The term that is conspicuously absent from that article is "tax", most probably they will have the ship registered to Panama or some similar and will not pay any tax when doing business with the Valley. People suggesting Singapore or Canada miss this point.
But apart from that, just think for 10 minutes, and you'll see how mind-bogglingly bad this idea is. Living in confined spaces with N other coders (that you didn't choose) most of the day is bad enough in a company space where you can actually go home or go out every now and then. Doing so in a ship is insane.
I had heard some horror stories about how Microsoft treated its temp coders from India. Similar stories for Asian nannies in Arab countries are dime a dozen on the news. Basically, if you accept work in an environment where you have unclear legal rights, exploitation is generally the next step. So, maybe if your code breaks the build, you'll have to walk the plank in this place.
>Living in confined spaces [...] is bad enough in a company space where you can actually go home or go out every now and then
The ship is supposed to be parked 12 miles off SF. It's like a regular job, you live in the city and commute by ferry. You don't like it, you stop going, and if they somehow try to prevent you from leaving then international piracy laws come into play.
You're comparing an incubator space for entrepreneurs to Arab households hiring Asian nannies? OK.
Even the Microsoft comparison is not the same because Microsoft and the temps were not aligned with equity stakes.
Living with other coders actually would be appealing to some people. To those who do not find it appealing I would suggest they don't use Blueseed's services. I am not sure why there is confusion around this point. Blueseed is proposing an incubator space, not a slave ship.
There is no way Blueseed is going to make money on this by using commodity labor. I think the only way this is successful is if their equity stakes provide an outsized return on investment. So it will only work if Blueseed attracts the best and brightest and sets them up to succeed. Why would Blueseed risk getting a reputation for exploitation?
No, I'm comparing working at a place where your rights are secured by law to a place where they aren't or it's not clear what rights you have, hence the nanny example.
"There is no way Blueseed is going to make money on this by using commodity labor."
I think this is exactly what they have in mind, otherwise why not just build/buy someplace near SF. Or if it's the ship idea that attracts the "best and the brightest" why not just park it somewhere on the shore near the city, why does it have to in international waters. The only explanation I can come up is that they will use cheap Asian and Indian labor. If you have an alternate explanation, I would like to read it.
Comments
The term that is conspicuously absent from that article is "tax", most probably they will have the ship registered to Panama or some similar and will not pay any tax when doing business with the Valley. People suggesting Singapore or Canada miss this point.
But apart from that, just think for 10 minutes, and you'll see how mind-bogglingly bad this idea is. Living in confined spaces with N other coders (that you didn't choose) most of the day is bad enough in a company space where you can actually go home or go out every now and then. Doing so in a ship is insane.
I had heard some horror stories about how Microsoft treated its temp coders from India. Similar stories for Asian nannies in Arab countries are dime a dozen on the news. Basically, if you accept work in an environment where you have unclear legal rights, exploitation is generally the next step. So, maybe if your code breaks the build, you'll have to walk the plank in this place.
>Living in confined spaces [...] is bad enough in a company space where you can actually go home or go out every now and then
The ship is supposed to be parked 12 miles off SF. It's like a regular job, you live in the city and commute by ferry. You don't like it, you stop going, and if they somehow try to prevent you from leaving then international piracy laws come into play.
You're comparing an incubator space for entrepreneurs to Arab households hiring Asian nannies? OK.
Even the Microsoft comparison is not the same because Microsoft and the temps were not aligned with equity stakes.
Living with other coders actually would be appealing to some people. To those who do not find it appealing I would suggest they don't use Blueseed's services. I am not sure why there is confusion around this point. Blueseed is proposing an incubator space, not a slave ship.
There is no way Blueseed is going to make money on this by using commodity labor. I think the only way this is successful is if their equity stakes provide an outsized return on investment. So it will only work if Blueseed attracts the best and brightest and sets them up to succeed. Why would Blueseed risk getting a reputation for exploitation?
No, I'm comparing working at a place where your rights are secured by law to a place where they aren't or it's not clear what rights you have, hence the nanny example.
"There is no way Blueseed is going to make money on this by using commodity labor."
I think this is exactly what they have in mind, otherwise why not just build/buy someplace near SF. Or if it's the ship idea that attracts the "best and the brightest" why not just park it somewhere on the shore near the city, why does it have to in international waters. The only explanation I can come up is that they will use cheap Asian and Indian labor. If you have an alternate explanation, I would like to read it.
I'd live in a confined space with n random coders who are talented enough to be on the ship anyday!