<aside> 👋 Welcome! This is a kickstarter for any founder (or operator/investor/tech professional, really) who is new to or thinking of moving to San Francisco.

In this document, I put together everything I wish I knew before moving here, how to navigate the ecosystem, and aggregated community wisdom to give you the best possible map of everything startups/tech in SF.

Table of Contents:

• Intro: Why SF?
• Event Aggregators & Communities
• People to Follow on X
• 29 Startup Programs to Know
• 60+ Active VCs Recommended by SF Founders
• 20+ Workspaces & Setting Up Your Own
• 60+ Cafes & Hidden Gem Meeting/Work Spots
• Finding Housing (with list of 100+ housing opps)
• Neighborhood Breakdown for Tech
• Visiting from Out of Town
• Other Resources from the Community

If you have any recommendations, resources, or information you’d like to contribute, please DM me on X (@michelleefang) and I’d be happy to add!

— Michelle Fang

Last Updated: Jan 30, 2024

</aside>

🧭 Intro

So of all cities, why SF?

There’s no other city like San Francisco when it comes to the capital of technology & innovation — being at the precipice of the future and surrounded by the most ambitious, optimistic talent. If you are young, building a company, or want to accelerate your career in tech, there is no better city to do just that than in SF.

<aside> 💡 Food for thought statistics:

• SF remains the tech capital of the world ($25.7b VC investments in SF Bay Area)
• SF AI Dominance (25% of all generative AI job postings are in SF)
• Silicon Valley leads in venture funding, especially in AI (Bay Area HQ’d companies represent 31% of all venture funding & ~50% of all AI funding) </aside>

SF is a small city (only 7 x 7 miles) so not only is it accessible and easy to get around, you also maximize serendipity by running into familiar faces or seeing folks around the same communities & events frequently. People also express themselves through their work, their craft, and diverse (sometimes niche) interests. Plus with the abundance of nature, parks, and great California weather all year round, there’s lots to do to unwind and enjoy your free time.

Yes, there are challenges to living in SF — every major city like NYC, LA, and Miami faces similar problems to a certain degree (homelessness, cost of living, etc). It’s up to you to choose what you want to focus on and what works best with your personal situation.

Whether SF resonates with you as a potential city to live in, or you’ve made the jump here already, or you live here and want to get more plugged in, I hope this guide can help make SF feel more navigable on your journey.

🗓 Event Aggregators & Communities ****

How to get plugged into what’s happening and which event aggregators to follow.

<aside> 🗒️ Attending tech events is one of the best ways to meet others in the same industry and get plugged into happenings that can benefit your founder journey. I’d recommend going to more events if you are early in your career, but as you build your network, don’t spend all your time at events. Work and work events are two separate entities. Instead, prioritize events that are specific to your interests and/or are hosted by organizers you are excited about. Attending events help build your network, but remember that building and executing work are equally important.

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General Tech

Industry-Specific

| AI | • https://events.cerebralvalley.ai/ • https://lu.ma/genai-sf | | --- | --- | | Climate | https://sfbayclimatetech.substack.com/ - run by https://twitter.com/alecturnbull and https://twitter.com/sonamvelani | | Other/Misc. | • https://eddieh.substack.com/ covers things to do and misc events in SF • https://www.garysguide.com/events?region=sfbay (includes IRL & online events) |

A Few Communities/Recurring Event Series to Follow: