this was my first time in SF and my first time in the states in 13 years.
people approach SF with a certain intellectual limerence, bringing with them ambitious hypotheses about the future of soft and hard ware.
instead I brought kimbap and makgeoli. a long list of people I need to express my profound gratitude to:
Vincent from @neo met me at the airport and is the whole reason I was in SF.
@ryanharaki_ bought me my first american burger and toured me around the @vercel office - I’ll be taking him to korea with me one day whether he likes it or not.
finally got to meet @DStrachman and @William_Blake in-person after first getting in touch with them back in 2017, and just like they did when I was just a rowdy teenager behind a screen, they welcomed me with open arms.
@skyler_chan_ was very appropriately the last person I saw before leaving SF, and to cap off the journey he fed me some home-cooked chicken stew, slowly-boiled for 7-hours. dare I say the stew sent me to the moon (*nudge *nudge you see what I did there?)
@PhilHedayatnia gave me my first proper tour of SF and took me on my first Waymo. 8 years of friendship still going strong eh? thanks for being my international constant.
@mint0themax was my sf noona, being there for me during the highs and lows, especially the lows.
@tammiesiew and @pebble_bed folks were my very own narnia trapdoor, providing me a warm refuge when I needed it most.
consequently, matthew and I became nighttime buddies, ending almost every day saying “晚安” to each other.
I met @jia_seed in the most serendipitously SF way…. coding under a tree at Salesforce Park. I guess it paid off because she's thriving.
@floguo and I finally got to catch up in person after 3 years (last time in Seoul) and introduced me to @junelee___ (we must create a June/Joon union) and @annarmonaco from @paradigmai. the three of us spent the entire evening chatting and learning about women’s colleges.
@_andychung showed me around the @perplexity_ai office and I finally got to thank him in-person for creating @read_cv - a site that provided me invaluable escape and creative relief back when I was in the army.
@rkhkimx and @amandamhuang from @BainCapVC gave me some of the most actionable advice in my career but more importantly we geeked out about korean cults.
@TimothyIm5 graciously performed his role as a big hyung and brought me to daeho to ease my kimchi withdrawal symptoms. truly lifesaving.
@charlie_meyer_ and I biked around golden gate park together and he explained AI safety to me. we're also calling tomorrow hehe.
@akshayadinesh19 made me my first strawberry matcha latte. it was glorious.
@itsKinjalNandy introduced me to schwarma so I am forever indebted to him.
@jovliew came down from boston and we ate the schwarma mentioned above together.
bumped into @jesshubble and @charlesjavelona and ended up doing many a late-night coworking session together.
@harpriiya called to check-in from seoul and we somehow ended up trauma-bonding.
@zangimmortal also called to check-in, always keeping me grounded but also excited about @PlayUnderRealm updates.
@_nevedhaa_ was kind of enough to take pity on me when I was lurking by myself in the waterloo house and we ended up chatting about her amazing work with @socraticainfo.
finally got to meet with @jaegpark after only talking virtually.
@zeldapoem graciously invited me to meet the incredible proteges of @nautilusquest.
@hlynakim showed me around her office and gave me some invaluable tips on finding good 반찬 in SF.
@yesilooooo told me about her work with @freesolo - we talked movies and crucially visited an H-Mart together.
@ravernkoh and I got something to eat from Tartine bakery and talked hackathons (best of luck with Hack & Roll!)
@hoondeveloper flew in from seoul and now we're working on some exciting stuff, so do keep your eye out :)
let me know if any of you decide to visit korea or nea/sea. the first round of kbbq is on me.
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