5 ms·

Ask HN: Internship, a villa in Costa Rica, All paid for a month of startup work

3 points by hodaraadam 12y ago

I just launched http://www.trimpics.com and getting good traction, I am thinking of doing an internship for digital nomads, they will apply by sending a video telling about themselves and I will pick 2-3 people that I think might be a good fit. The idea is to rent a villa down in Costa Rica with all expenses included (including the flights), and bring 2-3 people for a month of growth hacking / content marketing and motivate each other to grow the business, at the end of the month if the interns are a good fit then offer them a monthly wage to continue working on my startup from wherever they want in the world. Ideas? Would you join?

MalcolmDiggs 12y ago
I'm a digital nomad, but no I don't think that would be attractive. It sounds like you'd likely leave the villa after a month with nothing to show for your efforts. In a vacuum maybe itd be cool. But in a competitive market, it doesn't seem like a good opportunity. If they wanted to go to Costa Rica, the average nomad (in my experience) could easily rent their own accommodations, pay their own travel, and have lots of money left over if they just took on regular contract work instead. So whats the pull with this? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something.
- hodaraadam 12y ago
  After a month if they prove themselves to be a good fit they will be offered with a monthly salary to keep working from wherever they want and this way become a digital nomad
techaddict009 12y ago
Will be accept entries from world wide? If yes then I will love too.
- hodaraadam 12y ago
  Of course!! , the idea is to accept entries from wherever and offer the opportunity to someone that is not a nomad yet to become one!
Teichopsia 12y ago
What sort of profile / knowledge / experience are you looking for? Heck, I'm up for it if you'll go for an extremely entry level candidate. No CS background.
- hodaraadam 12y ago
  I am looking for a hustler that will work with me mainly on growth hacking/content marketing/ guest posting , etc...Do you have a blog or ever written somewhere? thnx
  - Teichopsia 12y ago
    I've placed those on pause while learning how to code. http://teichopsia.svbtle.com/ http://teichopsia.svbtle.com/ http://www.leanpub.com/quantummadness http://www.leanpub.com/quantummadness
phantom_oracle 12y ago
Nice website. Bad idea. Bad - because you've provided no structured info about CR(Costa Rica). Have you researched the place yourself? No point pitching up to live in Villa le Paradise but there is no ADSL/Fibre to run your business. Go the other way around, let your interns hustle remotely. Being able to work remotely (as "digital nomads") means they should first show they are capable of such a thing. Make Costa Rica the onboarding-phase for fulltime hires (basically, a team-building exercise). Note, my suggestions merely add to your strategy. I still don't quite get what you are attempting by doing this, and would on a broader-scale, suggest you don't.
- hodaraadam 12y ago
  Im a digital nomad and live here in Costa Rica , did research on the place... To make Costa Rica the on boarding phase it is exactly what I want to do. I attempt to find good and interesting people to work with that can complement what I don't have, publicity to my startup if I make it awesome and market it as an innovative idea (work fom a villa for a month all paid, etc etc)
  - phantom_oracle 12y ago
    The biggest problem (I felt) was the rent-seeking nature of people. Once you've spent the major expense of bringing someone over, what prevents this person from taking his/her work very lightly and simply enjoying him/herself on a 1-month holiday? Even if you kick this person out, they'll pick up some boarding/lodging, but still managed to score a free (expensive) flight ticket.
    - hodaraadam 12y ago
      The idea is to do due diligence and find someoen that is really interested in startups/work/succeed and has some kind of proof record whether is his own blog, a very active twitter account , etc....also the main benefit is not the 1 month in Costa Rica but that after that you get to work from anywhere in the world if you are good...

3 points by hodaraadam 12y ago

MalcolmDiggs 12y ago

I'm a digital nomad, but no I don't think that would be attractive. It sounds like you'd likely leave the villa after a month with nothing to show for your efforts. In a vacuum maybe itd be cool. But in a competitive market, it doesn't seem like a good opportunity. If they wanted to go to Costa Rica, the average nomad (in my experience) could easily rent their own accommodations, pay their own travel, and have lots of money left over if they just took on regular contract work instead. So whats the pull with this? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something.

hodaraadam 12y ago
After a month if they prove themselves to be a good fit they will be offered with a monthly salary to keep working from wherever they want and this way become a digital nomad

techaddict009 12y ago

Will be accept entries from world wide? If yes then I will love too.

hodaraadam 12y ago
Of course!! , the idea is to accept entries from wherever and offer the opportunity to someone that is not a nomad yet to become one!

Teichopsia 12y ago

What sort of profile / knowledge / experience are you looking for? Heck, I'm up for it if you'll go for an extremely entry level candidate. No CS background.

hodaraadam 12y ago
I am looking for a hustler that will work with me mainly on growth hacking/content marketing/ guest posting , etc...Do you have a blog or ever written somewhere? thnx
- Teichopsia 12y ago
  I've placed those on pause while learning how to code. http://teichopsia.svbtle.com/ http://teichopsia.svbtle.com/ http://www.leanpub.com/quantummadness http://www.leanpub.com/quantummadness

phantom_oracle 12y ago

Nice website. Bad idea. Bad - because you've provided no structured info about CR(Costa Rica). Have you researched the place yourself? No point pitching up to live in Villa le Paradise but there is no ADSL/Fibre to run your business. Go the other way around, let your interns hustle remotely. Being able to work remotely (as "digital nomads") means they should first show they are capable of such a thing. Make Costa Rica the onboarding-phase for fulltime hires (basically, a team-building exercise). Note, my suggestions merely add to your strategy. I still don't quite get what you are attempting by doing this, and would on a broader-scale, suggest you don't.

hodaraadam 12y ago
Im a digital nomad and live here in Costa Rica , did research on the place... To make Costa Rica the on boarding phase it is exactly what I want to do. I attempt to find good and interesting people to work with that can complement what I don't have, publicity to my startup if I make it awesome and market it as an innovative idea (work fom a villa for a month all paid, etc etc)
- phantom_oracle 12y ago
  The biggest problem (I felt) was the rent-seeking nature of people. Once you've spent the major expense of bringing someone over, what prevents this person from taking his/her work very lightly and simply enjoying him/herself on a 1-month holiday? Even if you kick this person out, they'll pick up some boarding/lodging, but still managed to score a free (expensive) flight ticket.
  - hodaraadam 12y ago
    The idea is to do due diligence and find someoen that is really interested in startups/work/succeed and has some kind of proof record whether is his own blog, a very active twitter account , etc....also the main benefit is not the 1 month in Costa Rica but that after that you get to work from anywhere in the world if you are good...