Wanted: a cofounder willing to move to a Moroccan surf town | Hacker News Reader

Wanted: a cofounder willing to move to a Moroccan surf town

thebluehouse.io

39 pointsyallahaline21 comments

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8716050

My humble advice is find a co-founder first and then both of you decide to move to Taghazout. Trying to find your co-founder is more important than the location. Mixing the two could be a recipe for disaster. The most difficult thing in the life of any startup is finding the right co-founder. Best to run solo than getting it wrong. All the best.

I'm curious as to why the author seems to be so set on Taghazout specifically.

Already popular with entrepreneurs Good surf/yoga/creative/authentic vibe Close to an international airport Sunny and different from Europe :) http://www.thebluehouse.io/blog/2014/12/1/why-this-american-...

Slightly off topic: I love the thought of working at an awesome location. "Surf town" sounds really fun. But as a developer, I cringed hard when I saw the picture of them actually working. I know it's only a picture and I'm sure he wants to convey a cool vibe, but it looks really haphazard. Hopefully they have other rooms with more comfortable workspaces.

My ideal setup is a multi-monitored station with a nice chair and an awesome view of a beach.

I'm imagining a surfer zen master saying, "dude it is not the size of the screen that matters, but what is in the mind."

Surfing Zen Master has a point. I work every day on a laptop switching between my browser, Slack, and a full-screen 80 column terminal.

Yeah, different needs for different people & tasks. But there's nothing intrinsically wrong or difficult with working on just a laptop.

I dream of being able to work on just an e-ink tablet with Bluetooth keyboard...

What about ergonomics? don't you think a desktop computer helps here?

Maybe, but working fewer hours and taking breaks is probably more important. Sitting down for hours at a time while being stressed and tired is bad no matter the perfect battle station, ya know?

Maybe I'm thinking of a somewhat utopian scenario, but I'd take a laptop plus a nice house in a nice environment over most office rooms any day.

And I think it's really important not to overwork. To the point where I'd optimize everything around it. If the software I'm making requires me to be at a computer coding or fixing bugs for eight hours every day, I'd consider that a problem to be fixed immediately.

But that's a much larger issue!

Anyway, different strokes, and it's great to have someplace to sit, but even if you give me a private office I'll probably migrate towards the kitchen table if only to have better coffee access—or go outside.

We also have inside nice desk chairs and tables, and are looking to install a laptop stand, and standing desk :)

I figured and that's why I almost didn't even post my comment. But the picture was chosen for a reason, so I was curious if I'd get any comments from people that the picture appealed to. I would guess it'd be a good environment for developing business plans and strategies.

> My ideal setup is a multi-monitored station with a nice chair and an awesome view of a beach.

I had that in Hawai'i. It's more of a distraction than you might think.

We just got back from 6 months in Morocco. We work with technology. Me: programmer. She: designer. Dog: just does the cute thing. We travel by camper van.

I'll contact your site and we'll drop by in the Fall if you all will be around.

Cheers- Matt

Posting from Marrakech via hotel WiFi to confirm that the internet seems to work reasonably well in Morocco, FWTW. Perhaps Taghazout is cooler, but, personally, I'd find it hard to get work done in this 45 C heat.

It's usually around 20 to 30C, with a nice breeze. Marrakech has a different weather altogether.

Cool! I am doing something similar in Nicaragua. Best of luck to you!

Curious about your burn rate in Nicaragua and level of safety. Care to share?

What about infrastructure? High-speed internet? Security? Government bureaucracy? Cost of living? Business opportunities? Increased equipment corrosion?

A 'surf' town sounds great. But I just moved away from a popular tourist destination in Brazil, due to some of the above concerns.

For the participant to the program: internet is good enough, but I'm looking to get a much better plan in the fall. Security is not a problem. For the cofounder: bureaucracy is not as smooth as in Europe or North America, but it's nothing impossible. Some products are not available in Morocco, but you can easily get them from Europe. Clients are mostly coming from Europe and North America :)

Just curious, where were you from?

Maybe I'm just jealous but has this concept of a startup retreat achieved any real world success stories someone can point to? Wouldn't being isolated in a remote corner of the world put a real damper on being able to build business relationships?

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