I’ve spoken to over 100 founders over the past 18 months about the pros and cons of moving to San Francisco (SF), so I decided to compile everything into this post.
Why it’s worth moving to SF?
Firstly, SF is not for everyone. SF is for the most ambitious and driven people in the world. It’s the major leagues for startups.
You’ll find the highest concentration of great founders, great engineers, and great investors anywhere in the world. But what’s less obvious until you spend time here, is how open people are. To many, San Francisco welcomes you with open arms and is the closest experience I’ve had to hostel culture.
If you’re a founder, being here increases your surface area for luck. Not just because there’s more capital, but because everyone around you is trying to build something ambitious. That kind of environment rewires your sense of what’s normal.
If you’re an engineer, the compensation reflects the density of opportunity – 2.5 times what you’d earn in Australia, but the real value is what you learn from the people you surround yourself with.
At the recommendation of Julia French, I came to SF to visit for two and a half months because I wanted to learn from the best in the world. I left having done that, but also with three tight circles of friends and a sense of belonging I hadn’t felt before.
Whenever someone asks if they should come, I tell them to try it for two or three months. The worst-case scenario is you meet brilliant people and learn a lot. The best case is that it changes your life, like it has mine!
A lay of the land
I first came to SF in 2022 (never, ever San Fran). It felt like Gotham City, back then but the people made it awesome!
By the end of my two and a half months there, I didn’t want to leave … but I ran out of money. So don’t do that.
SF has improved a lot, but it still has its problems. Sixth and Mission in SoMa and the Tenderloin are about as close to “hell on earth” as it gets. The drug of choice there is fentanyl, which leaves many people in a zombie-like state.
The best places to live in are North Beach, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, the Marina, Cow Hollow, Japantown, Russian Hill, and Fort Mason.
Some places that are decent include Hayes Valley (beautiful but right next to the Tenderloin), Chinatown, and the Mission (a bit rough in certain pockets, but rich in Mexican heritage with amazing food).
Places that are fine but a little boring: Mission Bay, Noe Valley, NOPA, Anza Vista Inner, anything west of Haight Ashbury, Potrero Hill, Union Square/FIDI.
If you’re a founder constantly going to events, anything south of the Mission, across the Bay in Oakland or Berkeley, or too far west past Anza Vista is a bit inconvenient.
SF’s weather doesn’t really change: fog, and a kind of perpetual 15-20°C. The best months are August to October, but even then, bring a coat when the sun goes down.
Cool places: Castro (Gay district), Haight Ashbury (Hippie, weed-smoking area), Fisherman’s Wharf (it’s a tourist trap, but I like it)
Finally, “Silicon Valley” is known as the South Bay like Palo Alto, Mountain View, etc. Young people don’t really live there because there’s nothing to do.
You might get invited to a few events and it’s worth going just to check it out via the Caltrain and visit the Stanford campus over a weekend (it’s beautiful) but for a trip focused on meeting people and getting immersed in the energy, you’ll want to base yourself in the city.
Before you get here
SF is incredible but it’s not for everyone so if you’re considering moving here, come here on an ESTA – Electronic System for Travel Authorisation. Generally you’ll be spending more than $3k AUD per month. When I did my first SF trip I did it on the cheap and still spent $6k AUD in two and a half months. If you don’t have the means, save before coming. Doing SF on the cheap is mentally taxing (trust me, I’ve done it!)
If you don’t have an account on X dot com the everything app then get one ASAP. Become a reply guy and make friends so you’re not touching down in SF and twiddling your thumbs.
People to follow:
There’s more I’ve missed, but these people will generally be the most informative/helpful.
Reach out to people on LinkedIn who live in SF as well.
If you’re a founder, there’s a base level of knowledge expected. Rewatch How to start a startup by YC, not just one video, go through every relevant video to you. Being prepared matters.
Accommodation: Get an invite to Directory SF and try to get into a Hacker/Founder House if you’re a founder. I live at Atmos but there are plenty of them around. The people you surround yourself with will shape your experience more than the city itself. Be around the best so you can become the best, but don’t be pretentious about it.
There’s also an Aussies in SF Group Chat on WhatsApp run by the incredible Annie Liao !
