Ask YC: Dubai - future Startup Hub
In paul's book hackers and painters he talks about wanting to be where the greatest wealth is. Paul, and others what do you think about the potential of starting a company in dubai?
for nationals?
for foreigners?
for nationals?
for foreigners?
Unless a lot of cash is flashed (but this will make startups too expensive) or Dubai becomes a multi-cultural liberal place, where you can go to clubs, drink alcohol freely, get laid, and all that without ending up in jail.
The place that is able to attract young folks, will be the startup. Money is just one part of the equation.
We finally decided to make the move to Silicon Valley, not because of the money, but because of the networking and learning resources available. Where else in the world can you find 2 or 3 hackathons in the same week?
I was more or less looking at if from the point of, if Silicon Valley venture money is 2-5 billion, well it feels like Dubai is just spending that with ease. I wonder how many tech companies will spring up just to cater to the rich. Silicon Valley was built by decades of government funds coming into the area. I just wonder what Dubai could build if it wanted to.
BUT, I have a feeling that the wealthy people in dubai are not very accessible to the average american guy. You aren't going to meet them at parties and they probably won't take meetings with you just cause you have a cool webapp.
Whereas in silicon valley, you could run into some random guy at a barcamp or lecture with a couple mil in google options.
As it has already been eluded to, there's tons of money there. In the last five years, every major consulting firm has an office in Dubai. Every major tech company has an office in Dubai Internet City. The city is organized into economic industrial units - Festival City, Healthcare, International Financial, Sports, Media, etc.
From the tech startup side, if you have a financial, native backer, you're fine to startup a company. There is a booming business for networking, like Cisco and Cisco partners. The market exists there for tech startups, but probably not for web startups as censorship of the Web varies.
As for lifestyle, it doesn't get much better than Dubai. It's a fantastic place to live. When you think about falseprophet's post, a lot of the same applies to LA, yet millions call it home.
As for local skilled labor, there are many people out there seeking jobs in Dubai from neighboring Gulf countries, and the growth of the Doha campuses are contributing to a young tech talent pool in the area.
Wash your shoes before you go: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23436226-details/...
And good luck... you're gonna need a lot of it!
While there, I met a guy who had started a tech company in Bahrain, and does work in Qatar and Dubai.
Pros: Lots of money down there, probably too much (they're often desperate to spend it and want "the best" regardless of price), low (or no) tax rates.
Cons: The obvious friction of being a foreigner, frequent need for bribes, incompetence due to lack of economic pressure (easy to fuck up if you have tons of oil money, and don't need to worry about it), lack of local skilled labor (you have to bring them in).
I also stopped by the CMU campus in Doha (I'm an alum of the Pittsburgh campus). They're doing some good stuff there, and there is potential. One big surprise was the high percentage of women in the program (above 50%).
Dubai also has a lot working against it: http://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=129848 .