In paul's book hackers and painters he talks about wanting to be where the greatest wealth is. Paul, and others what do you think about the potential of starting a company in dubai?
You need more than money. Where the money came from also matters. So Miami, for example, has a lot of money, but few startups. I'd expect the same pattern in Dubai.
I know that, you know that, and i think Dubai knows that, but i am wondering if they might go after it as another point of pride.
We finally decided to make the move to Silicon Valley, not because of the money, but because of the networking and learning resources available. Where else in the world can you find 2 or 3 hackathons in the same week?
I was more or less looking at if from the point of, if Silicon Valley venture money is 2-5 billion, well it feels like Dubai is just spending that with ease. I wonder how many tech companies will spring up just to cater to the rich. Silicon Valley was built by decades of government funds coming into the area. I just wonder what Dubai could build if it wanted to.
lol. No way. I am european, and moved to usa, (now in SF), and I just can't see people wanting to move to Dubai;
Unless a lot of cash is flashed (but this will make startups too expensive) or
Dubai becomes a multi-cultural liberal place, where you can go to clubs, drink alcohol freely, get laid, and all that without ending up in jail.
The place that is able to attract young folks, will be the startup.
Money is just one part of the equation.
Disclaimer: I have never been to dubai or silicon valley
BUT, I have a feeling that the wealthy people in dubai are not very accessible to the average american guy. You aren't going to meet them at parties and they probably won't take meetings with you just cause you have a cool webapp.
Whereas in silicon valley, you could run into some random guy at a barcamp or lecture with a couple mil in google options.
While by no means is Dubai going to be Silicon Valley, there are very encouraging signs for business in Dubai. I have spent about a month or two there over the past two years.
As it has already been eluded to, there's tons of money there. In the last five years, every major consulting firm has an office in Dubai. Every major tech company has an office in Dubai Internet City. The city is organized into economic industrial units - Festival City, Healthcare, International Financial, Sports, Media, etc.
From the tech startup side, if you have a financial, native backer, you're fine to startup a company. There is a booming business for networking, like Cisco and Cisco partners. The market exists there for tech startups, but probably not for web startups as censorship of the Web varies.
As for lifestyle, it doesn't get much better than Dubai. It's a fantastic place to live. When you think about falseprophet's post, a lot of the same applies to LA, yet millions call it home.
As for local skilled labor, there are many people out there seeking jobs in Dubai from neighboring Gulf countries, and the growth of the Doha campuses are contributing to a young tech talent pool in the area.
Yeah, seriously, Dubai wants you to think they're cool and progressive but they pull shit like the above link to make the other Middle Eastern states think they aren't too progressive.
I was in Dubai about 6 weeks ago, visiting some old college roommates.
While there, I met a guy who had started a tech company in Bahrain, and does work in Qatar and Dubai.
Pros: Lots of money down there, probably too much (they're often desperate to spend it and want "the best" regardless of price), low (or no) tax rates.
Cons: The obvious friction of being a foreigner, frequent need for bribes, incompetence due to lack of economic pressure (easy to fuck up if you have tons of oil money, and don't need to worry about it), lack of local skilled labor (you have to bring them in).
I also stopped by the CMU campus in Doha (I'm an alum of the Pittsburgh campus). They're doing some good stuff there, and there is potential. One big surprise was the high percentage of women in the program (above 50%).
