6 ms·

Why this CEO is worth almost $1 billion but lives in a trailer park

31 points by FuNe 10y ago

FuNe 10y ago
Living in Ireland amidst the housing crisis (rents shooting in the sky) I can only testify that we desperately need some kind of democratization and lower barrier to home owning. Not sure if that is a matter of outlook and politics as much as innovation but surely this seem to be looking in the right direction.
- mikekchar 10y ago
  I live in rural Japan where at least half my neighbours are over 60 and retired. I work from home and often go for walks. It's amazing how nice it is to simply stroll around and chat with people. Often my neighbours will show up at my door with vegetables that they grew in their garden. We'll invite them over for dinner or drinks. The thing that I have to remind myself is that on top of beautiful weather, gorgeous scenery and pleasant people around me, I pay next to nothing for rent. There are a lot of places in the world like this. I think the main thing we need to work on is making telecommuting a reality for as many people as possible. Living where you work and choosing where you live is incredibly powerful. The problem is that this mode of working is difficult and there are many things to do to make it possible for most people. One day I think it will be the norm, but it might still be a way off.
  - bane 10y ago
    After learning about a few aspects of Japanese real estate (depreciating houses, near abandoned properties in the countryside), I wonder what it would take for a foreign hacker commune to basically buy up an empty village in a remote part of Japan (cheap!) and get going there?
    - mikekchar 10y ago
      There apparently is one: http://www.hackerfarm.jp/about-us/ http://www.hackerfarm.jp/about-us/ I don't know anything about it. Someone mentioned it to me a while ago. I'm hoping to wander down there and chat to them sometime. They seem interesting.
    - crispyambulance 10y ago
      Already done, sort of. See http://www.hackerfarm.jp/ http://www.hackerfarm.jp/ these are "hackers" who bought a farm in rural Japan. Probably not for everyone, though, there's a lot more to relocating than "cheap real-estate".
  - FuNe 10y ago
    Well said. Lots of us chasing after few apartments is a recipe for crisis (paid dearly by the financial weakest). Sadly enough I don't see telecommuting catching on in the big companies. Too few ads for 100% remote jobs (i.e. crazy competition) and almost always from small start ups. Telecommuting once per week does not cut it (you still need to live close to work).
criddell 10y ago
"I see my neighbors a lot more now than I did when living in a house in the suburbs or living in an apartment building" Hsieh seems to be obsessed with the idea of being forced to bump into the people around you all the time. I'm the opposite - I get a lot of pleasure from peace and solitude. I think I would be miserable living in a situation like that for more than a very short time.
- tonylemesmer 10y ago
  yes I agree - nice to have the option of either rather than being trapped.
- macspoofing 10y ago
  People need both. In a typical urban setting you have plenty of time and space for solitude, but not a lot of interaction with neighbors.
- crispyambulance 10y ago
  Mr Hsieh's living choices are not an "obsession" any more than your need for "peace and solitude". Everyone has a different idea what constitutes an ideal living arrangement. Some are more interesting than others. Kudos for Hsieh for trying something non-conventional.
  - criddell 10y ago
    Maybe it's just a case of Baader-Meinhof, but 80% of the things I've read about Hsieh over the past year have been about designing your surroundings to generate more interactions with those around you. So obsession is probably too strong of a word, but it's certainly something he has put a lot of thought into. I agree with you though - experiments are a good thing.
justinph 10y ago
The NYT article this WAPO piece is largely based on is much more in-depth: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/business/at-zappos-selling-shoes-and-a-vision.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/business/at-zappos-selling...
- degenerate 10y ago
  Much better article. WAPO trying to cash in on the clicks.
ff10 10y ago
Oh geez, not another multi-millionaire claiming he doesn't need money, he would give it all away in a heartbeat when it comes to his "endgame". For a lot of people with actual money problems the endgame is paying the hospital bill from an unprecedented emergency pop-in.
- PDoyle 10y ago
  Not in Canada.
  - gambiting 10y ago
    Or EU. Or Russia. Or Japan. Come to think of it, it's pretty much only US that has people going bankrupt due to medical emergencies. It's just so bizzare to me that people can be paying anything for medical care at the hospital, I don't think ours even have facilities to bill you for anything.
Cenk 10y ago
He owns a luxury trailer park. Saved you a click.
- antisthenes 10y ago
  A few clicks actually. WaPo requires me to paste the link into Google to get around the paywall. Thanks.
heartsucker 10y ago
Clickbait title. It should read: Why this CEO is worth almost $1 billion but lives in a trailer park he owns that is specifically for techy coder types
- pmorici 10y ago
  The price of the trailers that the article quotes ($30k) is wildly off as well. The _starting_ price for an Airstream of the size pictured is $135k [0] I would be surprised if by time you got done adding options it is approaching the median US home price. [0] https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/classic/ https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/classic/
- randlet 10y ago
  Exactly. Calling this "a trailer park" is technically correct (the best kind of correct!) but, christ, this place is so far from a real trailer park that it's ridiculous to group them together. The Trailer Park Boys mockumentary is deeply rooted in reality...
  - heartsucker 10y ago
    I was actually hoping it was an article about a CEO who lived in a bona fide trailer park because he really didn't give a shit about luxury. How disappointed I was.
chrishacken 10y ago
I think this is awesome. We need more communities built around people. Suburban development has lost its human connection. We sit secluded in our big homes and barely converse with nor know who our neighbors are.
raverbashing 10y ago
At this point it seems it's a new season of a bad tech-oriented series. Moving to a trailer park? Took his pet alpaca with him? Really? Tony Hsieh jumped the shark right there
nathan_f77 10y ago
I think I would enjoy living like this, but probably not in Nevada. Maybe somewhere by a lake or a beach in New Zealand. And instead of a trailer, maybe a 1 or 2 bedroom cabin. But the community bonfires and movies sounds really nice. I really like the idea of living in a community like this. Not a campsite or a holiday park, but an intentional community.
- criddell 10y ago
  You would probably really enjoy life in southern Ontario then. There's a pretty big culture of cottage living during the summers. When I was growing up, we used to spend a pretty big chunk of our summer living in a pretty crude cottage near a lake in Ontario (cottage country). Swim, boat, hike, and play all day, wind down by grilling dinner and a campfire, sleep, wake, repeat. The worst part was the traffic heading north out of Toronto every Friday afternoon. Now I live in Austin and wonder why the same idea isn't bigger here?

