How do you network when you travel?

[Rasmus Elkjær Frandsen]

Dear JFDI entrepreneurs,

Hugh Mason from JFDI told me that you guys might be able to help me. 

I am currently developing a platform called Startuptravels (www.Startuptravels.com). However, I do not know too much about Singapore, and how you network and meet other people when you travel. Not just in Singapore, but also when you travel abroad.

How do you connect with people? How and where would you like to meet people? Where did you go on your last trip, and what made this experience really good?

It would be very valuable for me to know this, in order to develop the platform.

I really appreciate your help.

Best regards,
Rasmus

[joyce]

Hi Rasmus - interesting that you asked! I'm currently travelling for a year and am exploring various startup ecosystems. Meeting startup folks - sometimes it's harder, sometimes easier. I mainly drop by meet ups recommended by Startup Digest, get introduced by friends, or just walk in to an accelerator / co-working space. I've found that the best way to meet is still the old fashioned way, by introductions :) 

Good luck with your platform - let me know if you have folks I can meet in Istanbul!

Cheers,

Joyce

Community Manager, JFDI

[Rasmus Elkjær Frandsen]

Hi Joyce,

Thanks for taking the time to write this to me.

I couldn't agree more - hopefully Startuptravels will make that process a whole lot easier.

I would love to help you finding some entrepreneurs you can meet where you are going. Shoot me an e-mail at r...@startuptravels.com, and we can talk a bit more about what kind of person you would like to meet, and for how long you are available in Istanbul.

Best,
Rasmus

Sincerely,

Rasmus Elkjær Frandsen

Founder @ www.Startuptravels.com

+1 (919) 808-8638 / Skype: rallerrazz

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[ni...@graduatejob.com]

Hi Rasmus

I've been doing the "digital nomad" thing for over a year now, another month... another city. Meeting up with new likeminded people is one of the best things about life on the road.

This is how I tend to approach it.

• Join a coworking space, sit next to people and get friendly. Go for lunch, get their thoughts on local events etc.
  
• Participate in small community startup-weekend type events, for example Focus55 in Saigon (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Focus-55/123935887708536)
• Have a quick look at meetup.com , but I tend to only attend fun events, not business ones as I dont find them that focused normally (but varies)
• Join facebook groups that are startup focused and look for events, ask questions about housing etc. For example Chiang Mai digital nomads (https://www.facebook.com/groups/cmnomads/?fref=ts)
• Attend events thrown by thought leaders, for example Empire Flippers in Vietnam recently http://empireflippers.com/empire-workshops-vietnam/
• Monthly Events organised through community forums, for example dynamite circle, stack that money etc.
• Throw my own event, coworking lunch out somewhere, or drinks in the evening somewhere

Typically I find the highest quality people at events from the paid online communities I'm a member of, to such an extent that I sometimes plan my travels around the dynamite circle (www.tropicalmba.com/dc) monthly meetups. Having a $100/m barrier to entry means only serious and successful people attend. Some people I know are spending around $500/m on various online communities and mastermind groups, in addition to the big yearly meetups. e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5moUJ2sGE8

I'm really interested to see if a community is launched off the back of https://nomadlist.io/ 

Nick

[Rasmus Elkjær Frandsen]

Hi Nick,

Really appreciate this great list of how you network - this is really valuable. I used to do the same, but I found it quite annoying, and time consuming, to have to use all these different platforms. 

Would you be interested in a platform, such as Startuptravels (www.Startuptravels.com), Nick? Or how do you look upon such a platform. If you'd like to know some more about it, I would love to show you the beta version of the product, we currently are testing. We are focusing on the meet-up function, and not the 'staying' or 'renting a desk' feature of the product. I am also following nomadlist with eagerness - that is an exciting startup.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this as well. Again, thanks for this list - really valuable information.

