I moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco because of a cold DM on X.
I grew up in the LA suburbs, and after attending college there I built my career in journalism across the country, first covering local news, and then crypto. I liked my comfortable life with friends and family.
Then in February, the chief of staff at Corgi, the AI insurance startup that recently went viral for its seven-day workweek, messaged me on X to ask if I would be interested in a role. I’d never heard of Corgi, but I’d seen a lot of people in crypto pivot to the AI industry and wanted to check it out.
A week later, I flew to San Francisco to visit the team, and in March, I joined them as their Head of Brand. My entire life changed in an instant.
Moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco felt like stepping into a completely different value system
Courtesy of Erika Lee
In San Francisco, there’s a strong sense that AI is transforming the city and a level of intensity that I don’t think people outside the Bay Area fully appreciate. Everyone here believes they’re early to something massive.
Everyday, I meet people who’ve moved across state and city lines to work at startups in San Francisco. Like me, they’re willing to make extraordinary sacrifices for the possibility of being part of the next OpenAI or Anthropic.
In LA, one of the first questions people would ask me at events was, “What’s your Instagram?” Conversations often orbited around who you knew, what parties you were invited to, and how well you’ve curated yourself online.
In San Francisco, online curation still matters, but in a different way. People ask for your LinkedIn or X account. Or sometimes they skip social media entirely and ask, “What are you building?” Nobody seems particularly interested in whether you’re fashionable, attractive, or influential online. The currency is ideas, fundraising, and products.
Neither city is better; they optimize for different things. For now, I’m happy to be working with my head down in San Francisco, where I’m more productive and motivated than I was in LA.
My journalism background was more valuable than I expected
Coming from journalism, I assumed I’d be the least technical person in almost every room.
When you think of Silicon Valley, you think of engineers and founders who’ve raised millions of dollars. Conversations move quickly from product roadmaps to fundraising. At times, I wondered whether someone with an entirely different skillset really belonged in this environment.
Over time, I realized I was wrong. In the age of AI, companies compete on narrative, taste, and making people care. Storytelling is becoming infrastructure. OpenAI has highlighted the enormous opportunity for new forms of creative and narrative work emerging alongside AI, while hiring roles dedicated specifically to shaping the stories that help executives and customers understand the technology.
Rippling is hiring a Head of Storytelling to build its editorial voice and point of view, and Notion now has an entire Storytelling function within the company. In a world where everyone has access to the same models, the advantage increasingly belongs to the people who can synthesize ideas, understand culture, create meaning, and tell compelling stories. The humanities aren’t becoming less valuable in the AI era, they may be becoming more valuable than they have been in decades.
Courtesy of Erika Lee
Since journalists can identify what matters in a sea of information and explain complicated topics clearly, my experience is incredibly useful for writing, editing, and shaping content about Corgi’s brand.
Changing industries doesn’t always mean leaving behind the skills you love most. Sometimes, it means finding a new way to use them.
I’m glad I moved despite the emotional trade-offs
I still miss many things about Los Angeles, like being close to my family, familiar neighborhoods, and the comfort of a city where I always knew the best spots to meet friends for coffee. LA shaped who I am, and I don’t think anywhere will ever replace it.
But moving to San Francisco has stretched me in ways staying comfortable never could have. I didn’t just change address, I moved into an entirely different world. I’m surrounded by people who genuinely believe they’re living through one of the most consequential technological shifts of our generation.
Whether history proves them right remains to be seen, but as a journalist used to documenting periods of change from the outside, I’m glad I’m experiencing this defining moment where the action is happening.
Like many others, I’m willing to uproot my life to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime shift. Even with the uncertainty, long hours, and emotional trade-offs that came with leaving my life in Los Angeles behind, I’m grateful I said yes to that cold message on X.