31 points by FuNe 10y ago

FuNe 10y ago

Living in Ireland amidst the housing crisis (rents shooting in the sky) I can only testify that we desperately need some kind of democratization and lower barrier to home owning. Not sure if that is a matter of outlook and politics as much as innovation but surely this seem to be looking in the right direction.

mikekchar 10y ago
I live in rural Japan where at least half my neighbours are over 60 and retired. I work from home and often go for walks. It's amazing how nice it is to simply stroll around and chat with people. Often my neighbours will show up at my door with vegetables that they grew in their garden. We'll invite them over for dinner or drinks. The thing that I have to remind myself is that on top of beautiful weather, gorgeous scenery and pleasant people around me, I pay next to nothing for rent. There are a lot of places in the world like this. I think the main thing we need to work on is making telecommuting a reality for as many people as possible. Living where you work and choosing where you live is incredibly powerful. The problem is that this mode of working is difficult and there are many things to do to make it possible for most people. One day I think it will be the norm, but it might still be a way off.
- bane 10y ago
  After learning about a few aspects of Japanese real estate (depreciating houses, near abandoned properties in the countryside), I wonder what it would take for a foreign hacker commune to basically buy up an empty village in a remote part of Japan (cheap!) and get going there?
  - mikekchar 10y ago
    There apparently is one: http://www.hackerfarm.jp/about-us/ http://www.hackerfarm.jp/about-us/ I don't know anything about it. Someone mentioned it to me a while ago. I'm hoping to wander down there and chat to them sometime. They seem interesting.
  - crispyambulance 10y ago
    Already done, sort of. See http://www.hackerfarm.jp/ http://www.hackerfarm.jp/ these are "hackers" who bought a farm in rural Japan. Probably not for everyone, though, there's a lot more to relocating than "cheap real-estate".
- FuNe 10y ago
  Well said. Lots of us chasing after few apartments is a recipe for crisis (paid dearly by the financial weakest). Sadly enough I don't see telecommuting catching on in the big companies. Too few ads for 100% remote jobs (i.e. crazy competition) and almost always from small start ups. Telecommuting once per week does not cut it (you still need to live close to work).

