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0 pointsnotahacker15y ago0 comments

Simply put, in a country where US$3000 is a decent annual wage, a company founder can hire more than one person to work with them on the kind of revenue they'd need to eat and pay rent in Silicon Valley.

On the other hand, it's still quite possible for a Philippines-based startup to generate most of its revenues from wealthier countries.

Silicon Valley is a mecca for entrepreneurs looking for funding to form fast-growing, high-risk companies, and startups that need elite developers to solve challenging technical problems. On the other hand, if you're looking to start a relatively low risk, medium-return business you're less likely to get investment in the Valley and less likely to run out of cash before you start making money in the Philippines.

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marv_in15y ago· 2 in thread

Could you set an example or parameter for what constitutes as low risk, medium-based business on the web?

Aside from local clones, I'm unable to think of anything that fits that bill. Especially if we're talking medium-return businesses internationally the likes which would be considered high-return in this country.

There's things like setting up your own online shops but that kind of setting is not conducive to forming a hub. Then there's the opposite spectrum of a cheap hub, places that as you describe makes it easy for any type of small businesses to form but it's certainly not the type of setting that could develop a culture of start-up support or hacker heartland.

notahackerOP15y ago

Niche self-service SaaS, Phone/Facebook apps and games, affiliate-driven product/price comparison/finding/recommending services...basically anything with a medium term strategy to generate profit rather than aggressive growth to attract buyers/investors... provided it doesn't need a US-based sales team, rare engineering skills or high non-people costs like up-front marketing, licensing or datacentres.

The fact that medium-returns internationally would make you rich in the Philippines is part of the appeal.

marv_in15y ago

Thanks for further clarifying. Unfortunately I feel these are very isolation-friendly types of concepts and indeed we have a growing culture of this but this tends to create "isolated" businesses not the type of culture that would need a tech hub. (It is also high-risk in this country)

Maybe I am mistaken since I haven't personally participated in a start-up but the appeal just often leads to our major businesses eating up the smaller businesses. If there are small businesses that do indeed grow from this without being bought, it becomes such a brand-centric concept that promotes copycats rather than idea inventors.

I hope I am able to convey myself clearly. It's not that I disagree with your idea, it's just that I feel we already have this already. It certainly could be faster or more aggressive but nothing that would develop an idea culture. Even in the money culture - I fear it would end up morphing too much like an online MLM type of educational/culture development - a concept who's offline variety is already very popular among the poor and even middle classes in this country.

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