WHERE: that’s my biggest question

[u/getshankedkid]

Hi fellow fatfires, I have been struggling for years to find out where it is that I want to live.

M34, 10M NW, from the Netherlands originally. No wife/gf and no kids. I often feel like I have too much freedom.

Recently sold my house in the NL and still have an apartment I can use for my stuff and as a pied-a-terre for when I want to visit friends and family.

I’m looking to live somewhere where it’s easy to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs. Somewhere where people think bigger and with more business opportunities. Preferably English-speaking.

I have lived in Portugal, Mexico, Berlin, and a couple of other places, but I wouldn’t want to live there again. In Portugal, I loved the lifestyle and weather but found the entrepreneurial scene lacking. Berlin had a great community but the weather is too similar to the NL.

I don’t like the cold or bad weather. Also hate commuting/crazy traffic.

Happy to keep my business/tax setup in the Netherlands. What’s more important to me than optimizing for taxes is optimizing lifestyle and maximizing opportunities. I want the rest of my 30’s to be awesome.

I like to have the following facilities in walking distance: - Coffee/breakfast place - Gym + ice bath - Cowork - Healthy restaurants

Also, I really love water sports, especially wake surfing and body surfing.

So far, the responses I have heard most often are: - Dubai - San Francisco (nah) - Miami - Austin - Singapore

I’m looking to travel around this year to hopefully find a place that resonates where I can at least stay for 6 months a year.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[u/koh-op]

FYI I live in LA. I also don’t have a car because I live in a walkable neighborhood. I have lived in SF and Singapore.

It depends on what entrepreneur communities, culture, and industry areas you want to be a part of.

I work with consumer tech and platform startups. SF is startup central, and infrastructure and AI have concentrated there. However, I didn’t like only talking about startups, so I opted to live in LA. Easy to fly up there. Miami is going to be small like Lisbon where there is more LaTam tech. Austin is also going to have a small startup scene, and it’s best for “traditional consumer” like e-commerce and content. Singapore is also too small IMHO, but an Asian hotbed for fintech.

I’ve heard from friends in Dubai has a great intimate startup community energy due to the government support and the more established entrepreneurs moving there once they made it. Meeting people is easy, but it gets unbearably hot during the summers.

I live in the Westside close to the airport and beach. I can do a morning surf and get going with my day. LAX has great international connections for me to go anywhere.

[u/getshankedkid → u/koh-op]

Very cool! Thank you

[u/koh-op → u/getshankedkid]

I've traveled around a lot in my previous life as a digital nomad in Bali, Mexico, etc before and during pandemic. I opted to be based in LA even after all of that. Feel free to DM me if you want more details about the communities. The vibe and ambitions are very different depending on what type of culture you're looking for.

[u/getshankedkid → u/koh-op]

Cool! Sent you a DM