Founders – SF IRL is an awesome way to make friends but most people who go to these events are in the same boat as you. You want to get an “in” with people to get invited to more exclusive events, see networking chapter below.
Meetup.com was suggested by Mick & Geoff, but sadly doesn’t work anymore.
Finally, set a clear goal for your trip. Ninety days goes by fast. Don’t expect instant results. The value lies in relationships and experience. Melanie and Cliff from Canva came three times before raising their Seed round. Mike from Atlassian failed a couple of times before finding traction. I personally raised only $50k USD on my first trip so don’t stress if it doesn’t turn out the way you planned.
You’ll overestimate what you can achieve in a year and underestimate what you can achieve in 10!
When you arrive
Give yourself a day to get over jet lag before jumping into meetings. You want to make sure that you’re showcasing your best self in every meeting you have.
Get a local SIM card. AT&T and T-Mobile are both fine. I use T-Mobile; they’re not perfect, but they’re cheap, LOL.
Uber/Lyft is pretty reasonably priced for short distances; you would be surprised. If you’re on a budget, the e-scooters and bikes are a good mode of transportation.
Trader Joe’s is reasonably priced, but you’ll end up shopping at whatever is closest in the end. I recommend getting into the habit of grocery shopping from the get-go to save money, particularly if you’re here for a long time. Whole Foods is more pricey but healthier.
If you get a personal bank account, I recommend Chase. I did a lot of research, Chase is the easiest to set up and work with. Here’s a referral code.
For moving money, Wise, Up, and most of the Australian neobanks work well. If you’re a founder, Airwallex is excellent for handling business payments. Once you start paying yourself in USD, get a Mercury account!
Things I like
My favourite thing to do is to rent an e-bike and ride through Golden Gate Park to watch the sunset at Ocean Beach.
My second favourite thing is to get the ferry to Sausalito, it’s so beautiful, definitely a great place for a date if your significant other comes to visit or a great place to take a hinge date if you’ve met a couple times before.
The food here is good if you know where to go.
I’m not going to put together a big food list just download: The Michelin Guide.
A few staples: Tony’s Pizzeria, go early there will be a one hour wait, then go for a walk around North Beach or get a drink at a bar. El Farolito, has some great Mexican! RT Rotisserie for my more health-conscious gym bros and finally Thai Spice, has probably the best Thai in the city.
Generally, Chinese and Thai food is worse here than in Sydney but the Japanese & Mexican food is better, in my opinion.
I don’t drink coffee but everyone raves about Saint Frank’s. South Park Bluebottle is the famous one that alot of VC’s go to. However, Jackson Square is becoming more trendy so might be worth bouncing around if you’re looking for some serendipity
Waymo’s are cool and fun, you should ride in one – if you want $10 off, click here.
When I go out, I always seem to end up in the Marina, specifically Balboa Cafe (which I have a love/hate relationship with). Lovely espresso martini’s, but there’s a ton of bars in the marina, so you can jump around if need be. The Marina, North Beach and The Mission have plenty of good bars but everything closes at 3 a.m. If you can, go to an SF House Party, it’s the closest thing you’ll experience to a fever dream!
Go to Dolores Park on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, you’ll get offered drugs within 15 minutes, but it’s great to people-watch and soak up the sun. Generally, the parks here rock!
Important note about ‘networking’ in person
Aussies have an excellent reputation here… don’t fuck it up. Don’t be transactional. Don’t clout chase (ask someone who they raised from, how big their company is, what stage of their company they’re at, etc within the first two minutes of meeting people).
A lot of transient Americans do this, and everyone who actually lives here hates it. This is the only place in the world where status is tied to the success of your startup, so you end up with a lot of wannabe founders — and these are the kinds of conversations you find yourself having with them.
Don’t fall into this trap. Be genuine, be Australian.
What I usually do is ask where someone’s from, where they went to college (I find the American college system fascinating — there are nerdy ones, sporty ones, party ones, etc.), and why they moved to SF. It’s an easy starting point if there aren’t other rabbit holes to go down.
Madison Kanna sums this up very well. I personally still see value in the big parties but this is something Jayden Clark and I have spoken about at length since we arrived.
