> Money has a different value based on location.
I have a hard time understanding the mentality behind statements like that. While currency may have different values based on location, time, effort, knowledge, experience shouldn't be so different in value. Don't you agree? I don't want to single out any countries, but just as an example, let's say American developers typically charge ~US$100 per hour, why would Indian developers charge US$15.00 (or vice-versa) for the same work? Doesn't that kind of "race to the bottom" simply de-value the profession and make things harder all around? If you have made the investment of getting educated, learning the technology, learning the business and can produce; you should be charging and getting paid accordingly, depending on the market, not your local currency or local minimum wage. When dealing with your local market, you will need to take local rates into consideration, but I don't see any reason to apply local rates and limitation to an international (Internet) market. I would genuinely like to know if I am completely off base, and if anyone has more insight on this.
It's been my experience that even without the visa issue, US companies tend to shy away from hiring remote talent. I am a US citizen with a solid mobile development background, and have gotten great responses from companies that have reviewed my resume, until they realize that I currently live outside the US. It seems that while the visa process may be an issue, getting over the "hurdle" of hiring remote workers still seems to be a major issue also.
I believe the OP said he has a European passport which would probably permit him to work in most parts of Europe. The US apparently is not an option because of it's immigration restrictions, so we probably could not consider Israel an option because of it immigration restrictions also.
Regardless of where you decide to build your start up there will be local dangers. Not sure of the stats but you are probably more likely to get taken out by a drive-by in California, or a mugging/beating in New York than a terrorist in Israel. The stress of knowing there are terror attacks is probably what will get to you first. I don't think the OP mentioned stress/crime free environment as one of his pre-requisites, but if that place exists, please let me know about it.
I think that while there seems to be a very active startup community in and around Tel Aviv, I think it could only be considered a real option to people of Jewish decent (who can prove it and are willing to go through the "Aliyah" immigration process) or if you are married to an Israeli. With those barriers for entry, Tel Aviv (Israel) pretty much drops off the list. I must say, though, that there is definitely no shortage of talent in Israel, with fresh and eager graduates from Israels Technion, Tel Aviv University and the University of Be'er Sheva.
Here is a link to the list of supported locations for developers who want to sell apps. Seems kind of short but I'm keeping my Android developer account open in the hopes that this list will get significantly longer in the near future.
http://market.android.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&an...
Exactly, thank you, that's important for people to know if they are planning to start developing for the Android platform and expect to get paid (directly). Too bad I figured it out AFTER paying the registration fee.
Hope you're in the United States or some other country that Google decided to support. I don't mean to sound bitter, but I'm in Israel and it's seems that even with a decent size Google presence here, Israeli Android devs can not sell apps on the Google Marketplace. I found this out AFTER I paid the signup fee. That was about 9 months ago, and Google still hasn't responded to my emails requesting a solution. So, you should basically check, and double check that your country is supported if you want to sell apps and get paid.
Wow, I guess race is too complicated, even for Hackers. I read your post yesterday and I have since been thinking of how I could post a comment that would express what I think, being a member of a "minority" from Harlem, without sounding like I'm paranoid, or complaining. Something intelligent and not too emotional. I'm still thinking, but I figured I would post SOMETHING. I was kind of surprised/disappointed that there weren't more comments. Then again, maybe the lack of comments says enough.
My wife and I had considered storing cord blood for our second child (now 1 year old). We ordered the kit and in the delivery room the nurse had begun unpacking and asked us to sign a form authorizing it. She briefly explained the process where, after delivery, she would cut the cord immediately in order to "capture" as much as possible for storage. I guess we hadn't thought the whole thing through because this concerned us. It is my understanding that it is recommended that the new born be left with the cord intact for as long as possible, until the cord goes white (empty) because that blood makes up a large percentage of all the blood the baby has, which provides the baby with what s/he needs for the first part of his/her life. So by not letting this blood flow back into the baby we were essentially jeopardizing it's health from the get go. My wife and I are not doctors and this is only my opinion but we decided to not store the cord blood and let the baby have all of it, hopefully giving her a head start to a happy, healthy life. I would suggest reading up on what possible problems may arise when the cord is cut too early. Just something to take into consideration.
Thank you for the great comments everyone. I spent a few minutes playing with their app. It's already on the app store and it's free (so much for undercutting). While they've created a great app, I have a few ideas that may give my version a good shot. I'm going to sit down and have a think, put some more ideas together. Thanks again for the great input.