criddell 10y ago

"I see my neighbors a lot more now than I did when living in a house in the suburbs or living in an apartment building" Hsieh seems to be obsessed with the idea of being forced to bump into the people around you all the time. I'm the opposite - I get a lot of pleasure from peace and solitude. I think I would be miserable living in a situation like that for more than a very short time.

tonylemesmer 10y ago
yes I agree - nice to have the option of either rather than being trapped.
macspoofing 10y ago
People need both. In a typical urban setting you have plenty of time and space for solitude, but not a lot of interaction with neighbors.
crispyambulance 10y ago
Mr Hsieh's living choices are not an "obsession" any more than your need for "peace and solitude". Everyone has a different idea what constitutes an ideal living arrangement. Some are more interesting than others. Kudos for Hsieh for trying something non-conventional.
- criddell 10y ago
  Maybe it's just a case of Baader-Meinhof, but 80% of the things I've read about Hsieh over the past year have been about designing your surroundings to generate more interactions with those around you. So obsession is probably too strong of a word, but it's certainly something he has put a lot of thought into. I agree with you though - experiments are a good thing.

justinph 10y ago

The NYT article this WAPO piece is largely based on is much more in-depth: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/business/at-zappos-selling-shoes-and-a-vision.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/business/at-zappos-selling...

degenerate 10y ago
Much better article. WAPO trying to cash in on the clicks.

ff10 10y ago

Oh geez, not another multi-millionaire claiming he doesn't need money, he would give it all away in a heartbeat when it comes to his "endgame". For a lot of people with actual money problems the endgame is paying the hospital bill from an unprecedented emergency pop-in.

PDoyle 10y ago
Not in Canada.
- gambiting 10y ago
  Or EU. Or Russia. Or Japan. Come to think of it, it's pretty much only US that has people going bankrupt due to medical emergencies. It's just so bizzare to me that people can be paying anything for medical care at the hospital, I don't think ours even have facilities to bill you for anything.

Cenk 10y ago

He owns a luxury trailer park. Saved you a click.

antisthenes 10y ago
A few clicks actually. WaPo requires me to paste the link into Google to get around the paywall. Thanks.

heartsucker 10y ago

Clickbait title. It should read: Why this CEO is worth almost $1 billion but lives in a trailer park he owns that is specifically for techy coder types

pmorici 10y ago
The price of the trailers that the article quotes ($30k) is wildly off as well. The _starting_ price for an Airstream of the size pictured is $135k [0] I would be surprised if by time you got done adding options it is approaching the median US home price. [0] https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/classic/ https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/classic/
randlet 10y ago
Exactly. Calling this "a trailer park" is technically correct (the best kind of correct!) but, christ, this place is so far from a real trailer park that it's ridiculous to group them together. The Trailer Park Boys mockumentary is deeply rooted in reality...
- heartsucker 10y ago
  I was actually hoping it was an article about a CEO who lived in a bona fide trailer park because he really didn't give a shit about luxury. How disappointed I was.

chrishacken 10y ago

I think this is awesome. We need more communities built around people. Suburban development has lost its human connection. We sit secluded in our big homes and barely converse with nor know who our neighbors are.

raverbashing 10y ago

At this point it seems it's a new season of a bad tech-oriented series. Moving to a trailer park? Took his pet alpaca with him? Really? Tony Hsieh jumped the shark right there

nathan_f77 10y ago

I think I would enjoy living like this, but probably not in Nevada. Maybe somewhere by a lake or a beach in New Zealand. And instead of a trailer, maybe a 1 or 2 bedroom cabin. But the community bonfires and movies sounds really nice. I really like the idea of living in a community like this. Not a campsite or a holiday park, but an intentional community.

criddell 10y ago
You would probably really enjoy life in southern Ontario then. There's a pretty big culture of cottage living during the summers. When I was growing up, we used to spend a pretty big chunk of our summer living in a pretty crude cottage near a lake in Ontario (cottage country). Swim, boat, hike, and play all day, wind down by grilling dinner and a campfire, sleep, wake, repeat. The worst part was the traffic heading north out of Toronto every Friday afternoon. Now I live in Austin and wonder why the same idea isn't bigger here?