Founders Lounge

I watched a video from YC encouraging founders to begin their journey in SF. I've been contemplating a move there to immerse myself in a community of like-minded individuals. YC suggests that in SF, you can create your own opportunities by surrounding yourself with exceptionally bright and committed people. But I'm not sure if that's truly the reality of life there. Any thoughts?

Background: I'm based in Australia, where the startup scene is relatively small. We lack a substantial number of successful startups, and those that do exist often seem distant, preoccupied with their own endeavors. They rarely engage in community events. Attendees at startup gatherings often seem aspirational rather than accomplished. Guest speakers, often self-proclaimed experts, frequently lack significant success stories of their own and may rely more on theory than personal experience.

Milos - I've lived in and around the SF Bay Area for 40 years. I lived through the rise of the personal computer and MAC, the rise of networked computers, the rise of the Internet, the rise of hosted software and the rise of social networks/Web3 ... and now the rise of LLM/ML/AI ... I missed the rise of the chipmakers in the 70s, but not by much :)

Anyhow, the whole gestalt of the SF Bay Area - or the Silicon Valley (though that tag has become less geographically specific over the last few decades) - really seems to be three-fold:

1. The extent of the startup infrastructure and support networks; a huge percentage of the people who live here are of or service providers to the startup community.
2. The massive wealth that these waves of technology/startup-derived wealth that literally provides an extraordinary capacity to provide financial support for startups through all manner of financing vehicles.
3. The absolutely worship of (not just acceptance) of failures. I coach my own team and network of younger entrepreneurs that while everybody bows to the alter of the great success (from Intel to Nvidia with layers of Apple, Google, et al), right behind that is the great failures. There's so many great (and not so great) failures here that nobody has to ever wear a Scarlet A because they were part of or the founder or a failed venture.

SO come on over and lend your voice and energy to the startup scene here. It will be worth it.

I watched a video from YC encouraging founders to begin their journey in SF. I've been contemplating a move there to immerse myself in a community of like-minded individuals. YC suggests that in SF, you can create your own opportunities by surrounding yourself with exceptionally bright and committed people. But I'm not sure if that's truly the reality of life there. Any thoughts?

Background: I'm based in Australia, where the startup scene is relatively small. We lack a substantial number of successful startups, and those that do exist often seem distant, preoccupied with their own endeavors. They rarely engage in community events. Attendees at startup gatherings often seem aspirational rather than accomplished. Guest speakers, often self-proclaimed experts, frequently lack significant success stories of their own and may rely more on theory than personal experience.

I watched a video from YC encouraging founders to begin their journey in SF. I've been contemplating a move there to immerse myself in a community of like-minded individuals. YC suggests that in SF, you can create your own opportunities by surrounding yourself with exceptionally bright and committed people. But I'm not sure if that's truly the reality of life there. Any thoughts?

Background: I'm based in Australia, where the startup scene is relatively small. We lack a substantial number of successful startups, and those that do exist often seem distant, preoccupied with their own endeavors. They rarely engage in community events. Attendees at startup gatherings often seem aspirational rather than accomplished. Guest speakers, often self-proclaimed experts, frequently lack significant success stories of their own and may rely more on theory than personal experience.

The short answer - yes, San Francisco is different and the opportunities here for doing a startup are better.

A lot of this depends on what you mean by startup.  If your goal is to create a technology business where you need access to lots of capital and/or you are on the cutting edge of technology, then San Francisco is great.  If you just want to interact with people starting businesses that are entrepreneurial and not technology focused, San Francisco is less attractive because of how tech-centric it is.

Take a look at this event my company participated in last week in Palo Alto - Llama Lounge 10.  There isn't another place on the planet where you could have that many AI founders and VCs in the room at once, getting to have real meaningful in-person interaction.

The downside is it is very expensive here and while folks are not judgmental about failure, they are judgmental about success.  Its OK to fail - its not OK to fail over and over without success.

Another undervalued upside to the startup ecosystem here is that people really do support other people in their startups.  I have been a CEO mentor with Alchemist Accelerator for years, helping startup CEOs 1-1.  Its like one big community trying to make startups succeed rather than a bunch of minnows fighting with each other.

I've mentored companies from around the globe and even if they run and operate in other countries, there is nearly always value from coming to SF and immersing themselves in SF and Silicon Valley to live and breath how the startup ecosystem works here.  But its work. People don't come to you - you have to go to them and find them and add value to the ecosystem.

I watched a video from YC encouraging founders to begin their journey in SF. I've been contemplating a move there to immerse myself in a community of like-minded individuals. YC suggests that in SF, you can create your own opportunities by surrounding yourself with exceptionally bright and committed people. But I'm not sure if that's truly the reality of life there. Any thoughts?

Background: I'm based in Australia, where the startup scene is relatively small. We lack a substantial number of successful startups, and those that do exist often seem distant, preoccupied with their own endeavors. They rarely engage in community events. Attendees at startup gatherings often seem aspirational rather than accomplished. Guest speakers, often self-proclaimed experts, frequently lack significant success stories of their own and may rely more on theory than personal experience.