> The main reason I think Asia/Australia/NZ etc are an important missing link for the global startup ecosystem is that there's a big gap from 5pm to 2am SF time where no one is working. That's a 9 hour gap where bugs can be fixed, support can be given, and features can be shipped.
This requires a very mature org that has a really strong culture of clear, written communication. Not very common, IME.Or is it just something that US-led startups don't think about?
One of the first things I think about when I'm launching a new startup is "How will I service clients in the US or Europe when I'm asleep?", I'd hope that global companies think about Asia that way too.
> One of the first things I think about when I'm launching a new startup is...
Probably just you; most startups I've worked with are highly focused on the US market because of the additional regulatory requirements around EU-based customers and necessity for localization for Asia-based user base.EU-customers come at a second phase of expansion and Asia-based customers are probably an afterthought until they've saturated growth in the US and EU. Asian markets are notoriously hard to get right and local alternatives typically have a leg up in terms of marketing and GTM.
To be clear, I don't disagree with you. Current org has an on-call schedule, but that on-call schedule cannot really be 24h without coverage somewhere on the other side of the world.
That's pretty much it. There is a significant cost to doing this, and the talent pool in Australia just isn't deep enough to necessarily make it worthwhile.