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Bootstrapping in "alternative" cities makes business sense. I work for a profitable startup in Memphis that's using consulting to finance our work on a core pro
by rbranson 16y ago
Bootstrapping in "alternative" cities makes business sense. I work for a profitable startup in Memphis that's using consulting to finance our work on a core product. It's shockingly easy work, because the bar is VERY low outside of the major major cities. Our nice, sunny downtown office is dirt cheap, all of our personal bills are low, taxes are low, and we've already got all the talent we need to launch the product. Perhaps we'll need the services and talent pool of a SF/NY type city eventually, but if you've already got a team and don't need funding, smaller cities are what's up.
- bmelton 16y agoThe Memphis ecosystem works especially well in that there is a really low cost of living and quite a good amount of talent in the area. Companies that transitioned through, like Stream, did a really good job of bootstrapping many an IT career in Memphis. That FedEx, Hilton, International Paper and AutoZone all have major IT centers there helps as well, though it does lead to there being lot of very UN-talented IT people on the whole. The trick, as always, is sorting out the good from the bad. Where I think you'll have problems is in raising Venture Capital (if you need it), finding dotcom-centric marketing agencies, SEO development, and that sort of thing. Of course, that only matters if you're looking local anyway.