Some months ago, a friend asked me what did i think about setting up a small office in Brasov, the city i currently live. He was an online company manager wanting to escape the large costs of having to pay large salaries and rents to employees. And i remembered how Sergiu Biris, the CEO of Trilulilu (local YouTube), did not want to move to Bucharest, where the big money is, choosing instead to rent an apartment and went there 2 or 3 times a month. He ended up hiring 3 sales people there and kept headquarters in Cluj, Romania’s second biggest city.
Brasov is a great city for a small company not needing every employee present in Bucharest. It has only 10% of the Bucharest population, cool summers, cheap rents (i am paying 200€ less for a 1 bedroom house with 300 sq. of yard), short distances (the city can be crossed from one end to another in 15-20 minutes).
But the most attractive part of the city is the short distance from work to home. People from Bucharest spend at least one hour in traffic, be that public transport or personal car. In Brasov i spend one tank of gas per month doing that, while the average Bucharest worker spends at least two.
And did i mention it has a pretty big university?