Someone should start an endless summer club. Get a group of people together and work for 6 months in San Francisco then go South (Buenos Aires or sth equivalent) when winter comes.
I m a developer in New York. I have a few good engineer friends I met while living in Vietnam. If any of you here happens to have a product that qualifies as a passive income product and need a tech partner let me know.
Your story reminds me of this story.
An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, señor."
The American scoffed, "I am a Wharton MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But señor, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then, señor?"
The American laughed and said, That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, señor? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
Any game designer here wants to collaborate in reskinning my puzzle games Smart Kick (IOS and Android)? We feel like our puzzles are much better. Links are on ndat.org.
Here is a 6min video of the Vietnam reunification express, taken outside Quy Nhon right after Lunar New Year. The slow rhythm. The lush rice paddies. Old houses with people cooking and children playing. Simply magical!
I noted the OP's blog has a job post for a content manager that states Anywhere,USA. Why limit yourself to USA? I figure if it is remote it should be remote anywhere.
Can I ask what you do (both for consulting and for the friend in HoiAn)? I live in New York now but am thinking of setting up an offshore team in Saigon w/ US based clients so I can travel back and forth.
I saw you mentioned Vietnam a few times in the blog post. Perhaps it will be on your next immersive trip :) I lived there for a few years and for those who have US based business but can work anywhere in the world I highly recommend Saigon. It has amazing food, close to several pristine beaches/islands and many cosmo cities (KL,HK,BKK,Singapore,etc) Plus it is cheap and Internet (both landbased and 3g) are quite fast.
Yes I agree with you. I am Vietnamese American who has bootstrapped a few startups in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) for the past 4 years. The school described by the author is an exception, not the norm.
I have heard of interviewers asking candidates to solve various levels on mobile brainteaser apps. Something like this game https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smart-kick-pro/id590049769?m... could work well as it involves problem solving skills and is a great fun little ice breaker.
Hi Jason,
I looked at your business http://www.expatsoftware.com/
why does it have to be " staffed by a number of expatriate Americans."??? Good developers don't depend on citizenships. The world is flat now.
This boils down to your personality, not on external factors like who you are with, where you go or what you do. Are you an extrovert, introvert or ambivert? Figure out who you are then everything will make sense
You can have the best of both worlds. I have an unlocked iphone 4. I pay as I go. I have no data plan. Before I go out I download what I need so I can read it offline (books,videos,articles,podcasts,etc) Google maps works offline so I dont fear of getting lost. I take pictures for myself
The same goes w/ NYC. I have been here for a while now and have met so many young girls following Sex in the City dream, which invariably turned out badly.
For some reason I have a feeling if this guy pays the cab driver the same amount he pays the uber driver, the cab driver would be more than happy to take him
You are missing the "How I lived out of a shoebox and traveled the world on a bicycle while creating my startup that teaches people how to live out of a shoebox and traveled the world on a bicycle while..."
I suggest you donate all the books and start another business. Keeping a brick and mortar bookstore is an uphill battle and it is better to cut the loss sooner rather than later.
I understand what you mean. It is a social hack but given his situation (aka he is not head of state) I m not sure if there is much else he could have done.
I think if there is a better way he would have done it. Path of least resistance right? In this case he is a complete stranger and has no social proof so he does what he has to do. Much props to him. Startup is a bitch and this guy gets it done.