MindValley first started out in New York, despite the high costs of operating a business and hiring talent there. It consisted of three people –Vishen and his wife Kristina, and me.

We were excited and raring to go, and when we looked around, everyone else was outsourcing to India, so naturally, outsourcing seemed like a good idea because we figured being in the US, outsourcing work to people in a developing country would give us a flexible workforce and save us some money.

I know some companies who do really well with outsourcing, but we weren’t so fortunate. Using eLance, we found the first company…it was from Bangladesh, with an office on Wall Street. The company turned out to be a scam, and they ran away with our money. The “office” on Wall Street disappeared.

It’s true. I’m not here to slam outsourcing, and don’t deny that it has its place. We just had a bad experience.

Fortunately, we only lost our $1000.00 deposit, and no more. We were somewhat disillusioned but still hopeful, so we tried again. We had a great idea we knew would work –we wanted to bring everything to the user’s fingertips, right on their home page.

But 5 months later, we were still pushing our programmer to produce the quality of work we needed. 8 months later, we were so frustrated because it was still the same story. They developed a web application exactly the way we wanted it, 12months too late because almost ironically in the 11^th month, someone else launched an application similar to what we were working towards.

At this point, Vishen left his job to focus on MindValley full time. This was tricky, as Vishen was married but not a US citizen. Quitting his job meant losing his H1 Visa and permission to work in the US.

He considered taking MindValley somewhere else. Since his wife’s Estonian, and he’s from Malaysia, they were deciding between Europe and Malaysia for MindValley’s new home –a very difficult decision even after researching our options.

So Vishen, Kristina, and I found ourselves in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Little did we know that being in Malaysia laid the foundation to what would later be known as our secret weapon in winning the talent war….

If you asked me right now, I can tell you frankly that moving to Malaysia turned out to be the best decision we ever made.

Kuala Lumpur is a very modern city, and is a stone’s throw from exotic holiday destinations.

Over the years, we refined the way we work and MindValley has evolved as we’ve learned new processes and systems, and sought to bring talent from all corners of the world to us.

We stumbled upon a concept more powerful than outsourcing, and it’s funny because it happened almost by accident!

We now have 26 bright people from 16 different countries (and counting), at local salaries, about 1/4 the price we would have to pay them if they were employed in the USA.

Our local salaries are competitive, allowing them better quality of life here, compared even to 3,000 US Dollars in the USA.

But still, why would they pack their bags? If you’ve read the Job Quadrant, you’re already in on the secret.

Of course, we use the rest of the Job Quadrant as well to really attract the kind of talent we needed.

People who hear about what we do don’t know what to call it. So we joked about calling it “Inside-out sourcing”, and the name stuck.

Inside-outsourcing’s best friend?

First, a very brief history lesson. I really don’t mean to bore you, but after reading this section you’ll really catch my drift of how you can leverage on this crazy powerful resource.

The idea started in the 1930s when representatives from schools across Europe exchanged information about various programs and schools that specialized in business and economy. By the late ’30s, students were carrying out internships in other countries, mostly at their own incentive, but it all came to a standstill with the onslaught of World War II.

Informal activity “to help develop ‘friendly relations’ between member countries” began in 1946, with the goal “to expand the understanding of a nation by expanding the understanding of the individuals, changing the world one person at a time.”

They describe themselves as “The international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential so as to have a positive impact on society”.

It’s called AIESEC - the world’s largest student organization, offering internships and traineeships all around the world. Its international office is currently in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

AIESEC is a real gem for those who know about what they do. AIESEC is cool.

Originally an acronym for Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales, AIESEC is an international, non-profit, non-political, organization run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education.

As of February 2008, the network includes 25,000 students in 105 countries at over 1100 universities across the globe, and realizing around 5000 exchanges yearly.

Although a lot of people don’t know about AIESEC, we had AIESEC in mind from day one.

Both Vishen and I were part of AIESEC as university students. Through AIESEC, Vishen had the experience of working as a programmer in Bulgaria, and I worked in Turkey as a marketer.

It’s the perfect place to connect with adventurous, highly qualified, knowledge workers - a perfect complement for the company who inside-out sources.

Today, about a third of our people come from AIESEC, and we have to turn away really good candidates on a daily basis, just to allow only the best in through the door.

However, really talented people want more than a “job”. They want a lifestyle.

Being in an exotic country is the ultimate A-class lifestyle dream!

And AIESEC is full of forward thinking students who look for work experience in foreign countries.

Is it worth moving countries, continents even?

Definitely yes.

For the first few months, Vishen and Kristina were in Malaysia and I was working all the way from New York. The moment I stepped off the plane, I knew it was the best thing –ever.

For some strange reason I have never understood, people seem to think that they have to be located where their customers are. Unless you are running and brick-and-mortar “mom and pop” store, I totally disagree.

MindValley is proof that you don’t need to be in Miami or Seattle or New York to run with your business and thrive.

This never fails to bring to mind the term “lifestyle design” –coined by Tim Ferriss in his book, the 4 hour workweek.

1. Find a beautiful place with affordable cost of living, somewhere you enjoy and have dreamt of living.

2. Talk to your wife.

3. Move there.

4. Attract high a high caliber work force.

This is one way to really tap into the power of the job quadrant. Like I said before, smart and talented people want a lifestyle more than they want a “job”.

Use location to maximize the appeal of the other sectors of the quadrant.

Using what Malaysia has to offer, we’ve designed a phenomenal work-life-style. Whenever possible, which is most of the time, we ban work on weekends. Our team has flexible work schedules, allowing them to travel to the world’s most exotic jungles and beaches.

These days, most inside-outsourced hires come in on a 2 year contract, but I think that when you create such a dream job/dream lifestyle for your team, almost all of them extend their contracts!

SUPERTIP: In Malaysia, we don’t pay taxes. Incredible? Absolutely. Technology companies in Malaysia are exempt from paying taxes.

How does this relate to Agile Entrepreneurship?

Inside-out sourcing isn’t for everyone. That’s the honest truth.

But if you’re in a position to start doing this and you are daring enough, here’s how…

1. Think of a country you’d like to live in. Maybe it’s in the Caribbean, maybe it’s in Malaysia. Think of a country that is fun, you can live for about two years, and operating costs are less than it would cost in the USA.
2. Go there, and set up an operation hub.
3. Use the Job quadrant to redefine your workplace, job ads and job positions.
4. Use AIESEC, connect with the local AIESEC chapter, and advertise the lifestyle and work environment of the future.

With inside outsourcing, you could find yourself free from paying taxes, cut your expense on wages by up to 400%, and create jobs which seem more like an adventure and travel than a mundane chore.