New year, new direction

[haiqu]

Finally have my killer idea for the 7 Day Startup Challenge. Judging by similar businesses it should be worth about ... oh, I dunno ... $5 BILLION. :-)

Only five days to go before the challenge starts. I'm pumped. http://7daystartup.com/course-full/

[redbopeep]

Good for you! Are you doing the challenge? You'll have to keep us in the loop and let us know how you do

[haiqu]

Yep, I'm doing the challenge.

Unfortunately my great idea fizzled, so I need to find another one. About 40 companies are already doing it.

This looks interesting as a business idea:

https://www.antlos.com/en/

[delatbabel]

There are quite a few places in SE Asia where you could live comfortably and even almost luxuriously on $514 per fortnight. Maybe not Saigon, Hanoi or Singapore, but there is a significant retiree community in Nha Trang and I've spoken to several people there who live quite well on USD$500 per month. There are also parts of Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines where that sort of money would buy you a nice place (think 2brm furnished apartment with air con), and more than enough money for food and entertainment if you didn't need to dine out on expat delights every day.

If you had a boat and some lump sum to start with you could shell out some of that for some locals to drop you in a mooring somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand and the accommodation costs (other than fuel for going to and from shore) would vanish.

[haiqu]

Yep, I'm aware of all this, and it's a viable fallback position or Plan B, but I'm not dead yet and I'd like to have more mobility than that option would afford. Here's the thing:

Up until now, at least in recent years, I've had the philosophy that reducing costs was the way to go, due to my being accustomed to poverty. In fact I've totally refined this method of survival over a lifetime to the point where I've got a Ph.D. in it.

On many occasions I've attempted to break out of the cycle by investigating and acting on various entrepreneurial concepts and opportunities, working harder, intense private study, etc. but in each case I've ultimately failed and given up.

This year I'm giving entrepreneurship one last shot before resigning myself to mediocrity for my remaining years. Hopefully with past experience I can make a better fist of it this time. I've primarily been inspired by the new breed of internet startups and digital nomads. Think Airbnb, Uber, Stripe and Kickstarter for examples.

Even mediocre success - say an extra $2k a month of passive income - would totally change my options, especially when combined with a really good plan wrt Australian taxation. And I could assign myself an MBA.

Besides, I need a challenge. Retirement is pretty boring when you don't have the wherewithal to do what you really want.

[haiqu]

Speaking of MBAs (did you see what I did there? Nice segue, huh?) this website has some awesome podcasts:

TMBA319: The Mind Game of Making Over $100,000

[delatbabel]

Good luck. I remember watching a doco on a fisherman from Taiwan who was living on the streets at age 64, then hit on a business idea and is now a multi-millionaire with his own fish farming company.

[haiqu]

Thanks mate. Last one to a million bucks is a rotten egg. :-)

[Oldsquizzy]

How do you want this rotten egg, scrambled poached or fried?

[haiqu]

Squizzy: What a complete bastard *you* turned out to be.

[delatbabel]

Already earned my million bucks. No idea where it is now. Drank most of it I suspect.

[Auzzee]

'I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted.' ...W.C. Fields.

[haiqu]

Good morning.

The yacht second from right is a blow-in, he's only been there a day or so. Seems to be a Hartley Tahitian. Nice.

[haiqu]

I'm in a particularly jovial mood today, in fact I haven't had such a positive outlook in decades. I can't begin to describe why that might be, although I'm aware of the cause.

Seems as if an Aussie has pulled the greatest Indian rope trick ever. Makes Ned Kelly look like a total amateur in fact. This guy is an utter legend and should have a movie made about him.

Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto probably Australian entrepreneur, reports claim | Technology | The Guardian

[haiqu]

Originally Posted by delatbabel

Already earned my million bucks. No idea where it is now. Drank most of it I suspect.

I'm pretty sure I've earned more than a million bucks as well, considering one business turned over $250k a year for 6 years. But I certainly am not a millionnaire. It's all about how much of it you have left.

"He who dies with the most toys wins."

[delatbabel]

I can tell you one thing. I've had to renew my passport twice in 5 years and the current one's getting close to full as well. Every time I do so some wag from DFAT calls me and asks me if I'm wiping my bum with the pages. Couldn't die happier than a man with a stack of passports all full of stamps.

[Auzzee]

I had a similar problem in Asia. It's not helped by the many countries which insist on providing a full page visa; then there are the officials who specialise is stamping the middle of a new page, obliquely!
However I agree. I often 'read' my old passports and always they evoke wonderful memories.

I am constantly surprised by the many people I meet in the US who have never traveled internationally. They're missing out big time.
Cheers.

[Munchi Mike]

Dunno about you but I hate putting that much weight onto something that could float away. Expecting bureaucracy to stay static and get your check to you on time in Bulfreekingaria wouldn't be any way to live in my book. First mail strike and yer on the hook with a fishing line.
Guys up here like to go to Mexico and work freelance for Yanks on boats, but of course that doesn't always go the way it should either. Problem is that you end up with NO RIGHTS>
There are too many horror stories about boats being seized, confiscated and destroyed by ineptitude while owners sat in prisons suspected of smuggling or what have you.
I dunno how much clout the Australian Embassy in Bulgaria has, but my guess a guy would want to have a deck of aces up his sleeve when venturing into that kind of life.
I suggest keeping the building; can't beat rent coming in forever, and since you can work as a programmer online anywhere I'd put more eggs into that basket.
That's kind of the route we're looking at. Rent out the property and work online onboard. That's pretty much what you have set up now.
I always wonder though. They say, "OOOoooooooh, France is so expensive, or England."
Then HOW do the locals do it???????? Peasants and goat herders?
If you got down to brass tacks, which I've considered since the '70s, how little could you survive on?
Well a concrete boat wouldn't need anything. Not even bottom paint if there was no place to scuttle her free. Sail only no motor. Marry a European. That's a no brainer. There aren't too many places where a guy can live off the land, but the sea is bountiful, mostly. A guy I knew stayed in La Paz for a year surviving with a snorkel and goggles....diving for lobster and selling them to gringos. Eventually the locals caught on and threw him out and took his goggles and his customers. I've heard several people go the ESL route. English as a Second Language teachers. Could be good. no one would object to learning English eh?
You can't step on anyone's toes so anything you do has to be 'contained'. Relying on a stable economy and relying on it to all stay that way is also really scary, so investments can be eliminated without warning.
Then there's another thing. Old age. Medical overseas with no money? France has free medical for locals, thaz all I know.

[Munchi Mike]

"I am constantly surprised by the many people I meet in the US who have never traveled internationally. They're missing out big time."

Well since America is the center of the Universe, there really isn't anywhere else to go is there??

I'm joking of course but sadly it's the common mentality, and when they say "The World" they mean the US.


Whatcha doin' on the east coast?.

[haiqu]

Originally Posted by Munchi Mike

Dunno about you but I hate putting that much weight onto something that could float away. Expecting bureaucracy to stay static and get your check to you on time in Bulfreekingaria wouldn't be any way to live in my book. First mail strike and yer on the hook with a fishing line.

Check? Geez dude, that's so 1970's. Social Security goes straight into your nominated bank account, has done for decades. Even Bul-freakin-garia has internet banking.