BOOMTOWN, USA

Two weeks in San Francisco with AI founders, VC bucks, and the beginning of the future.

All photos by author.

I have a friend who we’ll call Brock. Earlier this year, Brock moved to San Francisco and raised $200,000 dollars for an AI agriculture company that he founded. The “company” was more of a name he came up with, and the “idea” was more of a theoretical concoction he whipped up one day while tweaking on coffee. He was just 23 then, had less than a year of work experience, and virtually zero connections on the west coast. But he certainly knows how to work a room. After bouncing around a few networking events in the city, he met a junior partner at a respected venture capital firm. They were around the same age and hit it off, especially once Brock mentioned that his idea incorporated AI. After a few meetings, the firm wired $200k directly into his bank account. He quit his job at a name-brand tech company that same day. The first thing he was advised to do as a new founder? Raise more money.