5 ms·

Chile Wants to Borrow US Entrepreneurs for $40,000

31 points by organicgrant 16y ago

fierarul 16y ago
This is the first article on HN that specifically states it's 25 projects that get the $40.000, meaning they have an initial budget of $1M. To put this in perspective, the iFund, which supports iOS projects has a $200M budget. So, not that I have something with this Chile project, but I feel it's getting way too much "airtime" on HN. I don't need to see this daily on the RSS feed. I've always disliked contests of this kind. If Chile wants to really push this industry in their country, make it really simple: reduce (or remove) the taxes for software companies. This would make them an instant target for entrepreneurs and would cost them nothing.
- ankeshk 16y ago
  Thanks for your comment. In countries with lower cost of labour, reducing or removing taxes on software companies will lead to folks starting outsourcing and service related companies. Not entrepreneurial product based startups. India is a prime example of this. Compared to the number of software developers in the country, the number of startups that pop up from India is very very low. So from Chile's point of view, I think its a great pilot plan.
  - zaidf 16y ago
    ...will lead to folks starting outsourcing and service related companies. Not entrepreneurial product based startups. IMO that is just another type of startup.
    - ecaradec 16y ago
      But this king of companies tend to live on thin margin and exploit local population. This may not be in the best interest of Chile to bring this kind of population.
      - zaidf 16y ago
        I disagree. I don't know very many Indian programmers who consider themselves "exploited" by firms such as Infosys, Wipro etc. In fact, quite the opposite. Most Indian programmers that are worth a dime are sitting on multiple job offers at any given time.
  - fierarul 16y ago
    By definition startups have a chance of failing. Betting Chile's software strategy on 25 startups is a risky business. I don't see why lower taxes will reduce entrepreneurship there or introduce only outsourcing -- won't the locals use this chance to create their own startups ? There are many things to discuss here but I assume some countries either culturally or financially encourage enterprises. If Chile doesn't have the right legal, tax and socio-educational framework then startups will never migrate there. There are just too many aspects to look at but I do believe that a contest with some $40K prizes can't beat lowering taxes.
    - jbooth 16y ago
      Eh, lowering taxes puts money in the pocket of everybody who makes any money, and you're primarily taking less money from already existing income. Chile's looking to create new high tech startups. Entirely different problems.
- pierre_M 16y ago
  Isn't the scale of it comparable to YCombinator? YC certainly gets a lot of mentions here (not entirely unrelated to the fact that they run the site, but still...).
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    Their money is not tied to a string with a bunch of reporting requirements, they are in the midst of Silicon Valley and have very good connections to the rest of the tech world. Scale is not the most important factor when evaluating stuff like this.
- daniel-cussen 16y ago
  The instant visa is actually the bigger draw.
- rwhitman 16y ago
  But isn't the cost of living in Chile markedly lower? So that $40,000 is potentially stretched a lot further. Also its a grant, not an investment. So you basically get free $40k in living and startup expenses taken care of for free. If they're seeking to give this to recent grads with low salary expectations to begin with, I'd say its a fantastic opportunity. What is there to lose?
- ez77 16y ago
  Oh, come on. For decades the US increased its brain power by actively promoting brain drain from other countries, not just by reducing R&D taxes internally. It would be amusing and certainly fair game if Chile managed to do the opposite with a mere 40K per project.
pinksoda 16y ago
They don't give you 40k cash, they have some sort of reimbursement plan. You also can't just go down there and give to yourself as a salary. Borderline scam.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- robfitz 16y ago
  From what I can tell[1] you can either charge your personal expenses (insurance, housing, etc) or pay yourself a salary, but not both. Edit: It also looks can also choose whether you prefer to have the funding as advance payment or reimbursement[2] [1] Section V, pages 4-5, http://www.corfo.cl/startupchile/download/Technical_and_administrative_mandatory_guidelines_start_up_chile.pdf http://www.corfo.cl/startupchile/download/Technical_and_admi... [2] Section 4, page 8 of the same pdf
- pierre_M 16y ago
  How is it "borderline scam"? How are they hoping to profit at your expense by offering you $40K and then not letting you spend it?
fmendez 16y ago
I'm not sure if i missed something when I initially read about the startup Chile program, but i don't quite remember the documents stating they only wanted US entrepreneurs, am i wrong?
- organicgrant 16y ago
  They're not limiting it to US entrepreneurs, just limiting their recruitment efforts to California at present. K-Swiss and Apple have convinced the world that the world's best stuff is "Designed in California"
  - laut 16y ago
    The world doesn't know what K-Swiss is.
ecaradec 16y ago
This reminds me of PG article http://www.paulgraham.com/maybe.html http://www.paulgraham.com/maybe.html May be they should give 1M and not 40k ? That would surely move some more interesting startups...
jacquesm 16y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1621583 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1621583
DanielBMarkham 16y ago
At twice that, I'd consider it. From what I hear, lovely country, great weather, and wonderful people. The offer is just a little too cheap for my circumstances.
known 16y ago
Why isn't govt offering software development services?
adamstober 16y ago
First-time poster, go easy on me! Lowering taxes may be better from a textbook economics perspective but this is creative real-world marketing that has already been somewhat effective simply by generating so many headlines. I'm just one data point but I would have not considered Chile as a potential base for a small venture I'm working on otherwise. Now I will likely apply for this program and keep Chile in mind for future reference. I recognize most people aren't as geographically flexible as I am but the opportunity to spend time in Chile and speak Spanish sounds exciting to me.

