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Chronicles Of A 50+ Entrepreneur: San Francisco Here I Come

This article is more than 5 years old.

In the previous articles in this series I write about my experiences as a 50+ entrepreneur and advocate for later-in-life founders.

Where Am I Headquartered?

I guess I’m really testing this idea of a virtual business. My husband and I have always been geographically adventurous. We’ve lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, The Santa Cruz Mountains, Kauai, and at our compound Camp Dude near Yosemite.

We’ve had a sublet in Los Angeles for the past 4 years. It’s the first time I’ve spent a chunk of time in this exciting city. I got to know some really great people who are working in tech there. It’s refreshing and everyone is very supportive.

Because, unfortunately, I can’t do everything, we’ve let that apartment go and are spending at least the fall at Camp Dude after a 5 year absence. It’s gorgeous right now. Fall is here and there’s that crispness in the air. We even had a little rain which the scorched earth slurped right up.

That’s all nice, but this business will not flourish from beneath an oak tree as I ponder the meaning of it all. I do think it can flourish if the peace and focus I find in the foothills is part of the mix.

San Francisco Here I Come

Today I’m on an Amtrak on my way to a week in San Francisco. I’m attending Launch Scale. Then I’m back again in two more weeks for our event. My decades-old network is mostly there and so zooming into town is extremely natural. Also, I haven’t lived there full time for a while and there is a rich new network I can get to know. After all, I have a lot to share.

The obvious argument for being in San Francisco more often is that 40% of venture investments in tech happen there. While investments are only part of the goal right now, the trickle-down of all that money and innovation happening in one place can’t be ignored.

The obvious argument for not being in San Francisco is that it’s the most expensive US city to live in. 59% of tech workers say that buying a house is out of reach. The premium to live and work in the city (and I would not live or commute down the peninsula again) would kill the frugal path we’re taking.

For now, I’ll keep spending more time in the city and I’ll never say never.

Meeting The Brain Trust

We ran an interview with Karen Wickre who is a Next For Me advisor. Her new book is coming out in November titled ‘Taking the Work Out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count’. In it Karen describes a ‘brain trust’ as:

A web of connections to call on for ideas, opportunities, and experiences you might have missed otherwise.

I’m a believer and have cultivated my network with care through the years. The investment has paid off tremendously. It’s always mattered to me that I connect more authentically than just to get something in return. I have to actually like the person and what they stand for to invest much time.

Here are a few people I’ll be seeing:

  1. Pam Kramer is another Next For Me advisor. Her broad marketing experience has been a great help in getting clear about who we are and how we communicate that to the world.
  2. The gang at Mule Design. Erika Hall and Mike Monteiro. The two people who stick to their ethics in everything they do. They are always a good gut-check. They are also having a ‘drink and draw’ in their gallery later in the week with one of my favorite Bay Area artists Gina Contreras. That should be a fun break.
  3. Deb McDonald at Say What Research. She taught me so much about qualitative research. We worked together on some big research projects for consumer packaged goods companies. I’m hoping to bring her into the mix for a trend report we’ll be publishing in January about what we’ve learned from our meetups and public events.

I wonder who I might add to the brain trust this week? However it shakes out, it’s a positive way to talk about what I’m doing with people I trust and to get out of my routine.

Previous articles in the series:

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