I can comment on this, being from Oregon and living in Italy:-)
Basically, this kind of thing happens everywhere. It just happens more in some places.
Back to this:
> - There are some absolutely excellent open source developers who can be hired much more cheaply than the US.
I can confirm this. I think a valid strategy would be to open up the main office somewhere else, and do some R&D in Italy. There are good developers who don't cost as much as elsewhere.
Yes I confirm this. I live in Italy but the company I co-founded in San Francisco runs thanks to Italian engineering talent. And that's good for starting, not so sure when you raise round A - a good one. If you have money to spend it's probably better to move everyone to California. Don't you think?
However it's true that the quality of life in Italy is a lot higher than the Bay Area, but you need to stop fighting the system or be part of it if you want to have a really good life.
About your "this kind of thing happens everywhere", I'm not sure you are right. At least not in the high tech hubs around the world.
And again, do you think that Portland is like Italy? I've been there just a few times but my perception is completely different from the business point of view. When you are a tourist though, everything is fine pretty much everywhere.
What I'm saying is that corruption is everywhere, just in very different quantities. Truth be told, I think Oregon is generally a bit less corrupt and a bit more egalitarian than California is, but that's just my impression.
> If you have money to spend it's probably better to move everyone to California. Don't you think?
Not really - it's cheaper to hire someone in Italy, so with a given amount of money, you have more runway, or can hire more people. Also, the US immigration stuff sucks pretty badly and is not easy.
> And again, do you think that Portland is like Italy
I lived there a year. It's a nice place in a lot of ways, but not where I want to be. The weather ( http://forecast.io/#/f/45.5118,-122.6756 ) is very, very tiring for someone who likes the sun. You think it's bad in northern Italy... hah! It's a little bit bigger than I happen to care for (I like the size of Padova a lot), but without all things a really big, important city has. De gustibus... though, as they say. It's worth checking out in January to see if you can handle the weather, because it's a lot cheaper than the bay area. Oregon is a beautiful place to visit in August.
Feel free to send me email if you'd like to know more about Oregon!
Don't make me wrong davidw, Italy is one of the best countries on Earth to live with your family, but from the business point of view it's a nightmare. It's cute, unbelievably cute, but sometimes it's not enough to live a happy life.
R&D in Italy it's one of my dreams and remote working tools are out there to help, but in my experience it is very complicated to make it working in the long run when the company scale. You save money, but not that much. On the other hand you slow down a little bit the execution. It's just my own experience.
Basically, this kind of thing happens everywhere. It just happens more in some places.
Back to this:
> - There are some absolutely excellent open source developers who can be hired much more cheaply than the US.
I can confirm this. I think a valid strategy would be to open up the main office somewhere else, and do some R&D in Italy. There are good developers who don't cost as much as elsewhere.