Best,
Rasmus

Sincerely,

Rasmus Elkjær Frandsen

Founder @ www.Startuptravels.com

+1 (919) 808-8638 / Skype: rallerrazz

--

[Wong Meng Weng]

On Friday, September 19, 2014 9:58:08 PM UTC+8, Rasmus Elkjær Frandsen wrote:

I used to do the same, but I found it quite annoying, and time consuming, to have to use all these different platforms. 

Would you be interested in a platform, such as Startuptravels (www.Startuptravels.com), Nick?

http://xkcd.com/927

[ni...@graduatejob.com]

Rasmus,

You are welcome to add me on skype: nickpeplow , anytime I'm online is a good time to chat. Why not just put your beta live right now? Worst thing that can happen is people start using it. 

To be honest, I'm still a bit confused about who your target market is. Your video talks about business professionals and features white guys in suits and ties shaking hands. But the name startup travels would imply that it's for 'digital nomads'. While both travel, they're at either end of the spectrum in terms of information requirements (which hotel, office space, restaurant and meetup etc). I think it would be worth you really niching down so you can attract the right people initially. I want to talk about where to find grassfed butter and coconut oil to make bulletproof coffee... wont have much in common with a business guy comparing the best western to a mandarin oriental.

Another challenge I think you will need to overcome is the "personality". A lot of the successful competition you are up against are fairly well known and have podcasts etc. The communities are a bolt on to a fairly successful machine that's already in place and I think it will be hard for you to get traction without showing your face and having a audience (or, while it pains me to say it - a "tribe"). 

Just so you know what you're up against, below are some forum topics from a community I'm part of discussing Saigon.

Job Board Sites for Hiring Vietnamese? 4 Replies

Sep Junto (9/18/2014) at Puppy & Cesar, Binh Thanh District 11 Replies

What would you bring to HCMC if you could do it all again? 8 Replies

Website for apartments + expat jobs 2 Replies

Is it Safe for Chinese-American to Visit Right Now? 5 Replies

Group Meditation in Saigon - Who's In? 18 Replies

Starting a DC "Condotel" 26 Replies

Pay What You Want - Leaving Hoch, got some stuff.

Ten tips with Saigon taxis 14 Replies

Drinking Buddies, CoWorking Partners - GroupMe: The Hoch Coach 12 Replies

Dentists in HCMC 6 Replies

Looking for a $800-$1K room in D1 - tips? 6 Replies

DC Hoch Father's Day Video Mashup? 2 Replies

Getting a New Visa vs. Getting an Extension 18 Replies

Need suggestions for condo's/villa's 10 Replies

Just arrived in Saigon. Introduction. 1 Reply

Echelon Ignite Vietnam - Sat, 19 Apr 6 Replies

Possibly heading to the Hoch... Got a couple Q's 5 Replies

Con Dao Island - Recommendations 6 Replies

The properties of the cafe in Saigon 10 Replies

---

And this is a location guide for Chiang Mai

What you'll find here: Cafes, strong DC community, outdoor adventures, cheap cost of living.

Best Area of Town: Nimman

Top Hotels:

• Baller: Kantary Hills, Shangri La, Le Meridian
• Business: Victoria Nimman, Agoda
• Budget: Sunshine House, Airbnb

Top Short/Long Term Accommodations:

• Baller: The Unique (40,000 Baht)
• Business: Sunshine House, Baan Thai, Greenhill Place
• Budget: House shares, hostels, guesthouses

Top Coworking Spots:

• Baller: Punspace
• Business: Play Cafe, Starbucks
• Budget: 9th Street, Coffee Bar, Jay Ju

Top Restaurants:

• Baller: Kantary Hills Carvery on Wednesdays
• Business: Salad Concept, Khun Churn (veg buffet), SP chicken (get a full chicken to yourself), Salsa Kitchen, Imm Aim
• Budget: Street food, Chiang Mai Market, Thai place across from Salad Concept

Top Bars, Pubs and Clubs:

• Baller: Warm up, Monkey Club, Infinity, 5-star Hotels
• Business: Nimman area bars, Beer Republic
• Budget: Zoes, Spicy

Top Gyms/Fitness Centers: 

• Baller: Powerhouse Gym
• Business: Hillside Fitness, Fitness Thailand
• Budget: Chiang Mai fitness FB group, free workouts every 2nd day at the stadium just north of the old city, Kawaii gym in the kad suan kaew mall.

