San Francisco is an amazing place when compared to Los Angeles. Down south, they flaunt their wealth and influence; here, it’s almost an afterthought, something mentioned after the second beer. You never know who you’re going to run into, from the restaurants you eat at to the bars you drink at. I’ve spend many a conversation with someone that would have kind words (or not so kind words) for the elite of the digirati.

I’ve had Foursquare mayorship battles over bars with ex VC’s (I’m so hopelessly behind but someday it’s going to make a great story that I’ll be able to tell here), and drinking buddies have referred me to Engineering VP’s of startups to talk shop. I’ve debated privacy with experts from the Department of Homeland Security, and talked mobile with more people than you can list.

All while wearing jeans and a sweater.

Part of the experience of living in The City (and just outside of it) is meeting people you would never meet anywhere else. Jason Shen works next door to one of the clients. He has an amazing blog, and this is one of his post (and not even the best). He gets startups.

From Jason Shen’s blog:

Some people don't like living with people in the same industry – but I bet a lot of those folks just hate their jobs (ie: most lawyers  & investment bankers). I love it. When I get home in the evenings, I get to geek out about  interesting Hacker News posts, debate  Facebook valuations (I'm a little bearish, Randy is quite bullish) and get  recommendations  cool web apps that make my life more awesome. Plus startup folks tend to know interesting people – I've met and made friends with some really cool people through my roommates.

This kind of sweet roommate situation doesn't happen by accident. It takes some work and planning. My roommates and I have spent many many hours making sure that we really mesh with the people in our apartment. Here are some of the lessons I've learned from these experiences…

Read on…