Bootstrap CEO: Thailand Edition
When I came up with the idea and started building SHERPA, I was already in Thailand as a backpacker / freelance designer for a friend who lives here for similar reason to why I’m still here… Like minds, fairly solid internet infrastructure, and cost of living.
SHERPA is not funded, at least in the traditional sense of the word. We are building a very complicated web app on a 2 person team and very minimal funding (somewhere in the 4 digits). But this is possible mainly because in Thailand we have the luxury of a very very low cost of living. To give you an idea… I live in a very decent 2 bedroom house in a beautiful booming town in the mountains of Northern Thailand for THB4000, which is about US$130. My cell phone is less than $10/mo, my home hard-line and my portable 3G wireless internet totals about $50/mo. Food on most days comes to less than $2 per meal, and when I splurge and go all out, it can cost a whopping $7.
For the first 6 months I lived here, I did so on around $600 per month, and I didn’t really need to budget too much. Due to the success of other projects, I have been able to up my monthly income a little bit, so I was able to buy a motorbike to get around, and a new 27 inch iMac, as well as have a little more fun. None of which was completely necessary.
The point is, that if I were to be back in the States, nonetheless in the Valley, I could not have made SHERPA happen. Not unless I came into some money or had enough connections to get my idea across to some VC, or at best get in one of the startup funds. I didn’t have the luxury of money, but i did have the perseverance to make shit happen. If you cannot work in your surroundings, or make your surrounding work for you, then change your surroundings.
Maybe one day in the coming future we will have solid revenue, or a bit of venture funding, and things may be a bit different, but don’t let money get in the way of your idea’s. Not only can living in other Countries around the world make for a good ‘lifestyle design’ case study, but it could be a viable option for up and coming startups.
The final version of our mascot icon. Created by Soft Facade.
I’ll write alot more about the process, building the app, and all the fun stuff I’ve been doing here in Thailand, but for now, you can get a sneak peak and sign up for the beta version if you are interested in using actionable analytics to help your website or blog convert better!
SourceControl: The Truth About Outsourcing
I’m not usually one to toss around affiliate links anywhere but in my sidebar. I’m also not usually one to buy ebook type products without the recommendation of a trusted friend. But SourceControl caught my eye, offered a solution to a question I was debating with myself about, and is damn beautiful and clean, being a UX designer, that’s a good selling point. And after spending the last week soaking in and thoroughly enjoying the authors blog, MuseLife.com, I figured, what the hell. I was pleasantly surprised.
I’ve been thinking alot about jumping on this outsource bandwagon alot lately. I managed to avoid it for the last 2 years since I read 4HWW, and heard all the horror stories. But now I have a need for it, and it’s hard living in such a beautiful place while dealing with so many time-wasting menial tasks. Also I am getting close to launching SHERPA (which I’ll talk more about later) and need some help with transcribing, support desk tasks, ect. so I am not spending 13 hours a day shuffling through a helpdesk requests like a close friend has been doing since his web application launch 3 months ago.
This isn’t really a review, except that I can say that if your looking to outsource anything from web design to calandar management, this ebook is A MUST. SourceControl is the best comprehensive, no bullshit guide to outsourcing and managing your Virtual Assistants, hands down.
I have officially taken the leap onto the outsourcing bandwagon, and I did it with confidence and control. Highly recommended.
Thailand, Lifestyle Design HQ
I originally came to Thailand to work with a friend to design and help build his internet marketing / software / money making course, and I didn’t have plans beyond that. I fell in love with this place, and I fell in love will what could be accomplished in such a place.
The real killer thing about being a ‘lifestyle design’ type in a place like Thailand, is that it offers the ability to live an amazing lifestyle for what most people spend on a car payment back home in the States. Allowing you to have unpressurized time and money to focus and build your ‘muses’ or business. And your not the only one.
Sit inside a coffee shop in Bangkok, Pai, or Chiang Mai, and you will most likely meet someone who has escaped their 9-5 with the new updated audiobook of 4-Hour Workweek in their iPod and working on their muse, or some sort of young entrepreneur working on their ebook, online course, or blog. This is a great place to network with like-minded people.
I’m sure you know some of them… Cody Mckibben, Dwight Turner, Justin Dupre, and in a few days, Sean Ogle.
Cities should be fun — a little design innovation goes a long way to change behavior
And I’m Back…
Ahhhh. It’s been so long. I’ve been on a whirlwind of a ride for the last year that had me in Costa Rica, Panama, and now Thailand. Talking about keeping it super simple - I’ve been living out of a backpack. Now I’ll settle down for a bit here in Pai, Thailand while I work on some really cool projects.
My first of these projects, I began work on while in Costa Rica, and is none other than a super-simple web based ‘To-Do’ app that piggybacks off of Twitter. I will talk more about that soon though.
Looking forward to being back.
Neuro-Interpretation, Twitter, and Tumblr.
Neuro-Interpretation (is that even a real word?) of blocks of information are a huge factor in the success of sites like Twitter & Tumblr and a perfect model of how ‘simple’ works better.
Huh? It’s not as complicated as it sounds. What it really comes down to, is our brains ability to be engaged easier through small chunks of information. If you visit another blog that uses large paragraphs, small type, inside of a large content area, you should understand. It is incredibly hard to be engaged because our brains are always trying to find an easy out.
By breaking blog posts, emails, letters, ect. into smaller paragraphs and limited relevent information, our brains are more willing to work through the data because your tricking it into believing that you have less to interpret. In short, our brains are lazy.
Think about it? If your brain will allow you to…
I used to have about $30K in recording studio equipment which I’ve managed to unload over the last 6 years after I closed my studio. With today’s technology, I can do everything I could do then for less than a $2K investment and without all the bulk.
29things is a blog about lifestyle design, productivity, and entrepreneurship. Life is amazing and I don't want to spend 1/3rd of it in a cubicle. We are the architects of our existence.
