Feeling at Home at Outside Lands
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I spent a few days up in San Francisco partly because of Outside Lands. It was a great line up and wanted to see what the fuzz is all about. I have set an unofficial goal for myself to see all major music festivals by the time I’m 30. Will it happen? Probably not, but I have the same to visit all the continents before I’m 30 and all I need now is Australia and Antarctica.
But I was there for another reason. As I am starting to transition into a more tech person, I wanted to see if I could live in San Francisco. I understand that it is not the only tech scene in the country with New York and Chicago being other hotbeds, including Los Angeles. But when you talk about tech, you talk about start ups, you’re usually talking about Silicon Valley. And while I wasn’t there for anything official I made it seems like I was already living there. It was a dry run. I’m glad to say that I would be in good company if I were to move to SF.
But there are very big IFs. While many of the people I bumped into and met up with said I should move, and trust me, I want to, I still need 2 things. 1) A place to live. 2) Employment.
While I am able to do many things and ‘hack’ things together I am not a great computer engineer. I would be competing with great engineers for a job. Not to mention the great talent shortages that have plagued many companies that have resorted to acquisitions of companies for talent. I also know that I am not the person for certain positions. I was actually told by someone that I was being too modest of my skills.
I found it very strange that I was able to adapt so quickly to the city. I’ve visited several times over the last few years but never to where I was this time. Yet I knew my way around. I was able to just go out and find the things I needed. I felt at home without being at home.
People were surprised when I told them I had my own Clipper card (a public transit prepaid card), that I had taken the Bart from SFO, and that on the first night of Outside Lands I had used Uber to get to a speakeasy in the Tenderloin (To be fair, I have used Uber in the past to get around SF and use it from time to time in LA). Not to mention that I was in a coworking space, and used Postmates to order a grilled cheese from The Melt and a 6 pack of Churchkey beer.
Yes, I am a tad hipster at heart.
Where does this leave me? Well… I don’t know.
I would like to move to San Francisco. But I also want to invest my talents in start ups here in LA. LA has a tonne of great startups, Silicon Beach is really pushing and getting exposure with the way Viddy has grown, and there are tonnes VCs, and incubators here to make it happen.
At the end of the day. I don’t know.
I would really enjoy finding a great career in this city… or in the Bay Area or in New York.
All these places have a part of me and I am able to adapt to them easily but I’m not sure why. I thought it was hard for introverts to assimilate into new surroundings. Am I the exception that proves the rule or am I something else?
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