31 points by organicgrant 16y ago

This is the first article on HN that specifically states it's 25 projects that get the $40.000, meaning they have an initial budget of $1M. To put this in perspective, the iFund, which supports iOS projects has a $200M budget. So, not that I have something with this Chile project, but I feel it's getting way too much "airtime" on HN. I don't need to see this daily on the RSS feed. I've always disliked contests of this kind. If Chile wants to really push this industry in their country, make it really simple: reduce (or remove) the taxes for software companies. This would make them an instant target for entrepreneurs and would cost them nothing.

ankeshk 16y ago
Thanks for your comment. In countries with lower cost of labour, reducing or removing taxes on software companies will lead to folks starting outsourcing and service related companies. Not entrepreneurial product based startups. India is a prime example of this. Compared to the number of software developers in the country, the number of startups that pop up from India is very very low. So from Chile's point of view, I think its a great pilot plan.
- zaidf 16y ago
  ...will lead to folks starting outsourcing and service related companies. Not entrepreneurial product based startups. IMO that is just another type of startup.
  - ecaradec 16y ago
    But this king of companies tend to live on thin margin and exploit local population. This may not be in the best interest of Chile to bring this kind of population.
    - zaidf 16y ago
      I disagree. I don't know very many Indian programmers who consider themselves "exploited" by firms such as Infosys, Wipro etc. In fact, quite the opposite. Most Indian programmers that are worth a dime are sitting on multiple job offers at any given time.
- fierarul 16y ago
  By definition startups have a chance of failing. Betting Chile's software strategy on 25 startups is a risky business. I don't see why lower taxes will reduce entrepreneurship there or introduce only outsourcing -- won't the locals use this chance to create their own startups ? There are many things to discuss here but I assume some countries either culturally or financially encourage enterprises. If Chile doesn't have the right legal, tax and socio-educational framework then startups will never migrate there. There are just too many aspects to look at but I do believe that a contest with some $40K prizes can't beat lowering taxes.
  - jbooth 16y ago
    Eh, lowering taxes puts money in the pocket of everybody who makes any money, and you're primarily taking less money from already existing income. Chile's looking to create new high tech startups. Entirely different problems.
pierre_M 16y ago
Isn't the scale of it comparable to YCombinator? YC certainly gets a lot of mentions here (not entirely unrelated to the fact that they run the site, but still...).
- jacquesm 16y ago
  Their money is not tied to a string with a bunch of reporting requirements, they are in the midst of Silicon Valley and have very good connections to the rest of the tech world. Scale is not the most important factor when evaluating stuff like this.
daniel-cussen 16y ago
The instant visa is actually the bigger draw.
rwhitman 16y ago
But isn't the cost of living in Chile markedly lower? So that $40,000 is potentially stretched a lot further. Also its a grant, not an investment. So you basically get free $40k in living and startup expenses taken care of for free. If they're seeking to give this to recent grads with low salary expectations to begin with, I'd say its a fantastic opportunity. What is there to lose?
ez77 16y ago
Oh, come on. For decades the US increased its brain power by actively promoting brain drain from other countries, not just by reducing R&D taxes internally. It would be amusing and certainly fair game if Chile managed to do the opposite with a mere 40K per project.

pinksoda 16y ago

They don't give you 40k cash, they have some sort of reimbursement plan. You also can't just go down there and give to yourself as a salary. Borderline scam.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
robfitz 16y ago
From what I can tell[1] you can either charge your personal expenses (insurance, housing, etc) or pay yourself a salary, but not both. Edit: It also looks can also choose whether you prefer to have the funding as advance payment or reimbursement[2] [1] Section V, pages 4-5, http://www.corfo.cl/startupchile/download/Technical_and_administrative_mandatory_guidelines_start_up_chile.pdf http://www.corfo.cl/startupchile/download/Technical_and_admi... [2] Section 4, page 8 of the same pdf
pierre_M 16y ago
How is it "borderline scam"? How are they hoping to profit at your expense by offering you $40K and then not letting you spend it?

fmendez 16y ago

I'm not sure if i missed something when I initially read about the startup Chile program, but i don't quite remember the documents stating they only wanted US entrepreneurs, am i wrong?

organicgrant 16y ago
They're not limiting it to US entrepreneurs, just limiting their recruitment efforts to California at present. K-Swiss and Apple have convinced the world that the world's best stuff is "Designed in California"
- laut 16y ago
  The world doesn't know what K-Swiss is.

ecaradec 16y ago

This reminds me of PG article http://www.paulgraham.com/maybe.html http://www.paulgraham.com/maybe.html May be they should give 1M and not 40k ? That would surely move some more interesting startups...

jacquesm 16y ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1621583 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1621583

DanielBMarkham 16y ago

At twice that, I'd consider it. From what I hear, lovely country, great weather, and wonderful people. The offer is just a little too cheap for my circumstances.

known 16y ago

Why isn't govt offering software development services?

adamstober 16y ago

First-time poster, go easy on me! Lowering taxes may be better from a textbook economics perspective but this is creative real-world marketing that has already been somewhat effective simply by generating so many headlines. I'm just one data point but I would have not considered Chile as a potential base for a small venture I'm working on otherwise. Now I will likely apply for this program and keep Chile in mind for future reference. I recognize most people aren't as geographically flexible as I am but the opportunity to spend time in Chile and speak Spanish sounds exciting to me.