Best city for start-ups
- Thread starter kumansk
- Start date
Berlin:
1. If you need graphic artists - loads of cheap talent to choose from.
2. Cheap rent.
3. Decent tech startup community (but definitely not great, mostly low caliber hipsters "playing" business).
Bad: incredibly difficult to find/hire talented developers. As a startup you have to spend big money on good developers.
1. and 2. are right. 3. - It is a great Start-up location and is growing daily. Great access to partners/advertisers and VC's!
About the talent - there is lots of great talent in Berlin. Check out Wunderlist Pro for example - probably the sexiest UI. Or check on Dribbble - Popular for people located in Germany. I think that the amount of qualified talent is rapidly growing and the "competition" is not as tough as in Silicon Valley for example..
Balkans bruh. Don't want to run my mouth as far as nationality but I got my ass handed to me every day as a kid by albanians and my gambling father. Sure as hell not going to let my kids go through the same thing. Just hope this thread gives other people looking to make the move things to consider.
Spent some time in berlin, vienna and amsterdam. Decent places but the language barrier puts me off.
3 things I'll do:
1. Set up a corp in HK, should come in handy in the future.
2. Keep my investment euros at home.
3. Head out to new york where I'll network, enroll as a CS student and make things happen.
Basically diversifying everything and focusing on a common goal.
There are tons of great designers/illustration artists and all that in Berlin. But when it comes to hiring good developers it can be extremely tough. Demand is far higher than supply. I know that because I talk to a few startup founders there on a regular basis.
Some are so desperate they either 1. spend months and months looking for anyone decent to hire (like a good Rails developer) and end up paying way above their budget or 2. end up hiring a cheap hack who can't get shit done just because they have to hire someone (all kinds of pressure when you take investor monies but don't have good developers on board).
Sure there are great developers in Berlin. But as a small/new startup you are going to struggle so bad it's not even funny. Unless you can build everything yourself.
And yes Berlin is a great place to go looking for monies.
This thread interests me. I'm almost in the same position as OP except I don't know if going to the US on a student visa is what I want (already finishing something unrelated to CS or IM).
So just throwing this question out there for you knowledgeable chaps: how get to hustle in the US without applying for a student visa?
inb4 stay where you are
Also forgot to say: good luck OP. Environment is very important to nurturing growth. It's one thing when people around you live and breathe "startup" and another thing when your neighbors are more interested in "grain vodka enemas" and "tractor hunt for rabid dog". There's a reason why the biggest companies where/are founded in the US.
So just throwing this question out there for you knowledgeable chaps: how get to hustle in the US without applying for a student visa?
inb4 stay where you are
Also forgot to say: good luck OP. Environment is very important to nurturing growth. It's one thing when people around you live and breathe "startup" and another thing when your neighbors are more interested in "grain vodka enemas" and "tractor hunt for rabid dog". There's a reason why the biggest companies where/are founded in the US.
You know, if that's true, I stand corrected and apologize-
You would be shocked at what I DO know about it...but I sometimes forget that the hustle and drive necessary to survive in other parts of the world is usually FAR different than the sick system we've foisted on the youth of Murka and tend to make comparisons based on that.
Good luck, Bro- and don't ignore Chicago for a vibrant start-up scene with lots of players.
There are tons of great designers/illustration artists and all that in Berlin. But when it comes to hiring good developers it can be extremely tough. Demand is far higher than supply. I know that because I talk to a few startup founders there on a regular basis.
Some are so desperate they either 1. spend months and months looking for anyone decent to hire (like a good Rails developer) and end up paying way above their budget or 2. end up hiring a cheap hack who can't get shit done just because they have to hire someone (all kinds of pressure when you take investor monies but don't have good developers on board).
Sure there are great developers in Berlin. But as a small/new startup you are going to struggle so bad it's not even funny. Unless you can build everything yourself.
And yes Berlin is a great place to go looking for monies.
