How to work remotely in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

I’ve actually been working really long hours and haven’t had time to write up much. So here’s some quick notes:
-Skype: everyday I’m amazed by skype and the same goes for everyone that is still discovery this service. For team meetings/conference calls it’s works fantastically. I love how within one click I can also go to video which offers a friendly face and reduces home sickness.
-415 phone numbers: once again skype has offered a fantastic soluiton, I signed up for the “online phone number“which cost $18 for 3 months. I give that number out to friends, family and clients and when they ring 1 415 670 9444 it calls my computer/skype. There’s voicemail too.
-FREE calls to the U.S.: unbelievable, google voice has come through big time. You see that “Call Phone” link in your live chat section:

If you set up a google voice account for free you can call the U.S. for FREE! It’s crazy and it totally works. Call quality is actually better than my Att Iphone in San Francisco.
-Internet connection: great connection in the apartment here.
-Productivity: I’ve really enjoyed being 4 hours ahead and getting work done before anyone is up. It’s made for long days as I usually work in the morning here, then do San Francisco hours, then most people work their side projects when get home…so, 14 hour days have been common. BUT, it’s partially why I am here in Rio. To focus on work and physical therapy…with surfing in between.
-Cafe’s to work from: I have yet to find and cafe’s that offer internet. Actually, I haven’t even seen someone working on a laptop yet in public (I’ve been all over the city too).
-Mobile phones: this is amazing…Rio is way behind the times when it comes to technology. You see very few people on cell phones in public and don’t even bother selling your mobile business models here. Smart phones are even more scarce.
-Shared office space: I haven’t found any shared work spaces in Rio De Janeiro yet. Please send along any that you may know of.

More to come…Erik

Rio De Janeiro – My Initial Impressions

Botafogo Apartment View

Brazil has been all over the news lately ny times the economist, so I packed up my life in San Francisco, lined up a 3 month apartment swap with one of my many Brazilian start up friends at Rocket Space, San Francisco and booked a flight to Rio De Janeiro.

I’ll be keeping notes from what I see here. So far, my snap judgement is that there’s a lot more hype than what is really happening here. I think the news media is once again pushing hard for a story.
Observations:
General infrastructure: with the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics coming to town I was expecting to see construction everywhere.
-Airport, they haven’t touched anything yet
-One bridge: only visible construction going on is a bridge (small) offering a more direct route to airport.
-Metro/Subway: nothing being done.
-Language: there isn’t a lick of english or any other language displayed through out city. Subway, buses, signs etc.
-No construction cranes on the horizon

City:
Having traveled to 30+ countries, I can say that Rio is odd to me…I know that Brazil is a developing nation, but I was expecting more out of Rio in terms of infrastructure and modernization. It reminds me of Cuba in a way that it feels as though nothing has been done to upgrade the city since it was originally built. Like I said, there are NO cranes to be seen on the horizon, the largest construction project from what I’vee seen so far is the renovation of the 1922 Hotel Gloria by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista. I’ve only been here for 4 days so I cannot really comment, all I can say is that my initial impressions of Rio so far is not what I was expecting. In regards to a technology boom, I don’t see a country on the verge of competing with the likes of Silicon Valley and San Francisco. I can see why so many Brazilians have flocked to the bay area to pursue their start up dreams.

Further observations: I took the subway to downtown on my second day and only one person on was using a phone on the train. Most people were reading newspapers if anything. It made me laugh as I felt like I had gone back in time to BART circa 1998.  I’m living in a very nice, non tourist area of Botafogo and so far not a lick of english has been heard on my end.  “Fala ingles” get’s a resounding “No”, surprises me that very little english is spoken here.   Luckily my spanish carries over pretty well and I’ve signed up for private portuguese lessons.

When I searched “rio de janeiro shared office space” to possibly find a place to work from, I came across the Incubator/Digital Accelerator 21212.com. It will be interesting to see what type of community there is for start ups here.

I’m not an economist, I’ve just been hearing a lot about Brazils momentum so here I am to experience first hand what exactly is going on…It’s only day 4 and I look forward to learning more about the local start up world and what the future has in store for Brazil. For now I’m getting settled into an awesome apartment in Botafogo which lies on the water between downtown and the tourist beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.

If anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way.
Obrigado!
erik@socialerik.com

Botafogo Home Office Hammock

Botafogo Home Office