Reaching out to people online
I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me, saying “X told me to connect with you as I’m in town, I would love to catch up to learn more about the market” or some generic shit like that. Don’t do that, the person is probably really busy. You can do 1 of the following:
- Try and work in some time whilst they’re doing something they do anyway. E.g. Gym, walk, run.
- If you’re less physically inclined and you don’t know much about them personally, try: “Hey X, heard you’re a beast at [thing you need help with]. I’m currently experiencing y problem and would love to chat with you as I’m in SF for a couple of weeks working on [startup name].”
Example: “Hey Brian, heard you’re a beast at fundraising. I’ve seen you guys got funded by a16z and would love to see if they’d be a good fit for us. Would love to chat with you as I’m in SF for a couple weeks working on Airbnb – a marketplace for short-term accomodation.”
I’m looking to raise money for my startup
Raising funding in SF takes time. Many, many people message me saying they want to come here for a few weeks to raise a round. You will fail. Do not do this. It takes a minimum of two months and even that comes with a high chance of failure.
Preparation and network are everything. My friend Alisa Rae , raised successfully after months of groundwork. She’d built a strong network on Twitter, had a successful exit at 21 and followed the steps I mentioned in the “before you get here” section. She’s an incredible founder!
The main antidote to the above is doing a YC or a16z speedrun, but you’d be moving to SF for those programs anyway.
You need intro’s to get funding in the US so make friends online before you move here and launch yourself a couple of weeks before your trip. When you meet with someone, ask if they can introduce you to three other people (cc: Mick Liubinskas)
Whilst you are here you want to try and get “adopted” by someone who’s on the “inside”. This might be a friend or a mentor who can help go into bat for you. For Airbnb, this was Michael Siebel. For Canva, this was Bill Tai . So if you aren’t in a hacker house, be proactive in trying to create genuine connections to make this a reality.
Most investors will also expect you to move here. Many people try to do the whole “come to SF just to raise” and if you don’t have a really good answer as to why you’re not moving to SF, investors won’t take you seriously.
Concerns people have
- Politics – No one talks more about American politics than annoying Americans who you don’t want to hang out with – and Australians visiting the US. Everyone is pretty normal here and usually leaves all their views online, so it looks alot worse than it is. I barely talk about American politics.
- Dating – It’s great! There are more men than women in SF, but the city is diverse enough for all walks of life to find someone. The main complaints you see are people who go to tech parties where there are 10 women and 90 men. These do happen but once you find a good, diverse crew of people, you don’t experience this. I’ve only been to one-two of these parties.
- Culture – The people of SF work harder than Australians but there’s room for fun too. If you’re looking for a good time, you will find one. I sure do! Make friends with people you vibe with; people are very accepting to newcomers. Very different to Sydney’s ‘you’re only friends with people you went to high school with and first year uni’ vibe. I personally prefer it. People are incredibly friendly!
- Weather – Some people love it, this is probably my least favourite part of the city. Seems equivalent to Melbourne weather temperature-wise, which I don’t like as a Sydney boy. However, it is less volatile, barely ever rains. Don’t really have a solution for this. Best time of year is between August and November but always bring a coat.
- Safety – I’m not going to lie to you, SF is more dangerous than Sydney. The truth is, live in the places that I recommended above, and you will be safer.
- Visa stuff – For the first stint, get an ESTA and do not stay in America even an hour longer than three months, otherwise you will get banned from returning. They don’t fuck around here. I’m on an E3 and spoke with a ton of lawyers. The best in the game is Sherwin. It took him about four weeks to get from my first meeting with him and they were super professional. I asked Sherwin if he could share his calendar with other Australians for this blog and he has graciously done so: Meet with Sherwin. My unsolicited advice – I recommend the E3 over the O1. $4k AUD every two years vs. around $25k AUD every three years. You can also continually renew an E3, but I’m not a lawyer and everyone is different, so feel free to chat with Sherwin!
Good luck!
If you’ve got to this point, congratulations, I wish you the best on your trip!
If you have any further questions that I haven’t covered, I will be making edits to this post so feel free to DM me or comment on this original post!
Recommended readings that helped me:
- Ben Kennedy is the founder & CEO of Gecko Rental Software – an ai-powered operating system for equipment rental businesses. He moved to San Francisco in August 2024.
