PayPal Co-Founder Peter Theil’s Plan For a Modern-Day Atlantis
Peter Thiel, who launched PayPal with two other associates, wants to “launch” another venture: A floating, visa-free city in international waters for start-up entrepreneurs from around the world to do their thing without interference from government regulations.
The libertarian-minded Thiel is putting big bucks into Blueseed, a company that aims to build a high-tech offshore luxury barge in the Pacific Ocean by 2014.
The artificial city will anchor some 12 nautical miles from the Northern California coast–thereby placing it outside U.S. jurisdiction–which would, however, allow global entrepreneurs to enter the U.S. mainland if necessary on a six-month business visa to work with their American counterparts in Silicon Valley.
According to the Blueseed website, “Instead of reinventing the wheel, Blueseed will extend Silicon Valley to the world, fueling innovation, economic growth, and job creation that would otherwise not exist due to immigration restrictions.”
Under the plan, entrepreneurs accepted by Blueseed will need to pay about $1,600 a month in some combination of rent and equity to live and work there. Yahoo reports that “The Blueseed vessel will be more of a floating city than an actual ship, and will come complete with work and living spaces, outdoor areas, and sports and leisure activities. ”
Blueseed claims that the venture will offer…
living and office space in an elegantly designed modern tech environment so compelling that it will be called the “Googleplex of the Sea”, attracting top entrepreneurial and technology talent from all over the world to Silicon Valley, where they can create companies and jobs, and develop disruptive and innovative technologies.
Do you think that this seaborne start-up incubator will actually ever get built and if so, will it serve to fundamentally enhance innovation as intended?
