ago. It's done wonders for my productivity.
Need a break? Hop down to the beach, take a swim, and get back to hacking. It
is awesome.

A 10-day sojourn might not work so well if you want to enjoy the area while
you're there, but if you can manage a long-term getaway (tropical or not), I
highly recommend it.

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ratsbane
This is a great idea. I wish I could apply for this one and I hope there are
more opportunities like this. (I can't do this because of schedule
commitments, but if it were two weeks later I'd be sending in my application.)

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guylhem
I'm applying, but if you feel like you can work in a simpler house and sleep
either on a sofa/hammock/whatever, email me. I'm in the French West Indies,
with a decent internet connection. No fee at my place, but you must be a
decent guest - ie no loud music/boozing up/etc.

~~~
ratsbane
Thank you. That is a very nice offer. I wasn't specifically looking for a
getaway but that is a very appealing idea.

~~~
guylhem
Well you are welcome then. Seriously, you won't be the 1st guest I have :-)
There's a bus stop nearby (20 min to the beach) so you won't need a car and a
supermarket. And that will be a good motivation for me to code too!

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eneveu
Reminds me of Jason Kester's "geekbeach" idea. Discussed here:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2213225>

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jscore
Kinda hard to create the next Facebook when you have a tropical beach next
door, no?

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marcamillion
This is a brilliant idea.

Wish I had thought of this first, for Jamaica :(

Would love to know how it goes.

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japherwocky
Are they saying that the application fee is $500?

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Timothee
No. "the per-person fee of $500 covers all the basic costs (except airfare).
We supply the housing, the food, and the fun."

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vipivip
Any HN readers applying?

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IanDrake
I'm going to give it a go. I like the idea and I love CR!

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vipivip
Good luck.

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newchimedes
I'm still waiting for Startup Canoe...We have startup weekend, startup bus,
startup ________ ... but I want to build a startup while on a canoe!

