Tapulous co-founder Mike Lee looking to make Amsterdam the indie studio's Silicon Valley

Having left the US following his departure from the company he helped found the now Disney owned Tapulous Mike Lee has set about turning Amsterdam into the app capital of the world.

His reason is simple, but one he believes many other developers will relate to: the US is no longer conducive to independent development, and studios across the country are looking for a route into Europe.

Step up Appsterdam Lee's debut event in the Dutch city on June 24, which was designed to bill Amsterdam as the Hollywood of mobile app development.

Living the development dream

Touting Amsterdam as the "most liveable city in the world", Lee is set to follow up Appsterdam's inaugural event with a drink in the city on July 6.

It's all in support of his belief that developers are looking to turn the area into an indie development epicentre.

"The community we are trying to build here is very much based on the iOS community and before that the Mac community," he told VentureBeat.

"It's very special. We are competing on the strength of our vision and that speaks to an artisanal economy. If you are a guy working at a company with 1,000 co-workers, what is the vision there?"

Rather than simply hosting itself in Amsterdam, however, Appsterdam will weave itself into the fabric of the Dutch capital.

The first event included tours around the area, but the in the future it'll be party to community outreach, letting developers take advantage of the technology at hand in the city.

Working it out

Lee's vision is so grand, in fact, that he's looking for Amsterdam to become a mini-Silicon Valley an area many foreigners are essentially barred from, owing to the strict emigration policies in the US.

"The Valley is the right place for a very specific type of developer," added Lee.

“There's a Valley type. If you think that success equals the valuation of your company and that having a fast car and an attractive partner is the mark of genius and if you think that the goal of all of this is bigger numbers and a successful exit, the Valley is great for you."

With Appsterdam supporting it, Amsterdam could, instead, be the home for developers looking for "honest work".

"Amsterdam has designers in spades. There are tons of creatives and marketing people. What is missing is organised developers. Developers have never had that anywhere. We want to build it here.”

You can find out more about Appsterdam on the event's website.

[source: VentureBeat]