Bido: Why We’re Moving To The Bay Area at Conceptualist.com, By Sahar Sarid

Bido: Why We’re Moving To The Bay Area

Published by Sahar Sarid on January 17, 2010 in Bido, Business and Domain Names.

So the news is out, Jarred Cohen (Bido COO) and I will be moving soon to the Bay area (that is, San Francisco area). Why make the move from the beautiful and warm South Florida to San Francisco you may ask? It all goes back to the RMG/Bido split a few months ago. See, for the last ten years I founded companies, invested in companies, even had to shut down few (failure happens to be my very best friend!), but I have never actually ran one on my own. I always had someone else who was responsible for the direction of a company, someone who was vested enough to do the right thing. When Bido spun out of RMG, for the first time I chose to finally step up and take responsibility as the CEO of one of my ventures.

Being a CEO of a company the size of Bido isn’t an easy task. There are approximately 30+ developers (that includes html coders, testers, not to mention we’re still hiring), two team members in customer service dept, another technician dedicated to hardware/networking, attorneys and other professionals to help in their respective fields when needed, Jeff Bhavnanie (co founder) to supervise all technology operations, and Jarred Cohen who is there making sure everything ticks like a clock, every minute of the day.

Bido is a high stakes venture. It is self funded and costs a fortune to run and operate, and staying the course, believing we can make it one day and be completely self sufficient, is all about faith, followed by extreme dedication and hard work by all involved.

Being a CEO, my job is to give the company the best odds to succeed. Just as with domain names, location really matters. Being in the right place increases your odds dramatically. There’s no better place on this planet for a tech company to be than in the Bay area. I really like South Florida, the water, and the laid-back lifestyle. And while I’m definitely not excited about the weather in the Bay area, moving opens a whole new world to us, from talent perspective to funding (if we ever decide to go that route), to an extremely efficient network of lawyers, accountants, advisors, etc. who are there to help entrepreneurs succeed. It is on one hand a sacrifice to make the move, on the other it’s likely to be a blessing.

We’re really excited, and looking forward to a new beginning.

Have a great weekend!

18 Responses to “Bido: Why We’re Moving To The Bay Area”

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1 Shane
Jan 17th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

I think the move is a good move but you forgot to mention that everything is double the cost. You’re also closer to Russia. LOL Good luck.

—-answer—-

Florida isn’t cheap in particular, we do not expect anything to be double for us. Now if we were moving from Oklahoma or Texas.. that’s a different story.

Best,

Sahar
2 michael Berkens
Jan 17th, 2010 at 12:29 pm

Sahar

Best of luck.

We are going to miss you hear in South Florida

Mchael

—-answer—-

Thanks Michael, I’m sure we’ll find plenty of reasons to still hang out
3 Fred Mercaldo
Jan 17th, 2010 at 1:04 pm

Welcome to the west! San Francisco is excellent for many reasons…wonderful city and you are correct in stating that it is a vibrant environment for funding, talent, tech, etc. Not an inexpensive place to live however….Best of Luck!

—-answer—-

Thanks Fred!
4 jeff
Jan 17th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

congrats and best of luck in new city!

cheers

j

—-answer—-

Thanks, still about a month ’till we move, so still time to enjoy South Florida to the fullest.

Best

Sahar
5 Ricky
Jan 17th, 2010 at 3:40 pm

Born and raised in the Bay Area (San Mateo, San Carlos) and can tell you of course its a perfect fit for what you need. However, it may also be wise (and im sure you have) see if it will be in your favor cost wise. Another hot bed growing is my state of Arizona. Right next door to both Cali and Nevada. Its very cheap to live and work AND if you want talent from the bay they wont have to go far…and can expext 70 degree winters and 118 degree summers

—-answer—-

Thanks. We have some contacts in the Bay Area hence it makes even more sense. I do have to say though, the weather sounds tempting!

Best,

Sahar
6 Robbie
Jan 17th, 2010 at 3:41 pm

Good Luck with the new location!

—-answer—-

Thanks Robbie, much appreciated.
7 jeff
Jan 17th, 2010 at 4:47 pm

Thats cool. Good luck out there. Post pics!

—-answer—-

Thanks Jeff, will do when we move (around February).

Best,

Sahar
8 Steve M
Jan 17th, 2010 at 5:02 pm

“Welcome” to future-bankrupt Californ-i-a, Sahar…

…land of fruit, nuts, far-too-many liberals (who like calling themselves “progressives” because they’re understandably embarrassed to call themselves liberals), and higher taxes.

Seriously, though; wish you all the best.

You and your team are among those who never give up.

And that’s great…and something our formally-golden state needs more of.

—-answer—-

Well for one thing, I’m excited about the produce there. Visited many times before and it is one thing that I always wish we had here in Florida.

It’s true we tend not to give up, sometimes its good, sometimes not so good. I always believed, if there’s a will there’s a way.

Best,

Sahar
9 Garry Chernoff
Jan 17th, 2010 at 10:45 pm

I like your attitude Sahar.

Welcome to the West Coast. Hopefully us B.C. domainers will get to see you more often.

Wishing you continued success in all your endeavors.

Garry

—-answer—-

Hi Garry!

Good to see you on here, I should definitely come by and visit with you one day. I have a trip to Canada coming this year sometime so when i do, will let you know and hopefully we can get together.

Best,

Sahar
10 EM @ KING.NET
Jan 18th, 2010 at 12:05 am

Good luck to you Sahar. I’m watching Bido’s success in the west coast.

Cheers for now,
EM

—-answer—-

Thanks !
11 Stu Maloff
Jan 18th, 2010 at 12:18 am

Sahar and Jarred,

Best of luck in your relocation out west. We’ll have to squeeze another South Florida Domainers meeting in before you go. I registered CaliforniaDomainers.com too. Maybe the Golden State is my key to domain success…?

—-answer—-

Hopefully, we’d love to attend!

Best,

Sahar
12 Samit
Jan 18th, 2010 at 6:59 am

Makes a lot of sense Sahar.

Most tech startups find the going a lot easier in the bay area.

And yes, its easier to generate funding if located in Silicon Valley.

Though like everyone has mentioned, its a lot more expensive too.

Wish you and your team all the best.

Cheers!

—-answer—-

Thanks Samit,

Best,

Sahar
13 Peters
Jan 18th, 2010 at 8:29 am

Sahar,

Have you resided in northern California?

I did for 2 years(2005-2007). Sadly, it’s an emerging disaster, a time-bomb.

I respect your gamble, but I fear you did not do your homework.

TechCrunch Founder (ex Pool CEO) is ashamed to admit he earn a goldmine in the domain industry. In California VCs treat ax-murderers better than domain brokers!

Wishing you well & wealth.

Peters

P.S. I hope you did not sell your s fl home, just renting it out in 2010…

—-answer—-

LOL well, sounds like you are not as optimistic as we are. That’s OK though, sometimes one has to find out the hard way but I sure hope things work out positively instead !

best,

Sahar
14 Laurie Cohen Otto
Jan 18th, 2010 at 12:55 pm

I wish you all the best in California. Your optimism, commitment and drive will be your best asset.

—-answer—-

Thanks Laurie!
15 TJ
Jan 18th, 2010 at 8:32 pm

I understand the rationale with venture cap being located there.

Raining San Fran is one of most expensive cities to live in; the highest tax rates in the country; wow.

Give up SoFlorida for that town? You gotta be a sales person to convince employees to take that move.
16 Kris
May 5th, 2010 at 7:28 pm

So…. what happened? how did things manage to fall off the rails?