GETTING THERE:

Airport Transfer:

• 120 Baht Taxis
• Hail a songteau (red truck) close to airport exit

Visa:

• 30 days on arrival.
• Go to Laos from Chiang Mai for a double entry 60 day visa (ie. 2 batches of 60 days). Add another 30 days @ the CM immigration office.
• Laos trip will take 2-ish days.
• CM Immigration renewal will take a few hours, or a day.

Sim Card:

• Dtac [Carrier] - 400 Baht/month 1G at 3G
• True [Prepaid] - Can buy at airport/7-11, top up at 7-11

[Rasmus Elkjær Frandsen]

Hi Nick,

This is really valuable feedback to me. I have not considered the ties and suits problem in the video before, but that is definitely something we need to look into changing. The idea we are trying to enforce is to connect entrepreneurs and business professionals around the world - not just traveling nomads. We want to make it easier to connect with likeminded people when being abroad. You probably know about the problem you encounter, when going somewhere new - you do not know anybody, and you do not know where would be best to go (depending on what you are looking for). Hopefully, a point of contact in the city could help solve this problem, and make your travel experience way better.

While there definitely is some competition, I haven't been able to find anybody that will, as we do, focusing on making it easier to connect one-on-one with other likeminded. I will be more than happy to send you a link to our beta version, so you can test it. I think by then it will also make more sense what we are doing.

We want to test a bit more, but will launch it on the 16th of October - so it will soon go live!

I will call you when I see you online, Nick. Thanks a lot, this feedback is amazing!

Sincerely,

Rasmus Elkjær Frandsen

Founder @ www.Startuptravels.com

+1 (919) 808-8638 / Skype: rallerrazz

[drllau]

For me, I wear 2 different hats (Asian correspondent for a UK professional members) and my own activities as IP broker

- trade shows ... press pass allows me to quiz people at the coal face of commercialising technology (I find this to be most productive as exihibitors pay to attend and therefore are in the mindset of communicating with prospects)

- invite investor only events, usually these are pre-filtered so I don't spot 

emerging/disruptive tech, but gives a feel for the maturity of the local ecosystem, take a careful count of the specialist support services as indicates stage/speed

- general meetups, or announcement of seminars - these are more social activities so I learn little directly useful but just talking with people may give you pointers in specific directions. For example, if I'm crafting an investment thesis in 3d printers, I might be interested in precision engineering (of nozzles) or computational fluid software tuned for colloid metamaterials, or just figuring out if there's a certain degree of momentum.

What I try to do is centre activities around a major event (eg TechDisrupt), then line up through personal/professional networks specific people or industries I'm researching, and in between scan for open events that I can go with a local (eg got invited to Philipines FDI). Those are personal contacts and you basically trade tibbits of pertinent knowledge ... hence my suggestion to improve your site

a) use LinkedinMaps to indicate a persons existing network

b) have an interest graph, much like those vari-sized tagword clouds

c) allow people to comment both publicly or privately on meetups, in the case of real concern have anonymous comments but this should definitely be a PAID activity to cut down spam (I did this once when I discovered a social-spoof attack on potential investors). 

My read is that you are doing a niche variation of LinkedIn but targeted at scouting startups ... have a look at how the US does talent sport scouting for say softball/football (an obvious extension of your concept .. you can look at different niches as opportunities come up). The best finds are usually not the obvious places but keep in mind that in the attention economy, time is the rarest element (meetings are not fixed, but need soft ranges)

Lawrence

http://www.linkedin.com/in/drllau

[lcll...@gmail.com]

Dear entrepreneurs,

For anyone located in and around chiang mai I created a video on how to network while your there. Since its one of the most popular travel destinations for working professionals figuredt this might help some of you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDHse-4Bya0 Let me know what you think by commenting if you like.

Levi LCL