Netizen

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Hartej Says Hello From Chile

Hartej popped up in my Gchat asking for a small favor.

Will I upvote something he just posted on Y Combinator? After getting them to send me a new password, I did.

Scott Weiss: The Path To Starting A Startup

it’s just that the most valuable lessons for successfully running a startup come from actually working at a well-run startup. I’d go even further to assert that the startup should be based in Silicon Valley and backed by venture capital..... If you’re trying to prepare yourself for entrepreneurship — the same two to four years at a startup isn’t even comparable to the equivalent time spent in school or a large company. There are probably five to ten times more lessons and relevance at the startup.

The Evolving Path To Starting A Startup

It has become cheaper than ever to start your own company, but scaling a startup is still extremely expensive..... It’s hard to launch your startup, when you’re too focused working at a VC funded startup in Silicon Valley while $100k in debt from Business School..... It’s far easier to raise capital if you have successfully exited a startup in the past. But, thanks to startup incubators and accelerators run by some of the top experts in the industry, entrepreneurs have multiple ways to build successful businesses ....... Being an entrepreneur is often about walking the unbeaten path. I dont think it’s by any means necessary to follow a strict regimented and strategized approach the way Weiss suggests. ....... You need three things to create a successful startup according to Paul Graham: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible..... As Naval Ravikant says, “Venture Capital is open to attack by disruptive new business models and technology”.

Scott Weiss needs to know Hartej Singh pinged me from Chile. I met him in New York. He flew over to take advantage of some of what the Chilean government has been offering to help create a local tech ecosystem. The wild west of tech innovation is not copyrighted by Silicon Valley, that's for sure.

How Start-Up Chile Is Attracting Startups From Singapore, London, and San Francisco

Socialance is a startup out of London that has moved to Santiago, Chile, for six months. The reason for the move is pretty straightforward: Start-Up Chile is giving the company $40,000 without taking any equity stake. And the rent is relatively cheap..... has attracted about 500 companies to its startup program since 2010. The program ends its first phase in 2014. By then, it will have provided grants to 1,000 companies for a total of $40 million. ..... the ease with which international companies are able to go to Chile for the six-month experience. The Chilean government manages all the paperwork to settle there. .... And if the company decides to stay, all they have to do is get a new visa after one year there. The cost? $100. ...... For Socialance, a freelance service, the move has given the company a chance to get free office space, some mentoring and a two-bedroom apartment for $500 a month. In London, Vigil said they paid about $4,000 for a three-bedroom house that was shared by five people....... And labor costs far less. Engineering talent can cost as little as $1,500 per month. In San Francisco, it can cost a minimum of $6,000 per month to hire an engineer.