David, the founders and team members that are impacted by GSG are very young, a new generation that have not been part in the decades of conflict.
As another volunteer mentioned in the thread, GSG is helping a younger generation look at the future with a different outlook, that is a big reason I love the program so much, it has a real impact on Gaza and a new generation of people.
Having volunteered with Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG) and been on the ground all I can say is that this is a big positive in the region and for the people living in Gaza.
You would not believe how welcoming and hard working Palestinians are. There is a generalization because of the conflict but at the end of the day these are people like you and me trying to achieve their goals in a positive way.
There is a political situation around it and it cannot be ignored from the moment you arrive but I strongly believe that Mercy Corps and GSG and initiatives like the coding academy help a population that lives in harsh conditions without access of what we give for granted in the US.
Here are some of the things that blew me away:
- About 50% of the founders in the GSG were women.
- There are a lot of very young and talented engineers.
- Walking through Gaza as a western looking guy I feared people would not be super happy, it was quite the opposite, endless invitations to have coffee, eat watermelon, say hello and welcome.
- Hardware startups solving issues that could be applied to underdeveloped countries, one of my favorites was a USB charger that you power by slipping into your shoe and walking.
There is no reason to not celebrate and join the people backing these initiatives, they have a direct impact on good people and even if you have concerns about the politics in the region, I think these programs help alleviate the tension and let people focus on living their lives and not be frustrated with the laundry list of day to day hurdles they encounter.
I volunteered there as well (with jbermudez5), and have never been so deeply impressed by a group of people as I was by Gaza Sky Geeks. I've spent my professional career conducting tech research in developing countries in SE Asia and the Middle East, and have never seen such challenging circumstances for developing a company as I did in Gaza - and yet everyone there continues to aspire to greatness.
The opportunities for economic growth in the region are incredibly limited (40%+ unemployment; 40% below the poverty line; 80% dependent on some kind of foreign aid; ~50% dependent on UN food aid alone; extreme barriers to importing or exporting physical goods), and yet they enjoy relatively high levels of infrastructure and education (97% literacy; 20% population with a college degree - higher than in the West Bank; female/male near-equality w/r/t education levels; decent internet). All of this combines to make tech investments especially appealing.
I got the feeling in Gaza - relative to many other countries lacking these resources that have garnered a great deal of attention from the tech community in recent years, such as India, Brazil, and more - that the development of tech companies (especially tech, due to minimal infrastructure needs) there can make a significant contribution to the regional economy. The group's additional devotion to including women in the accelerator is especially laudable, and has contributed to an incredibly rich workspace.
I'm also a volunteer mentor - at the hackathon I was at, they achieved 83% female participation! Everyone was so fun and welcoming, as it say. They continue to inspire me.
I applied to be a mentor on their website after reading about the accelerator.
You can also donate to their current campaign to help create the coding academy, which I've also done, after seeing it in person I can personally say it's fantastic and students there told me how much it's changing their lives, making them more confident and hopeful about opportunities for their future.
I mentored as well (not with jbermudez) and agree with the above. Also, given the high level of internet infrastructure, high levels of education, and tech savvy, building a startup industry there is one of the best ways to provide future economic opportunity and sense of global participation.
As a network engineer I am immensely curious what the internet in Gaza looks like at OSI layers 1-3: what are the upstream routes in and out, who are the commercial ISPs, what IP space do they have, what are their BGP adjacencies, etc?
Not that this answers your question but it might shed some light: when I went last year, I ran tracert to google.com. The only interesting thing I remember is everything went through the West Bank.
Also not an answer to the question, but Israel laid cable there prior to exiting, and so the infrastructure didn't emerge in isolation. You should ask one of the Gaza geeks to send you a tracert!
I was fortunate enough to get a chance and visit Gaza Sky Geeks as a mentor last year and it is an amazing program. The staff and entrepreneurs work very hard and are very loving people.
This is a great cause that has a direct impact on those living in a place where it is difficult to get what most of us give for granted.
Some of the mentors/speakers during my class were Neil Patel, Dave McClure, Murat Aktihanoglu( ERA NY , Open English CTO, Jesus Rodriguez from Kidozen and many more.
It is a legitimate effort from the City of Miami to attract and foster tech companies that are relevant to local verticals.
I left Miami for California years ago for the following reasons.
- The industries are all quite conservative and technophobic.
- A non-trivial percentage of businessmen are associated with money laundering and/or drugs.
- There is a paucity of talented/capable programmers.
- The local government is ridiculously corrupt.
All of these make it extremely difficult to grow any sort of tech business. I actually don't believe Miami will ever become more than a resort/vacation city; not before I die. I applaud the City of Miami government for attempting this, but I can't say I'm hopeful anything useful will be produced from this effort.
During the last "boom" in Miami I had two friends who went into business with a well-connected Latin American businessman and he eventually sold the company to a large corporation (you'd know of it). They all started with double digit ownership percentages, but after time and a ton of legal acrobatics my friends had been watered down to a pittance. They were able to pay off their car loans after the sale (multiple millions). They got scammed, in short.
So be careful in Miami and read the fine print. :)
The market size has been brought to our attention and we do have some product updates on the roadmap that will increase our revenue channels beyond our monthly subscription.
It is a valid observation we are tackling it head on.
Thanks
We really need to fix that pricing page. The free plan lets you get empire features for that event $50. Letting smaller promoters run an event like a pro whenever it comes up.
We are working on an explainer video that would help transmit the value of the product and also som videos to replace the images in the feature section.
It noticed it is hard to understand the true value from the current website. And we hope to fixe that over the next couple of days.
Correct, UI is based on Bootstrap. I understand the vaporware comment, but our clients are not developers or designers so a large amount of them do not even know what twitter bootstrap, they just want something that is simple and easy to use. I we were making a metrics dashboard for startups I would agree completely.
In terms of pricing so far it has been well recieved. We do need to work on how to transmit that promoters can use a free account and upgrade to premium features if they will in fact manage the event (controlling door, managing sub promoters, reservations etc.) then $50 does not seem to bother them because they are saving tons of time and effort on their event.
$400 a month is for anyone going over 8 managed event. usually better established promotion company or venue.
The feedback has been positive here as well.
We did not just go out and build. We worked hand in hand with different nightlife companies in the US & Europe.
Hope that helps explain a bit more. But there is more work and validation to be done.
As another volunteer mentioned in the thread, GSG is helping a younger generation look at the future with a different outlook, that is a big reason I love the program so much, it has a real impact on Gaza and a new generation of people.