Hello Bill,
After I posted that comment I realized it could use a little elaboration. It's always been my feeling that, because of the Internet, high tech companies can locate almost anywhere they choose. Well, maybe not the South Poll--Wired magazine reported last month that the scientists at the U.S. Antarctica research station get 10 hours of spotty Internet a day by bouncing signals off old satellites with decayed orbits. I suggested once to a guy that if PegaSoft ever hit the big time it should relocated to a place like Bracebridge. Near enough to Toronto to drive for meetings, but far enough away it's on the fringe of Muskoka. You've got fishing, hiking, rivers and watersports. After all, when George Lucas built his Industrial Light and Magic compound he put it out in the country. But the guy I was talking to replied, "Oh, no! You've got to build your headquarters in North York. That way you can make your enemies drool with envy as you drive by in your BMW." He was serious. But I thought that was a waste, spending all that money on revenge instead of having a good time. Bill Traynor wrote: > > That's right, I'd heard somewhere that you were from Sudbury originally, > Ken. So why haven't you taken your business back there? Not exactly, but my parents are up that way now. Two words: no people. You can always relocate a high tech company to the boonies, but you cannot start one there. The Internet has the downside of anominity and few will join you if you are faceless. Part of the myth of open source is that if you build a great open source project that people will flock to you. That's nonsense. After all, who the heck am I? Nobody, a faceless avatar lurking on the surface of the Net? Or a balding middle aged guy who has been trying to bootstrap a Linux company for 8 years, turning out award-winning Linux software but having no money to hire people to promote it? A company requires a core team to get it started and the core team has to meet face-to-face and know each other's strengths and weaknesses. One person with buddies known only by the Internet is not a team. And there has to be something at stake, a cost shared by the team. As I mentioned at the last PegaSoft meeting, we were three years in St. Catharines and a total of 7 Linux people came out to see what we were doing. We topped that with our second Toronto meeting. You need to find that core team that are in it for heaven or hell. Then you can relocate. Make no mistake: I despise Toronto. I'm not here for the clean water, fresh air and wholesome street vendor hot dogs. If anybody's in the Toronto area, come to the PegaSoft meeting Thursday Sept. 19. Maybe I can get out of Toronto faster. KB -- Ken O. Burtch: http://www.pegasoft.ca : Pegasoft System Manager in a Box / Business Shell : R.R.#1 Bio: 36;Bsc,UI,Lang,Games;Toons,Elves,SF,Pizza;Xian : Jordan Station, ON ````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Canada L0R 1S0
