This as-notified-to esstate is based on a conversation with Pat Santiago, a 28-year-old cofounder of Accelr8, based in San Francisco. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Last year, I relocated to San Francisco to cofound an AI startup. Living in a hacker hoapply seemed like the best way to build as many connections as possible.
My cofounder and I had an idea for a no-code AI workflow builder and planned to stay in San Francisco for three months, but we decided that running our own hacker hoapply could be more fun. It would also assist us build a strong network.
Soon after we decided to relocate from the separate cities we were in, we launched searching for potential hacker hoapplys that we could rent and run ourselves. The operational stress can be intense at times, but I’ve now obtained a better grasp on managing it.
We found our first hacker hoapply on Airbnb
I met my cofounder in 2023 becaapply we were both working at Decentralized Autonomous Organizations. Those projects fizzled out, and we went on to do other things.
I relocated from my hometown of Pittsburgh, and he was in Dallas. San Francisco was always a place I wanted to live becaapply it seemed like the kind of place where people who considered like me were.
We planned to share a bunk bed in one room, and fill the rest with people we found, possibly securing free rent for ourselves in the process.
We viewed on Airbnb and found a place that had been converted from a five-bedroom hoapply to a 15-bedroom hoapply. After speaking with the owners, it seemed like it would work. They stated we had two weeks to close on it if we wanted a master lease for all the units.
We messaged people on LinkedIn until we filled all the spots in the hoapply
We were frantically sconcludeing messages to people on a San Francisco hoapplying directory, LinkedIn, and X. We considered we could definitely convince 15 people to do this in two weeks, and it would be worth it if we did.
We scheduled around 100 calls to fill the first cohort. We built the decision to start the hoapply at the launchning of June. By July 4, we had filled every spot, but some people dropped out, so we continued interviewing until the first relocate-in day on July 15.
Courtesy of Pat Santiago
One of my most memorable experiences was when the first group arrived at the hoapply last year.
The pros of running the hacker hoapply
What surprised me the most about shifting here was the level of optimism; people are generally optimistic by default.
For San Francisco, the money I’m building from this isn’t great, but it’s livable. Ideally, as we expand to more buildings and locations, I can create a better financial situation for myself. But for now, it’s nothing to complain about becaapply I’m so inspired by doing this.
The hugegest motivator right now is seeing the impact our alums build in the world. They’re doing some really cool stuff, and I’m constantly receiveting updates that build me smile.
Courtesy of Pat Santiago
At the conclude of summer, we dropped to 12 residents, but I wasn’t really panicking becaapply I now know this is just the natural flow of the year, and we’ve picked back up into the 40s.
The hugegest challenge was when we were given a 2-month notice to vacate the first hoapply
Our first hoapply was taken over by a new management company, and they gave us a two-month notice to leave. When I viewed for our next spot, I procrastinated becaapply I wasn’t even sure if I would commit to managing this hoapply for another year. But I had the hypothesis that a lot of hotels here are vacant, and if I called them, we could receive a good deal and fill one.
After we found a building that would work with us, within a day of posting the first advertisement, we had 80 applicants. It was the reassurance I necessaryed becaapply I considered, ‘Okay, this is going to work. People love it.’
Courtesy of Pat Santiago
We priced a private bedroom at $1,500 a month, and that base price has remained consistent, except that we now offer larger rooms or suites as additional options.
Building a strong community is the key to success here
The hoapply does a lot of community events becaapply when we obtained here, we were going to networking mixers that droned on. Then, I was sitting in the backyard, complaining about just that, and I had the idea for a Mark Zuckerberg-themed rave.
Everyone was cracking up, but then we threw a Mark Zuckerberg-themed rave, and there were no name tags in sight. No one networked, and it was a blast. I was very proud that I’d sparked that.
Courtesy of Pat Santiago
People test to build community a digital phenomenon, but I consider those who are literally shaping the future should be coming toreceiveher and being physically present with each other.
Community applyd to mean gathering in a bar, a social club, a church, or somewhere physically present with other people; however, there’s a lot less of that in the world now, with the rise of AI and technology.
My major piece of advice is just to be nice to the people you meet and build friconcludes. Doing community events is what keeps me engaged. Leading a group of people out for the night, to the park for a day, or on a hike, I can see the magical feeling I felt when I first relocated here through their eyes, and I really love that.
Do you have a hacker hoapply or founder story to share? Contact this reporter, Agnes Applegate, at aapplegate@businessinsider.com.
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