Unable to find like-minded individuals in rural area.
This is my first HN submission and instead of submitting a Tech Crunch article, I am submitting a very perplexing question in which I seek a solution.
You see, I live in rural Eastern Canada (New Brunswick) in a town that has the population of ~6k people and I experience the difficulty of finding like-minded individuals to collaborate with on my projects and ideas. I know there are people in my area who have some similar interests as me (same as all of you, which I assume, is technology and entrepreneurship) but as there are no organisations to join where I could ultimately network with these individuals I seek, I cannot find them anywhere. You would think the internet would make this problem much easier to solve, it has not.
I have come up with some a tentative solution and a non-solution to my problem; I will start with the solution:
I have been thinking about organizing a start up weekend in my area. In the surrounding area there is a large satellite internet service provider and the data center for the worlds largest frozen foods manufacturer. Combine these two entities and I think I might be able to draw out enough people to cover the expenses of the event. However, in the event that I DO organize the event and not enough people show up, I would be left with covering the expenses of the event and that is something I cannot afford. (perhaps we could think of solutions to this problem?) I could perhaps sell tickets in which people must pay for the event in advance, but I don't think that would work..I could be wrong?
Non-solution:
Move. Simply put, even though it`s not as fast paced as Silicon Valley or any City for that matter, I love it here. I love being able to swim in nearby bodies of water without risk of..pollution, sickness and disease. I love the wilderness and the shooting at animals in the aforementioned wilderness. Moving is just something I don't want to do at this point and I will only endure this option when all else fails - I know I could move back, but I want to make a run at a start up in my area first.
So how do people in similar situations as me find other people to collaborate with on projects? I have many ideas, some larger than others, but they all don't seem as fun without having someone else to work on them with. Not to mention, they also seem like an insurmountable task to tackle on my lonesome.
26 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 68.3 ms ] threadclassy, it is appreciated!
I lived in rural Canada as well (st. Josephs Island, Ontario), and I found some overlap between the people that go to lan parties and those that hack - either for a hobby or for a living.
Another trick was to take out ads in the local rural papers (usually very cheap) to see if anybody was interested.
Even if you only find one person like that he or she will probably be able to point out a few more.
Once you have a little network going you can do the event and split the take together, I think that even if it is just a BBQ it will eventually draw a crowd of like minded individuals but I doubt that you will make that work on the first round, so start small when you have found a couple of buddies and make sure they understand they can bring anybody along that does something interesting.
But let me make one suggestion which is to not be so fixated on your area. Yes, it's great to have local collaborators but it's hardly necessary. There are plenty of tools that allow collaborators to work together no matter where they are.
The most famous example I can think of is David Heinemeier Hansson. He worked as a partner in Chicago based 37Signals even though he lived in Denmark up until a few years ago.
The truth is, whether someone's in another part of your rural community or in Denmark the collaboration itself shouldn't be that different (using tools like Skype, IM and even 37Signals' set of collaborative tools)
There is a big advantage in working together when you are face to face. A purely virtual idea you might get off the ground when you are spread out, but even then the feeling of 'working together' when you really are together is a different one.
Maybe it's just because I'm old or maybe it is because my experiences with collaborating remotely are a mixed bag (currently working with people in Panama).
It should not theoretically be necessary but I do find there is a huge difference in practice.
The bottom line is there's nothing you can do in person that you can't do with a Skype connection and a whiteboard program. Moreover as someone whose both worked with local programmers and worked with long distance ones I didn't find much of a difference. I'd almost always IM anyway regardless of whether the person was up the hall or in Prague
And for plenty of situations there is a middle ground somewhere where you work 'apart' for a while and then meet up for a bit and so on on some periodic schedule.
Dan Martell, an angel investor out here in the Valley, also is from New Brunswick and he's a phenomenal resource too.
As for propelict, they mostly concentrate on the 3 city areas of Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton. Again, not much going on in rural NB with them - perhaps I could leverage them, maybe they have some ideas for me.
Regardless, +1 for the info.
Also, having made some contacts through an informal gathering, you might meet people willing to help organise a larger event, and people willing to help you attract sponsorship for such an event.
My advice: move. Get out of this place as soon as humanly possible, and promise yourself that once you've established a good way to do something you love, you'll come back for visits as often as possible, maybe even once a week or for long stretches of time every now and then. If you become wealthy enough, you may even be able to have a second home there.
you have to be willing to sacrifice in order to get what you want. personally i think moving away from the distractions will be a huge benefit to your progress.
i'm sure it'll also be a huge benefit to the animals in the wilderness
Faced with the problem of finding a job with my weak resume, so that I can support myself in a new area on my own, leads me to believe it is much easier said than done.
However, you may be right in saying that by staying here I am limiting myself to something I CAN do opposed to what I want to do. But what I am asking, or even suggesting, is it not possible to stay here AND do what I want? There happens to be tons of industry in the area as far as farming, forestry and trucking go, there is just no apparent 'tech-sector' in my area. It's not that I am entirely opposed to moving, it's just that it would take one awesome opportunity to force me to move, something I couldn't turn down. [offers accepted.]
So to better revise my question; I am more or less asking how I can find people like me who already exist in my area, without relocating.
Furthermore, there's a selection effect working against you. Those people in your area most ambitious and talented with tech have likely already moved somewhere else more condusive to their ambitions.
