I don’t watch much TV anymore.

I spent a LOT of time consuming the “golden age of television” in the suburbs of Denver and very intentionally pivoted to reduce screen time since.

The environment, the way we design our homes, influence how we spend our time.

I want to create spaces that invite long discussions and creation over consumption.

When the lows are low though, I still rewatch episodes of my 2 favorite TV shows ever on my laptop. They are about NYC and SF, standup and tech, but they really are about ambitious people, dreamers and doers and rebels in pursuit of a life of their own:

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel who wants “a big life, experience everything, break every single rule there is.”‍

Silicon Valley where they all “have too much to do, pivoting.”‍

I believe that in order to write good stories, you either have to have fantastic imagination or live a life worth documenting.

I chose the latter.

As I was sitting in a hot tub at a friend's house on my first Saturday night in my real life Silicon Valley, I felt a new sense of belonging, peace and ease. I got curious as to why.

We spent the day exploring the city with friends (a couple I have known for about a year now,) then drove to the Peninsula where another couple I have never met joined for dinner (and hot tub!) but most importantly: really magical conversations about life and work.

The  6 of us were all born and grew up in 6 different countries - and have since lived in at least 2 other countries (not 6-12 months during high school or college, but 1+ year living + working locally abroad as an adult, including active combat US military and escaping wars and living in refugee camps level of experience…)‍

We all had different lines of current work from full-time founder to full-time job to maintain visa / immigration status with founding a startup on the side, to VC, enterprise tech, sales / operations and of course my booming “making people better people” industry. ‍

The most fascinating was all of our WHYs for being here.‍

We didn’t accidentally end up in the Bay Area. We all came here on purpose, because we wanted to be surrounded by people smarter, “better,” more accomplished and driven than us.

We are pursuing being best at what we do and the best part of that pursuit is being inspired by others around.

We like being the least smart person in the room.

These people around me were not driven by sarcasm, pessimism, hate, resentment or fear. We sure all of feel these emotions from time to time, because we are human and emotions are normal.

But we make major decisions and actions out of optimism, passion and love for what we do.

This mindset has been a dominant theme in this city.

I have met people who have left SF (or NYC) because it made them feel insignificant, uncomfortable and small.

I personally feel more at peace in it. I feel at home.

I started my career in advertising and media in the early 2010s.

I wanted to be in NYC, because that is where the best agencies in the world were, where the most creative and interesting people who created brands worked and lived.

Building my life & career in NYC for a decade+ is the greatest privilege of my life.

The “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” motto is true.

The city puts you on the map, giving access and a network that people from other cities don’t have.

I don’t take that for granted.

It also gave me discipline, competitiveness and high standards for excellence.‍

“Madison Avenue” is in NYC and “Silicon Valley” is in the SF Bay for a reason. ‍

Silver medals are also a huge accomplishment, but they are not gold.

“Silicon Alley” and tech will be second to advertising, fashion and finance in NYC.

Advertising and tech will be second to entertainment in LA.

And so on.

We thought that Covid had changed that and equalized everyone behind the screens.

It didn’t. ‍

Human relationships formed in person are the “next big thing” I am personally betting on.‍

The level of concentration of smart x driven x passionate in the SF Bay Area is insane.

Many of them are creating new companies, others lead existing ones that they will need to pivot, others support them through processes of evolution.

We are all entering a new world, life and work where we will constantly have to evolve.

Nothing is stable anymore, especially not full-time jobs.

Leading through change and transformation will be *the* opportunity of our lifetime.

Now is the time to practice and get good at it.‍

To quote Mrs Maisel one more time: “they say ambition is an unattractive trait. Maybe. But you know what’s really unattractive? Waiting around for something to happen.”‍

More to come,

Fanni

P.s. we have signed our lease in SF! :) The NYC x Berlin rental market experience has prepared us, so I did not believe the warnings of the “how hard it will be…”

We found our place in 4 days through Zillow without any agent or referral help.

Yes, we gave up seeing friends or traveling for 4th of July and opted for working and apartment hunting instead (and bridge walks, pic above and below.)

This is not a story about our brilliance, but about the stories we tell ourselves and the power of actions vs words.

We can find excuses or we can get shit done.

The choice is ours.