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Photo credit: Chris Osborne
There are thousands of startup founders who have ditched their belongings, families and the west to move east to leverage geo arbitrage — and right now, I believe, is the best time in history to do so.
This trend and movement is growing exponentially. Lower over head costs, better work/lifestyle balance, access to more talent who want to work remotely and great opportunities to learn, network, and travel are just some of the reasons entrepreneurs are moving to South East Asia to bootstrap their startups.
Having done this for close to a decade now, I wanted to share why I continue to live in Southeast Asia, share what I have learned so far bootstrapping several startups here, and most importantly; let entrepreneurs know what they are potentially missing out on.
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is a huge place (according to Google, 4.5 million square kilometers), and it’s not equal. Singapore is one of the most expensive countries in Asia, let alone Southeast Asia, and simply cannot be compared to the craziness and the cost of living, pace etc. in say Thailand or Vietnam.
I want to focus on biggest hubs for bootstrapped startups right now, which include Thailand (Bangkok, the Southern islands and Chiang Mai), Vietnam (Saigon and Hanoi) and Bali in Indonesia.
These hubs are not only cost efficient to live in, but also have concentrated groups of entrepreneurs thanks largely due to the co-working spaces that have grown and fostered the entrepreneurship community’s in each location over the past few years.
If you are new to Southeast Asia and are considering venturing out here to test bootstrapping a startup here, I can’t think of a better itinerary than to include Vietnam, Thailand and Bali to find out what works best for you.
Flights between the three countries cost next to nothing and all offer amazing work/living lifestyles, yet offer totally different vibes, experiences and pace.
So here goes; my reasons why you should consider bootstrapping in Southeast Asia are as follows:
Different mindset
Most bootstrapped founders in Southeast Asia don’t have an “exit strategy,” like most startups in the valley and in other major startup hubs do.
Most entrepreneurs I’ve encountered here have no desire in raising financing, giving up control and/or building a large company with offices, board meetings and staff.
In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Most entrepreneurs here want to solve problems and have a great work/life balance that can be managed from anyone.
It’s all about freedom — freedom to work where we want, with who we want, how we want, and when we want.
Please read the above again. And again.
To me, this is the essence to a great life. You lose this when you take venture funding. (Try calling your investor up and telling them you’re going to tour around Laos on a motorbike for a month. Ha!)
This is what’s great about Southeast Asia – there are hundreds, if not thousands of entrepreneurs who get this and value work/life balance and freedom over anything else.
Cost Of living
Bootstrapping a startup is hard, so why make it any harder when you can increase your run rate by 10x by moving out to Southeast Asia?
You read that right. You can buy yourself 10 months of living costs for the price of one month in the Valley or in London.
Here are some examples:
Delicious local street food in Thailand will cost just US$1-US$3 per meal.
A coffee in boutique coffee shop with their own roasting machine, and fast wifi, will set you back no more than US$2
Apartments can start as low as US$300-US$500 per month with air-con, especially outside the major cities.
A bag of laundry washed and pressed will set you back a couple of bucks. I haven’t done any laundry for a decade now.
While the low end of the spectrum is appealing for many, Southeast Asia gets super interesting when you’ve got some paying users at your startup and can level up in comfort:
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