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Writing CDN Code on the Beach

Red Swoosh coders jump-started a project by jetting to a beach in Thailand.

Having trouble writing that application? Maybe what you need is a trip to the beach - in Thailand. That strategy apparently worked for Red Swoosh, a startup developing a P2P content delivery network, as detailed Monday by The Wall Street Journal (subscription):

In April 2006, all four employees of San Francisco software developer Red Swoosh Inc. decamped to a beach in Thailand - for six weeks. They hoped to rejuvenate a team, and product, that had fallen into a rut. The Red Swoosh team battled bugs, monkeys and tropical squalls while writing code on laptops at a seaside cafe. And that, says founder Travis Kalanick, was exactly what they needed. By the time the group returned in June, it had not only rewritten the software and reworked an Internet-sales site, but boosted morale and bonded as a team, he says. "It definitely helps you think out of the box," says Mr. Kalanick. He arranged a three-week trip to Mexico this year and hopes to do it again next year.

A trip to a tropical beach resort to jump-start a stalled project can work in a four-person start-up, but may be a harder sell within a large public company. In April, Red Swoosh was bought by Akamai Technologies (AKAM).