@ashbrown

This weekend, I’m celebrating my SanFraniversary. 

Exactly one year ago, I packed everything up and flew from Austin to San Francisco, with no return ticket in hand. 

I’ve learned a great deal from this city and the people in it. More than anything, I have a greater appreciation for how to enjoy life. 

Did you know this is the view just 5 minutes from downtown? 

And that people actually go to work like this?

Or that there’s a magical land of wine just 1.5 hrs out of the city?  

The Bay Area is brimming with hidden (and not so hidden) adventures. 

As I was writing yesterday, I posted a quick question to friends on Path: “What is your favorite thing about living in this city?” A few answers were purely goofy, others more poignant:

“The mindset” - Ted Rheingold

“Food” - Sarah Lane

“The fact that we live in a city that feels like a town.” - Michael Perry

“Peter Pan Syndrome” - Ryan Lawler

What I love about these responses is that they accurately capture distinctly what I love about living here and the prompt for this post. 

There is a certain shared energy here in San Francisco that I’ve never experienced in other cities I’ve lived. It’s as if the whole town can disagree on politics, industry knowledge, personal decisions, etc, but agree on the most important thing: we’re so lucky to live here.

I’ll never forget the first moment I realized this. I was dancing and singing with about a dozen other friends, on our way back from Napa in a limo bus (an annual tradition called #WinoWagon). As we emerged from that double rainbow tunnel before the Golden Gate bridge, something incredible happened. Everyone fell silent and just stared out the left window at the skyline in front of us, the bay sparkling with pride. A few of us smiled at each other, seemingly communicating some form of nonverbal understanding. Others gazed longingly. 

I remember thinking “this is why we do it.” 

Living in San Francisco is like living in an alternate reality. Sure, we don’t have a great grasp on world issues and men can get away with dressing like teenagers and sleeping in until 10:00am. But, when it comes down to it, there’s nowhere else like it. 

Even as I write this, the sun is setting over North Beach, I’m sipping a fresh margarita, there are scattered groups of people hanging out drinking beer on their roofs, and I can hear seagulls in the distance - no doubt harassing tourists at Fisherman’s Wharf for dinner. For all the 15 hour days and endless social events we attend, these are the moments we cherish. This is what it’s all for. 

Oh, and just so you don’t think it’s all rainbows and ponies, here are a few more things I’ve learned in the last year: 

• Unless you spend a great deal of time here, it’s impossible to fully appreciate the unique culture of each neighborhood. 
• Everyone pretty much hates the Marina, except for the people that live in the Marina, Pac Heights and North Beach. And they don’t care what everyone thinks. Except for the other people that live in the Marina, Pac Heights and North Beach.
• You should own a stroller if you live in Noe Valley. And no, you can’t just push around a case of beer. Jacob and I tried. 
• Brunch is basically a contact sport. It’s also the modern day “let’s do lunch!”
• It’s really cool to work in SoMa, but not to live in SoMa. 
• If everyone just walked to work and/or their meetings every day, they could skip the gym. These hills really are a b*tch.
• If you do something other than work with startups, you’re automatically really interesting.
• Everything really does look like the show Full House. 

Thank you San Francisco for an incredible year. Here’s to many more like it. 

After nearly four years working with startups on the agency-side, I’m so excited to announce today that I’ve joined San Francisco based startup, Postmates, as Director of Communications and Marketing.

Transitioning from an agency to a startup is nothing new. The excitement of building a product firsthand, growing a team and shaking up an entire industry, is compelling. Sexy even. But it’s hard work. 

I always pushed my clients to iterate faster, scale better and secure a stronghold within the market. But at the end of the day, I often found myself wanting more. There was a very real distinction between what we were doing, and what they were doing. After all, their business could fail and my bread would still get buttered. 

Listening to the commitment and vision in Ben and Lucy’s voices, Joe’s plan to develop a social structure built on analytics and behavioral data, Mark’s solution for mobilization of the world’s workforce, or Norman’s vision of a world organized by mobile personal assistants. I have had the privilege of working with some of the industry’s most talented entrepreneurs. 

And now, I’m joining them. 

Over the years, my favorite products and teams have been those that are truly innovating. Sure, I’m guilty of downloading every new social app and service. But, at the end of the day, it’s the businesses that are using technology to turn age-old industries on their head, that I find truly compelling. Cherry for car washes, H.Bloom for flowers, Simplee for medical expenses, Rewinery for wine….you get the idea. 

Postmates is a technology company. On the exterior, we’re simplifying the delivery process, plain and simple. On the interior, we’re building an extremely sophisticated platform to improve urban logistics and bridge the gap between merchant and consumer. 

The team consists of some of the hardest working individuals I’ve ever met and I am humbled beyond words to have this opportunity. 

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I’m psyched to jump in head first and face the challenges from this side of the fence. And, to everyone that helped me make this decision, read my comparison charts, listened to me rattle on about team dynamics or let me pick your brain, thank you.

Here’s to walking the walk.