It seems like people have a sad sense of prioritization. One, I’d get out of San Francisco and New York. I recently got laid off, but I’ve been investing for over 25 years to the fullest extent possible. Right now I’m trying to like so many others find meaning. Even working for any company doesn’t feel like a good use of my time. It all ends the same way no matter which one you choose. There’s an end. It comes one way or the other. You can always make more money. You can’t make more time. Choose wisely!
Thanks for sharing this, Zain. Kudos to the courage on moving out and finding real meaning. Do you think that you would ever leave San Francisco or New York City if you still had a job that allows you to work remotely?
I would never move to those two cities in the first place. But, I live about an hour and a half from Manhattan. maybe I’m the wrong demographic for the question but I’ve never had a desire to work for a FAANG company. The cost of commuting, income tax rates, and really lacking a feeling of safety doesn’t equal a good value proposition in my opinion. They also don’t strike me as a good place to raise a family. People put too much identity into what they “do” in life. I think our priorities are backwards. I’ve recently heard that people in Europe do not ask in social settings “so what do you do for a living?“ Because that’s not where they put value in people. I’m currently reading how to live a meaningful life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. I’m hoping that it’s going to help me find my way through a lot of this.
I think in San Francisco it feels like a bubble because the effects are more real. The people around you are either making millions or seemingly raising millions of dollars. While it's certainly not true for 100% of cases, there is a weird effect that makes it seem true for almost everyone. You almost feel like you are losing years each week you're not making millions of dollars.
In Singapore, I think it's a different problem with the same genetics. People in Singapore try to rush to a conclusion to make sure they are fitted into the future, rather than carefully understanding the technology they wield. This is what we're seeing, at least with the young people in Singapore: they don't seek to understand the technology because they love it or believe it's beneficial; they do it because they do not want to lose out.
I think that's not the way to operate. As they say, you cannot govern a technology you do not understand. Similarly, to use it effectively, Singaporeans will have to learn:
1. Why this is powerful
2. How to use it
3. What to use it for
4. When to use it
It's about more than just using it because you don't want to lose the race. It is two different kinds of pressure with the same sort of genetics.
That's what I would say. Hope this makes sense, and let me know if you've got any questions or thoughts.
Thx, very interesting difference! It does make sense. I wonder if there’s more engagement with the tech in SF because everybody thinks it could be them getting the millions if they figure out the best use case annd build something etc? Or is that entrepreneurial instinct also alive in Singapore?
And on a more extreme level, you see a lot more evidence of what total failure looks like in SF! 😬 At least in my experience, I didn’t see any people living on the streets in Singapore!
Great examples! The interesting thing is that in San Francisco, most people are more mercenaries than missionaries. That means they are after the status of raising millions of dollars and being worth millions of dollars, but no one really wants to say this out loud for fear that if they look a little bit mercenary, no one would want to fund them and they might seem desperate.
In Singapore, it's a different case. People are not really after the big millions of dollars; instead, what they're after is stability and predictability. They do not want to lose their jobs to AI, so they want to stay ahead. That is a sign of a form of anxiousness: not really trying to be rich, but more so trying to be stable.
And of course, Singapore has a much better society at large as compared to San Francisco when you think about who is governing the city and the country. I think that is a totally different case study by itself.
Largely feel the same, despite spending the last 5 years in "idyllic" Netherlands, going through uni with a design degree and then another 3 years working at an agency. It moves so fast and it's genuinely exciting, but a lot of those days run from 8am to 9pm, between the main job, upskilling, doing content, learning new vibe-coding tools, and organizing events as a Cursor Ambassador. All of it is energizing. But it also feels like you're constantly chasing a train that's slowly pulling away, and if you don't jump on in time, you've missed it.
Honestly, I'd love to see what life inside the tech bubble actually looks like. That's why I'm heading to SF this June for Cursor Compile, to talk to people there, hear their stories, get inspired, and maybe open a door or two. Still see it as fun, and with the right people around, it can be life-changing, not just for me but for the people I'm building for. Still got so much to learn and I'm in my early 20s, so the world is still the playground.
But the dread is in the air. And I can totally feel it.
Btw. Would you be down to grab a coffee or something when I'm in SF? I'll be there 13–17 June.
I'm not even in a building to begin with these days, and it seems increasingly impossible to get into one on any sort of merit or experience based or even real world evaluative system these days. I was laid off 3.5 months ago from the design org of a major bank, and I can tell you based on this past quarter+ of job-searching, the hirers are using an algorithm to find candidates, some percentage of "candidates" are directly targeting that algorithm using AI, and the game is afoot.
I feel you and I feel that people.
I still dream about the company ladder. Because what else? I'm not the person breave enough to open a company and do you see any other alternative?
Probably SF is much worst (I'm in NY). Touch the grass my friend is the way
Thanks for sharing, man. Always be touching grass!
