I lived in SF for over two months, and in a way, SF still lives in me. [1] It was my first trip to the US, landing straight into the heart of the tech world. Now that I'm back in Paris, I'm even more convinced: SF isn't just a city. It's a bubble. A dense microcosm - a concentration of incredibly smart, energetic, and driven people.
If you're young, ambitious, and thinking about building something big - especially a tech company - you owe it to yourself to experience SF. It's the kind of place where you feel like the world can be bent to your will [2], and you'll meet others who think the same way. It's where you might find "your people."
This isn't the definitive guide to SF, because there isn't one. It's just what I learned doing it my way, a sort of starter kit for your first dive in.
Breathe the Air: Networking & Events
In SF, high-quality events should feel like the air you breathe. Your main goal, especially early on, is to build a network of smart people. Look for events hosted by names like Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, Cloudflare, or connected to Stanford and Berkeley. Use platforms like Luma (lu.ma) or specialized lists like Cerebral Valley's (cerebralvalley.ai/events) to find them.
Sign up early - days or even a week ahead. If you don't get accepted initially, don't just give up. Sometimes an email to the organizer explaining your interest can get you in. Be resourceful.
Don't just passively attend, either. Often, the most valuable networking happens before the talks even start. You could potentially hit the start of two or three events in an evening, meeting people at each, and then heading out. Be strategic with your time.
SF events have this strange non-linearity. You might go thinking you'll just grab a free slice of pizza and chat, and suddenly that brief interaction earns you a direct, warm introduction to a partner at a top-tier firm like Sequoia. That's the kind of serendipity SF thrives on. This is how you get on the radar of the people who can actually fund your vision.
Beyond Events: Deeper Connections
Surprisingly, one of the best networking tools I found wasn't an event at all, but the YC co-founder Matching platform. Even if you're not actively looking for a co-founder right now, it's a pool of incredibly sharp people. I met several people there I'm still in touch with.
It's easy to dismiss a single event or a single conversation. But sometimes, that one connection is the start of a thread that could lead to a co-founder, funding, or a world-changing idea. You never know which one it will be.
Take the Lead: Organize Your Own Thing
After you've been to a few events, why not host your own? I noticed that poker in SF is “the current thing”. Everyone is playing it. So I started organizing low-stakes ($20 buy-in) Texas Hold'em nights. You don't need much - an $40 Amazon poker set works fine for about 8 people; find a chill bar downtown, grab a table, and play. Invite interesting people you meet at other events. Ask them to bring along others they think would fit in. [3] This isn't just about poker; it's about creating your own small node in the network. You could do the same with small discussion groups.
Learn to Tell Your Story
If there's one skill that pays off exponentially for founders, it's learning how to communicate effectively - how to tell a compelling story. I've seen too many founders with brilliant ideas who just couldn't articulate them. They mumbled, they rambled, they lost the room.
Speaking is learnable. I used to be terrible at it. One of the fastest, lowest-risk ways to improve is Toastmasters. In SF, I attended the Golden Gate Toastmasters (56.toastmastersclubs.org) which has a great reputation. Go there. Practice. Also, start pitching your idea at events whenever you get the chance. It's free feedback and gets your name out there. For more structured advice, James C. Humes' book "Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln" offers solid, practical tips.
When you talk to anyone, especially potential investors, imagine you're explaining it to a smart 5-year-old. Cut the jargon. Focus on the core idea, the vision, the excitement. Make it a story they can grasp and remember.
Can You Afford It? (Yes)
SF has a reputation for being insanely expensive, and parts of it are. But you don't necessarily need a fortune for a short exploratory trip. I managed about two and a half months for roughly $2.5k. A round-trip ticket from Paris can be found for around $500 if you book early.
Where did I stay? A co-living place called The Hive. I shared a room (a triplet) which cost about $750/month. Co-living isn't glamorous, but it's cheap, and you're instantly surrounded by people - founders, students, cooks, engineers. It's a melting pot and a decent launchpad for a first SF trip.
The SF Bubble
You quickly realize SF operates within a certain set of norms. People often think alike, talk alike, even dress somewhat alike. It feels like a bubble because, in many ways, it is. This homogeneity has a fascinating side effect: good behaviors (like being helpful, driven, curious) get amplified. Just by being in that environment, observing how people interact, how they ask questions ("What are you working on?", "How can I help you?"), you learn a ton.
The energy is visceral. The density of smart, driven people is unreal. You can meet anyone. In SF, it often feels like only one or two handshakes separate you from Elon Musk. You see this ambition everywhere, sometimes in the most unexpected places. I remember stepping out of a BART station upon arriving in SF, and a homeless person immediately started pitching me his startup idea. Or the guy at an event who casually brushed off his MIT and Caltech credentials before claiming he'd solved AGI. That's the SF paradox: intense drive exists everywhere, right next to everything else.
It's a culture that feels the opposite of "woke" in the conventional sense. It's fiercely driven, challenging, and profoundly meritocratic. It's less about identity and more about "Show me what you've built. Show me you're the best. Show me you deserve it." This can be intense, even hitting you hard sometimes, but it’s why things move so fast there.
It's Not All Sunshine
Let's be honest, SF has serious problems. You can't ignore the widespread homelessness. Certain streets, especially around SOMA or the Tenderloin, can be genuinely shocking. You'll see open drug use. You might have to sidestep human feces on the sidewalk. Public transport feels inadequate for a world-class city. And yes, outside of hacks like co-living, it is expensive. It's a city of stark contrasts: immense wealth often displayed subtly right next to extreme poverty.
Why Bother Then?
Because despite the flaws, there's nowhere quite like it for starting something ambitious, especially in tech. You might hear people talk about building tech hubs elsewhere - look at Saclay Valley near Paris. Governments can pour money in, but you can't engineer the dense network effects and sheer concentration of ambition that SF has organically grown over decades.
Did I find a co-founder or raise money in my two months? No. Did I start a company? Not yet. But I pitched at events, organized poker nights, got invited to parties, drastically changed my startup idea (from AI to space!), built a network, nearly got turned away at the border (that's another story!), and improved my ability to talk about what I'm building.
If you're that young, smart, ambitious founder in Europe wondering if SF is worth the hype? I think it is. Go see for yourself.
References/Notes:
[1] Inspired by Niccolo Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, Introduction, Machiavelli and the Renaissance, Translated by Harvey C. Masnfield & Nathan Tarcov
[2] Capturing the spirit of "high agency": the belief you can shape your environment
[3] Idea inspired by Ryan Breslow's thoughts on community building (Fundraising)