4 ms·

mmm NZ seems very high in the rankings but the vc/angel investment community very immature over here... possible opportunity for low hanging fruit just across t

by utunga 16y ago

mmm NZ seems very high in the rankings but the vc/angel investment community very immature over here... possible opportunity for low hanging fruit just across the ditch for a few valley based investors perhaps ? ;-)

barrydahlberg 16y ago
There sure is. The legal process of getting a company going here in NZ is really very simple. The distance from the rest of the world feels kind of overwhelming at times which is our big disadvantage. No over land connections with other countries, not in the middle of a nice trade route or anything. Great time to be a techy here though, the internet is a wonderful thing, when it works. I saw a big of talk about VC work in agriculture and so on, not so much in the web space.
steveh73 16y ago
NZ has expensive (and not particularly fast) internet, which is probably why. On the other hand, setting up a limited-liability company took me an hour (including registering for GST) and cost $40 when I did it (it's a little more now), and costs nothing to renew. And the time zone difference means we're often working when the US is sleeping, which can be handy when you're deploying a new version of a production site for a US audience.
- nigelsampson 16y ago
  I set up my LLC around a month ago, very painless and cost me $160. I think the distance thing is a factor, however for internet based start ups it's not as important.
- vosper 16y ago
  Deploying updates to production sites when the US is sleeping is a massive boon, it was one of the reasons my previous employer did all their R&D in New Zealand. The downside is that pagers tended to go off in the middle of our night when server load was highest. The company has been extremely successful, but the software is complex and recruiting and retaining skilled employees here has become an issue for them. I think they've been forced to move some R&D over to the US as a result.

by utunga 16y ago

barrydahlberg 16y ago

There sure is. The legal process of getting a company going here in NZ is really very simple. The distance from the rest of the world feels kind of overwhelming at times which is our big disadvantage. No over land connections with other countries, not in the middle of a nice trade route or anything. Great time to be a techy here though, the internet is a wonderful thing, when it works. I saw a big of talk about VC work in agriculture and so on, not so much in the web space.

steveh73 16y ago

NZ has expensive (and not particularly fast) internet, which is probably why. On the other hand, setting up a limited-liability company took me an hour (including registering for GST) and cost $40 when I did it (it's a little more now), and costs nothing to renew. And the time zone difference means we're often working when the US is sleeping, which can be handy when you're deploying a new version of a production site for a US audience.

nigelsampson 16y ago
I set up my LLC around a month ago, very painless and cost me $160. I think the distance thing is a factor, however for internet based start ups it's not as important.
vosper 16y ago
Deploying updates to production sites when the US is sleeping is a massive boon, it was one of the reasons my previous employer did all their R&D in New Zealand. The downside is that pagers tended to go off in the middle of our night when server load was highest. The company has been extremely successful, but the software is complex and recruiting and retaining skilled employees here has become an issue for them. I think they've been forced to move some R&D over to the US as a result.