It seems like people have a sad sense of prioritization. One, I’d get out of San Francisco and New York. I recently got laid off, but I’ve been investing for over 25 years to the fullest extent possible. Right now I’m trying to like so many others find meaning. Even working for any company doesn’t feel like a good use of my time. It all ends the same way no matter which one you choose. There’s an end. It comes one way or the other. You can always make more money. You can’t make more time. Choose wisely!
Thanks for sharing this, Zain. Kudos to the courage on moving out and finding real meaning. Do you think that you would ever leave San Francisco or New York City if you still had a job that allows you to work remotely?
I would never move to those two cities in the first place. But, I live about an hour and a half from Manhattan. maybe I’m the wrong demographic for the question but I’ve never had a desire to work for a FAANG company. The cost of commuting, income tax rates, and really lacking a feeling of safety doesn’t equal a good value proposition in my opinion. They also don’t strike me as a good place to raise a family. People put too much identity into what they “do” in life. I think our priorities are backwards. I’ve recently heard that people in Europe do not ask in social settings “so what do you do for a living?“ Because that’s not where they put value in people. I’m currently reading how to live a meaningful life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. I’m hoping that it’s going to help me find my way through a lot of this.
I’m in tech but not in SF. Feeling this to a lesser degree. But I’d love to hear how it was different in Singapore!
Thanks Ben, that's a great question.
I think in San Francisco it feels like a bubble because the effects are more real. The people around you are either making millions or seemingly raising millions of dollars. While it's certainly not true for 100% of cases, there is a weird effect that makes it seem true for almost everyone. You almost feel like you are losing years each week you're not making millions of dollars.
In Singapore, I think it's a different problem with the same genetics. People in Singapore try to rush to a conclusion to make sure they are fitted into the future, rather than carefully understanding the technology they wield. This is what we're seeing, at least with the young people in Singapore: they don't seek to understand the technology because they love it or believe it's beneficial; they do it because they do not want to lose out.
I think that's not the way to operate. As they say, you cannot govern a technology you do not understand. Similarly, to use it effectively, Singaporeans will have to learn:
1. Why this is powerful
2. How to use it
3. What to use it for
4. When to use it
It's about more than just using it because you don't want to lose the race. It is two different kinds of pressure with the same sort of genetics.
That's what I would say. Hope this makes sense, and let me know if you've got any questions or thoughts.
Thx, very interesting difference! It does make sense. I wonder if there’s more engagement with the tech in SF because everybody thinks it could be them getting the millions if they figure out the best use case annd build something etc? Or is that entrepreneurial instinct also alive in Singapore?
And on a more extreme level, you see a lot more evidence of what total failure looks like in SF! 😬 At least in my experience, I didn’t see any people living on the streets in Singapore!
Great examples! The interesting thing is that in San Francisco, most people are more mercenaries than missionaries. That means they are after the status of raising millions of dollars and being worth millions of dollars, but no one really wants to say this out loud for fear that if they look a little bit mercenary, no one would want to fund them and they might seem desperate.
In Singapore, it's a different case. People are not really after the big millions of dollars; instead, what they're after is stability and predictability. They do not want to lose their jobs to AI, so they want to stay ahead. That is a sign of a form of anxiousness: not really trying to be rich, but more so trying to be stable.
And of course, Singapore has a much better society at large as compared to San Francisco when you think about who is governing the city and the country. I think that is a totally different case study by itself.
Largely feel the same, despite spending the last 5 years in "idyllic" Netherlands, going through uni with a design degree and then another 3 years working at an agency. It moves so fast and it's genuinely exciting, but a lot of those days run from 8am to 9pm, between the main job, upskilling, doing content, learning new vibe-coding tools, and organizing events as a Cursor Ambassador. All of it is energizing. But it also feels like you're constantly chasing a train that's slowly pulling away, and if you don't jump on in time, you've missed it.
Honestly, I'd love to see what life inside the tech bubble actually looks like. That's why I'm heading to SF this June for Cursor Compile, to talk to people there, hear their stories, get inspired, and maybe open a door or two. Still see it as fun, and with the right people around, it can be life-changing, not just for me but for the people I'm building for. Still got so much to learn and I'm in my early 20s, so the world is still the playground.
But the dread is in the air. And I can totally feel it.
Btw. Would you be down to grab a coffee or something when I'm in SF? I'll be there 13–17 June.
I'm not even in a building to begin with these days, and it seems increasingly impossible to get into one on any sort of merit or experience based or even real world evaluative system these days. I was laid off 3.5 months ago from the design org of a major bank, and I can tell you based on this past quarter+ of job-searching, the hirers are using an algorithm to find candidates, some percentage of "candidates" are directly targeting that algorithm using AI, and the game is afoot.