This September marks two years since I moved to San Francisco.
The first year was pure chaos: startup pivots, very little routine, and an unreasonable amount of time spent at networking events and cafés with free WiFi.
Year two has felt completely different. I have an office, a community, and a rhythm here that has given me a much stronger sense of both the city and my place in it.
San Francisco is a city defined by contrast. People spend their days building ‘the’ future that sounds surreal, futuristic, and occasionally unhinged. But at street-level, it can feel almost old-fashioned, with rows of pastel houses, neighborhood shops, familiar faces, and nature in almost every direction.
And for all of its obsession with technology, San Francisco has a funny way of pulling you back into the physical world. The same people who spend all day building self-driving cars and delivery robots are heading to the park, hopping on their bikes, or going out to the ocean as soon as their laptops close.
When I think about San Francisco’s ability to code-switch (pun intended) from global tech hub to outdoor paradise, I realize how much the city has shaped how I think about TAYA.
In a city where everything from the weather to the next wave of technology can change in an instant, I hope TAYA can keep us in the moment we’re already in. My best ideas don’t arrive at my desk. They come after weeks buried in a problem or shoulder-deep in the Pacific, and until now, the only way to make sure I remember them has been to stop, dig out my phone, and inevitably get distracted.
TAYA can bring more mental space as we move between work, downtime, people, and everything else that fills a day. That need isn’t unique to San Francisco, but life here makes it especially easy to see.
I asked a few people on the team where they imagine that space making a difference:
Matse, Founding Ops & GTM
San Francisco is the most “active” city I’ve ever lived in: people head straight from trail runs to drinks with friends, and there’s a shared sentiment here that the best way to recover from staring at screens all day is to get up and get outside. TAYA lets you unplug without losing track of important ideas: put your phone away, enjoy where you are, and still capture thoughts that come up as you unwind.
Elize, Content & Comms
“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco” is a quote attributed to Mark Twain that I, living in the foggy Richmond district, relate to deeply. I’m always visiting friends and hunting down the sun in other neighborhoods, and my commutes are my time to soak up the diverse scenes of the city. Each district has its own charm, and TAYA lets me capture what inspires me without needing to look down and miss a beat.
As TAYA grows, I hope we continue to carry some of the tension that’s inherent to San Francisco with us: the ambition to keep imagining what technology can do, without forgetting what we want it to make more room for.
And as I finish this post and head out of our Presidio office, with a glimpse of the Golden Gate peeking out behind the fog, I’m grateful for this ambitious, contradictory, and deeply alive city I get to call home.
Elena
