The entrepreneurial road is a long and often rocky one with no shortage of ups and downs.

Ours has been no different.

Our journey of connecting like minded people in person began all the way back in 2010 with the original idea, continued through 7 months of product development in late 2012 into 2013 (we built Oh Hey World), and was followed by a year of consulting work while validating new product approaches to alleviating the same problem.

In March, while Will Moyer and I were working in Medellin, Colombia, we applied to Start-Up Chile with the private couchsurfing concept we’ve been working on over the past 6 months. For those who aren’t familiar with Start-Up Chile, it’s a startup incubator funded by the Chile government. They provide $40k, equity free, and a support network to grow your business while living in Chile for 6 months.

The following is our application video:

About a month ago, we finally caught a break when we learned we were accepted into Start-Up Chile.

Thus, Will and I are headed to Santiago to live for 6 or 7 months (we depart in less than 2 weeks).

We are looking forward to Start-Up Chile, for a few reasons:

To be honest, the most exciting part of getting accepted is peace of mind. Will Moyer and I have largely been nomadic for the past couple years (we’re both living the private room sharing app we are building). We now know what we will be doing, and where we will be, for the next 6 months. Additionally, we know we don’t need to rely on consulting projects to make ends meet financially.

Access to the alumni network of entrepreneurs that have gone through the program is one of the major benefits to the program, particularly in our case. We’re enabling private hospitality exchanges for existing communities, and the Startup Chile alumni are certainly one that is conducive to exchanging hospitality given the geographic spread and the fact that everyone has the shared experience of having spent 6 months in Chile working on a startup. Beyond that, entrepreneurs in the program generally skew towards those who have extensive travel experience.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, acceptance into Start-Up Chile is one more social proof point for potential investors that Horizon is a viable business.

Onward and upward…

We hope you join us in this next journey to broaden your horizon.