2) Cold call CEO's and business owners in your area. They're great connectors. Pitch them a project you're working on and at least 1 out of every 5 you call will hook you up with somebody. Some of them may even become a great contact in and of themselves. Do at least 2 cold calls like this a day.
3) EVERYBODY's RESUME SUCKS EQUALLY, just some people can present theirs better than others. So the only difference between yours and everybody elses is whether you tell people it's "awesome" or sucky. so... tell people it's awesome and that you have amazing skills that are already proven through whatever project or school work you did.
4) If you like living rurally, for God's sake don't work rurally. You can find a job where you can work remotely, "telecommute" or whatever.
HTH Barnaby
First, start with a regular, weekly or monthly meeting. You can call it a technologists group or linux group or whatever, but given the size of your community you don't want to limit it to a single topic. I advise calling it a "Futurist Society" or "Optimist Club" or something along those lines.
Remember that the kind of people you want are less likely to think in terms of the words "startup" or "entrepreneur" or "hacker" or such in a rural area. They will describe themselves as "inventors" or "tinkerers" or say "try lots of small business schemes" or not recognize themselves as a group deserving a special label at all.
The meeting has to be scheduled and held at the same place very regularly, and that place has to be free. At first people will come infrequently and on the spur of the moment, and people will not join a mailing list to get announcements on the next meeting, so it has to be something like "Thursdays 7pm back room at Joe's". If appropriate, you can use your own house for a while, but that will eventually get old.
It's good to have pre-scheduled presentations and topics, but you don't have to, and you should allow walk-in topics of any sort.
Start by giving tutorials on things you know, such as installing linux or programming or whatever it is.
Solicit short show-and-tell presentations from whomever you can. One idea I would like to try, but I would need to write some scripts to dig the patent database and find them, is to find people in your area who have been awarded any sort of patent, and call them up and ask them to give a talk on the device, or the process of getting a patent.
Another good idea is to find someone who has had something manufactured via e-machineshop.com or mfgquote.com or something similar, and ask them to talk about the experience.
Keep a web page or blog and update it with a few notes about each meeting.
Once this has gone on for a while, and you have developed enough connections with good people locally, try having a barcamp style event on a particular technology or just starting businesses in general.
Yes, it is possible to meet people and work online, using all kinds of great web tools, but in the end, I still think sitting in the same space as your colleagues is the best way to go. It's how we naturally communicate, and it's still yet to be bettered.
Also, you'll find that if you get a project off the ground, and need to raise VC capital or other funds of any amount, if your address is Nowhere, Nowheresville, you really won't have much chance of anyone taking you seriously.
My advice = move, build your project in the right environment, then head back to the hills to enjoy the scenery.
Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.
For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.
How simple the writing of literature would be if it were only necessary to write in another way what has been well written. It is because we have had such great writers in the past that a writer is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him.
As someone who has lived in NB (Fredericton) for most of my life, I feel I can relate to your problem. Even though F'ton is a university town, and known as one of the more tech-centered places in NB, it is still seriously tough to find like minded individuals.
Consider that similar interests are just the first step in a successful collaboration. Finding someone you work well with, who also likes using the same technology, is difficult enough as is, especially in a small town.
I think it's a great idea to have a startup weekend. You probably don't need funding for an event; a meetup at an apartment or even a library meeting room would be cheap enough. Sites like http://meetup.com/ can make the planning easier. A good place to look would be your local universities and colleges.
That being said, I scratched my itch by moving to Vancouver. I couldn't be happier. There is much of the wilderness here that you enjoy, and it's not uncommon to walk past a bar while overhearing whispers of yet another start up idea.
Good luck!
I am just 50 minutes up the river in Woodstock, I also attended UNBF and I am very familiar with Fredericton. You make a valid point in that finding a like minded individual is only one step, finding one you can collaborate with is the obvious next step.
I have never spent much time in Vancouver, but I did live in the Victoria area while I was playing rugby and I did notice a vast technology sector without even looking for it. Props for scratching your itch, but I don't know if I am ready for that just yet.
Personally I moved from a 'small city' (Kitchener-Waterloo, something like 200k in the vicinity) to Toronto and immediately noticed the difference in the tech community... and by that I mean, I realized that, despite it's apparent reputation, there wasn't one in KW.
Seek out chess partners or whatever nerdy hobbies you prefer, offer "free entrepreur advice", make a weekly "technology meeting" and see what people show up etc. etc. etc.
You don't have to risk high expenses or consider moving already.
I just lived in a rural and isolated (2 hrs of a horrible mountainous drive to the nearest city) town of 3k, for 2 years. We just moved to the outskirts of a city of 3.5 million about 2 weeks ago, due to a distant family member becoming ill.
I was lucky enough to have found a programmer friend in the town of 3k, and we were able to go out for beers and rant and rant and rant about the industry, technology, etc. I think that was the only thing that saved me from going crazy. Other than that... I'm not sure if your attempts to find like minded locals will be too successful. You may find some friends, but they may not adhere to your moral objectives or, know the rootin' tootinest thing about technology.
All in all, we're loving being outside of a major city. We can go hiking, camping, hunting, etc... and it's just a matter of minutes away. We can also drive 10 minutes into the heart of the city, and get any type of foreign food in the world. That was actually the crux for us. Also, if you have kids, that's a completely different factor as well, and was a big one for us. We didn't want to shelter them too much to the "outside world", but didn't want them to get sucked up into it either.
It's the small things in life that make life wonderful, no matter where you live.
Hope you find what you're looking for!
Solution: move to a city.