Its been awful quite here lately but thats not because nothing happens. Well Ill give a better update later.
Right now Im in Toftlund and this weekend Ill head to Copenhagen to participate in this years BarCamp. Its an un-conference so not that much is planned up ahead but I will most likely be doing a talk. The topic will be along the lines of My Experience With Bootstrapping A Rails Business In Prague.
Update 25th jan, 18 My slides: splashr presentation
– When we told people that we were moving to Prague for six month – everyone without exception asked why? . The why? was usually accompanied with a frowning face and a look that said are you crazy? . Let me try and see if I can explain it
Our goal of starting our own company has been to enjoy life and gain experiences while making money building software that works. We started this company to let us try something we probably wouldn t experience if we were working for an employer.
After setting up the company and working in Copenhagen for about 8 months we realized that it is not crucial for us to be stationed in Denmark to work for Danish clients. We had Danish clients but also clients we d never met and who were sitting in US, UK and Germany. We were web workers and all we needed was (roughly) a chair and good Internet and we could do our work. When we truly realized this fact and our lease in Copenhagen was nearing an end, we started to look at a map – in the beginning just for fun – but quickly it became apparent that we had to try to move to a different country.
We settled on Prague for a number of reasons – cost of living is cheaper (since we are still paid by Danish rates), trains and flights are frequent and cheap to Denmark and the rest of Europe and finally Prague is a beautiful metropolis with a thriving night life.
Our plans for our Prague adventure is to stay here for six months as a work holiday where we can get more value for our buck while we focus on developing products for other companies and one of our own products. Arb Design the company is still based in Denmark in terms of tax, VAT – it s just the two owners that are sitting in Prague for a while.
– After explaining this some people said I guess it makes sense in a way or I wish it was me – and a few continued to shake there head.
We have now been in Prague for nearly three weeks and moved into our new apartment Sunday and it already feels like home. At times we have asked ourselves whether or not it was a good idea to make this move – now I know it is.
Most of the decisions that have defined my life up until now have had their beginning in the small hours after a good night out – and this is no exception. My one year internship in Ann Arbor, Michigan was coming to an end and it had been a most amazing year – a very interesting job, lots of cool friends and lots of greats experiences. One night on the way home from the bars I walked with a fellow intern and we were talking about the ever-more threatening return to The Real Lifeâ„¢. Both of us graduated from our academic programs just before coming to the States so on our imminent return home we would be looking for jobs and settling down and all that stuff.
As we were walking home that fateful night the discussion turned to how sad it would be to get into the everyday life after this incredible year we had just experienced. And then my friend said – “we should start our own company together, do stuff we want to do and use all the great things we’ve learned hereâ€. The talk got intense and we had a lot of crazy ideas (as only drunk friends on the way home from the bars can have). We promised each other that we had to try to start our own company – if we failed then to hell with it – we are still young. No matter what it will be a great experience.
Five months later my friend Femi packed one bag and flew from Belfast, Northern Ireland – his home town – to Copenhagen, Denmark were I am living now. Our company Arb Design was made official September 1st. Sometimes I have to pinch myself, sometimes I wake up and think “what am I doing?!†and I’m not sure we fully understand what we set in motion here – but trust me we are having a lot of fun 
Stay tuned for more on the story of the life as an entrepreneur.