A month in San Francisco after 4 years in the desert
I feel both at home and like a stranger here in San Francisco.
I spent my career in the Bay Area. I figured I’d never leave the epicenter of technology. When I co-founded Descartes Labs in New Mexico 4 years ago, I thought I’d move back immediately. Even if we were forced to start the company in the Southwest out of practicality, why wouldn’t we move to the Silicon Valley at the first chance?
My assumptions about the Bay Area never manifested. Descartes Labs was able to recruit people, raise capital, and get customers. Now that we’re into our fourth year, the company is just shy of 100 people, we’ve raised $38 million in venture capital, and some of the largest organizations in the world trust our scientists with their hardest problems.
Moreover, New Mexico is a key part of the Descartes Labs culture. Our mission is to use science to solve the most difficult problems facing our planet. When you live in a place that’s as stunningly beautiful as New Mexico, you can’t help but want to preserve the Earth. Not everyone will move to New Mexico for wild adventures, but those who do have a love of nature and a pioneering spirit.
If New Mexico is such a great place, why am I spending a whole month in San Francisco?
It’s all about the people. The biggest disadvantage of being somewhere remote is that, well, you’re remote.
The Bay Area houses a remarkable concentration of tech-savvy people, who tinker with the latest technology, follow tech news obsessively, and rush to the latest trends. Almost every human interaction in SF is an opportunity to philosophize about futurism. A primary job a CEO is to put vision into context: how does Descartes Labs fit into the larger flow? Even though I read a lot of tech news and still keep in contact with my friends, I still feel a little bit out of touch. I plan to commune with my tribe this month and plug back into the matrix.
Of course, I didn’t just come here to have great conversations. Descartes Labs is growing quickly and I need to reconnect with my network as I look to the future of Descartes Labs.
That’s just work, though. There’s a deeply personal aspect of coming back to San Francisco. Sure, I’ve taken trips out here for a few days at a time, but that’s not living in San Francisco. I purposely got an AirBnB in Russian Hill so I could have a true neighborhood experience. I’m going to play house in San Francisco for a month.
What will I miss about New Mexico? What will shock me about San Francisco? Will I get sick of constant futurism and want to retreat back into the silence of nature? Will the glamour of San Francisco draw me in with its sweet allure?
Eh, philosophy be damned: it’s gonna be blast to spend time back in SF.
Drop me a line if you’re in The City. Would be good to catch up, geek out, and tell you about my adventures in New Mexico. Maybe I’ll even convince you to join us…
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