I was in SF the past two years to kickstart my startup career. I was able to land my first two SWE contracts through people I met. I had a really good experience in a coliving space. Sitting around the dining room table with a crew working across the startup scene was a perfect environment for the type of serendipitous conversations we come to The Valley for. The environment was insanely inspirational.

Hacker News is great as a digital community, but finding startup and innovation minded peers in the real world is a lot harder.

Daniel Gross (https://dcgross.com/the-environment-diet/) and Paul Graham (http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html) agree, even the most driven greatly benefit from the right environment.

I’m back in MD now with my family. As the end of covid creeps into sight, I’m thinking about where I’m going to move. I’d like to consider other cities to set up shop. Maybe DC or NYC or Miami. NYC has a significant tech scene but it is much less concentrated. DC and Miami are sparse, but it only takes a group of 10 to form that crucial inner circle.

Keith Rabois is moving to Miami (https://www.newcomer.co/p/taking-his-talents-to-miami-beach), but for those of us who are still climbing the ladder, can we justify not going back to SF if we’re serious about achieving our startup dreams?