5 ms·

If outside the US would be an option, Berlin (Germany) Public transportation is great (24/7), a lot of cultural activities, quite a view of web startups there a

by macco 18y ago

If outside the US would be an option, Berlin (Germany) Public transportation is great (24/7), a lot of cultural activities, quite a view of web startups there and in contrast to other big cities in Europe and the US, it very cheap.

fp 18y ago
For games, Hamburg (Germany) is great. Probably slightly more expensive than Berlin, but at least as great in terms of public transportation and culture.
- eru 18y ago
  Slightly is an understatement.
randomtask 18y ago
Seconded. There are a few hackerspaces [1] there. The Chaos Computer Congress is great. If you're thinking of moving there, knowing German makes things easier, but you can definitely get by without it. The nightlife is definitely one of the best in Europe. As the comment above said it's very cheap. I'm seriously considering moving there once I have a bit of money saved so I can work on my own projects for a few months without burning through cash too quickly. [1] http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Hacker_Spaces http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Hacker_Spaces
FleursDuMal 18y ago
Have you got any advice on the tax situation there for a self-employed programmer/online marketer? I'm in the process of checking it out now, just curious about a local perspective.
- jk4930 18y ago
  The German tax system is said to be complicated, but if you keep your business simple, it's usually not that much of a problem. The tax that will most interest you is the income tax (as a natural person). There's a difference between the tax rate and the effective tax you pay. You can see this at this image (pink = effective): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/de/a/ac/EStTarif.PNG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/de/a/ac/EStTarif.PNG If you run your business as a freelancer, you will most often have no trouble with the tax stuff. If you want to incorporate we just got a reformed company law that gives us the "Unternehmergesellschaft." It's like a LLC oder Ltd., you can start it with 1 EUR and it's made esp. for startups. You have to accumulate 25% of your profits until you reach 25,000 EUR and become a "real" limited liability comp. (here GmbH). Foreigners can incorporate, too. Taxation is the "Koerperschaftssteuer" (corporation tax) which is flat 15%, then you have the local "Gewerbesteuer" (business tax) which (in Berlin) costs you also around 15%. Dividends are taxed flat with 25%. If you don't have good advisors you pay a bit more taxes with a company than as a natural person alone, but you have the limited liability, you can more easily hand out shares to investors, have more possibilities with financing, a.s.o. Some more info there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany
  - helveticaman 18y ago
    It's they took PGs advice...weird. http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html "[5] A friend who started a company in Germany told me they do care about the paperwork there, and that there's more of it. Which helps explain why there are not more startups in Germany."
    - jk4930 18y ago
      We still have a lot of "rule compliance costs", esp. when a company has employees, but you can hack this. In the worst case you just source this paper work out. The problem is more that Germany lost its startup-mentality. The last time we were a real startup country is 100 years ago.
      - beza1e1 18y ago
        In the times of the German Economic Miracle there must have been a great startup-mentality here. That has been roughly 50 years ago. And i'll throw Karlsruhe into the pot. It's called the internet capital of Germany, has lots of companies (especially web companies) and one of the best universities for computer science (and other technical fields). Living costs are relativly low.
        fbailey 18y ago
        I like Karlsruhe but I know nobody who calls Karlsruhe the internet capital of Germany. That goes to Berlin,Hamburg and Munich
laut 18y ago
Why exactly do you want public transportation? I left Denmark and I definitely don't miss the public transportation or the high prices on taxis and cars. In Denmark people in general prefer cars even though they are taxed very aggressively. And public transportation is subsidized very aggressively. If you "can be anywhere" being a hacker, why do you drive around in a car if you don't like it?
- quellhorst 18y ago
  I don't like the maintenance aspect. People try to rip you off for simple issues. Tools take too much room to carry with the car. So, you left Denmark? Where are you now?

by macco 18y ago

fp 18y ago

For games, Hamburg (Germany) is great. Probably slightly more expensive than Berlin, but at least as great in terms of public transportation and culture.

eru 18y ago
Slightly is an understatement.

randomtask 18y ago

Seconded. There are a few hackerspaces [1] there. The Chaos Computer Congress is great. If you're thinking of moving there, knowing German makes things easier, but you can definitely get by without it. The nightlife is definitely one of the best in Europe. As the comment above said it's very cheap. I'm seriously considering moving there once I have a bit of money saved so I can work on my own projects for a few months without burning through cash too quickly. [1] http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Hacker_Spaces http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Hacker_Spaces

FleursDuMal 18y ago

Have you got any advice on the tax situation there for a self-employed programmer/online marketer? I'm in the process of checking it out now, just curious about a local perspective.

jk4930 18y ago
The German tax system is said to be complicated, but if you keep your business simple, it's usually not that much of a problem. The tax that will most interest you is the income tax (as a natural person). There's a difference between the tax rate and the effective tax you pay. You can see this at this image (pink = effective): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/de/a/ac/EStTarif.PNG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/de/a/ac/EStTarif.PNG If you run your business as a freelancer, you will most often have no trouble with the tax stuff. If you want to incorporate we just got a reformed company law that gives us the "Unternehmergesellschaft." It's like a LLC oder Ltd., you can start it with 1 EUR and it's made esp. for startups. You have to accumulate 25% of your profits until you reach 25,000 EUR and become a "real" limited liability comp. (here GmbH). Foreigners can incorporate, too. Taxation is the "Koerperschaftssteuer" (corporation tax) which is flat 15%, then you have the local "Gewerbesteuer" (business tax) which (in Berlin) costs you also around 15%. Dividends are taxed flat with 25%. If you don't have good advisors you pay a bit more taxes with a company than as a natural person alone, but you have the limited liability, you can more easily hand out shares to investors, have more possibilities with financing, a.s.o. Some more info there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany
- helveticaman 18y ago
  It's they took PGs advice...weird. http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html "[5] A friend who started a company in Germany told me they do care about the paperwork there, and that there's more of it. Which helps explain why there are not more startups in Germany."
  - jk4930 18y ago
    We still have a lot of "rule compliance costs", esp. when a company has employees, but you can hack this. In the worst case you just source this paper work out. The problem is more that Germany lost its startup-mentality. The last time we were a real startup country is 100 years ago.
    - beza1e1 18y ago
      In the times of the German Economic Miracle there must have been a great startup-mentality here. That has been roughly 50 years ago. And i'll throw Karlsruhe into the pot. It's called the internet capital of Germany, has lots of companies (especially web companies) and one of the best universities for computer science (and other technical fields). Living costs are relativly low.
      - fbailey 18y ago
        I like Karlsruhe but I know nobody who calls Karlsruhe the internet capital of Germany. That goes to Berlin,Hamburg and Munich

laut 18y ago

Why exactly do you want public transportation? I left Denmark and I definitely don't miss the public transportation or the high prices on taxis and cars. In Denmark people in general prefer cars even though they are taxed very aggressively. And public transportation is subsidized very aggressively. If you "can be anywhere" being a hacker, why do you drive around in a car if you don't like it?

quellhorst 18y ago
I don't like the maintenance aspect. People try to rip you off for simple issues. Tools take too much room to carry with the car. So, you left Denmark? Where are you now?