What place would you suggest an Advertising and Content Sharing/Discovery start-up then (that obviously needs super awesome developer talent)?
(I see you are from Malta - I wanted to create a holding company there haha)
It's all good buddy. I might've stepped over the line of confidence towards arrogance.
And yeah, I had the hunger in me but still consider myself extremely lucky. Had to learn the language first and then go against everything people around me believed in. Now I'm fine.
QFT.
The reason I decided to go NYC is because of the people I already know out there. It's best if you've made some connections prior to coming. That place will keep me grounded and moving because there's always going to be someone more successful than me. Not the case out here.
You know I used to hate on the US when I was 4-5 years old and my relatives in serbia were getting bombed. But it didn't take long to realize that if it wasn't for folks in the US who established the infrastructure and means for anyone to make their way in the world via the internet, I'd be living a shitty life.
Here's an interesting video about immigration to the US:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK0Y9j_CGgM"]Dr. Michio Kaku America Has A Secret Weapon - YouTube[/ame]
Unless you have family ties to the US, you should know that they've made it extra hard to come out there as an internet entrepreneur.
So you're left with either the employee or student visas. As you can see from the sheer amount of locations pointed out in this thread (austin, chicago, la, san fran, boulder, las vegas, etc) the US has great schools all over the place and when your product takes off in one, it doesn't take long for other places to catch on.
Also some interesting facts about the american educational system:
1. If you're an international student and graduate with a bachelor's degree in the sciences you can apply for 12-18 months of extended stay to "look for work".
2. There are 2 year community colleges all over the place, so if you're tight on money you can get started in one and then transfer to a 4 year university after you've completed the necessary credits.
Tech industry giants (mark zuckerberg, bill gates, etc) are pushing government to make changes in immigration so they can continue hiring talent that would otherwise be kicked out the country after graduation. FWD.us I'm sure that a few years from now things'll be looking very very different in terms of immigration.
Worst case scenario, remember that a student visa gives you a good 4-5 years in the country. If your business doesn't take off by then or you haven't figured out what to do to help stay permanently at that point... Good luck. You gotta take the risk, ride it out and give it your all.
This guy had a real impact on the way I think of startups in general. Born in sri lanka, family moved to canada and then he made his way toward california. Now he's worth well over a billion.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raIUQP71SBU&feature=player_embedded"]Chamath Palihapitiya - how we put Facebook on the path to 1 billion users - YouTube[/ame]
Good luck on your quest. Unfortunately, the US only welcomes poor, illiterate peasants from countries like Mexico.
Whatever you do, think twice about acquiring US citizenship. US citizens are taxed on their worldwide income, even if they leave the country and never come back. Of course, there are some income exemptions and tax treaties to mitigate the ass rape but you will be ass raped nonetheless.
Whatever you do, think twice about acquiring US citizenship. US citizens are taxed on their worldwide income, even if they leave the country and never come back. Of course, there are some income exemptions and tax treaties to mitigate the ass rape but you will be ass raped nonetheless.
I heard it was permanent residents while have filed IRS returns in the past. DO you know if that's right?
^^^
I believe it applies to all US citizens and green card holders. See this for more info:
When Visa or Green Card Holders Must Pay Taxes | Nolo.com
This is very nasty:
I believe it applies to all US citizens and green card holders. See this for more info:
When Visa or Green Card Holders Must Pay Taxes | Nolo.com
This is very nasty:
Aware of the tax thing. I'll diversify my assets before it's too late.
Anyway, mexicans are cool, at least they like bitches and beer unlike muslim immigrants in europe who constantly complain and protest over dumb shit.
A friend of mine from the UK was telling about the startup culture and tools there. I was very surprised. It's definitely impressive.
Yeah, they're calling it tech city. London is the best place to be in europe hands down.
If you can afford it, New York is a great place to grow and scale a business - especially if you are looking to represent big brands at one point.