How I became Florida Man: Why one Bay Area startup founder joined the Miami migration

South Florida is about as far as you can get from San Francisco and still be in the continental U.S. — geographically and culturally. But over the last few months, a steady tide of venture capitalists, startup founders and other tech industry workers have made the journey from the Bay Area to Miami. For many — just how many is a matter of dispute — it was a one-way trip.

Geoffrey Woo is part of the so-called Techxodus — the wave of transplants seeking to re-create Silicon Valley in Miami (or Austin, Texas, or Raleigh-Durham, N.C. …). To better understand what’s luring young, ambitious Californians like him away, we asked him to keep a diary of his experience.

It’s a few days after New Year’s and I’m sitting at my desk in my San Francisco apartment when I get a call from an old friend telling me to get on the next flight to Miami. “F” and I met at a high school math and science camp hosted at MIT. Like me, he’s an entrepreneur and investor. He tells me he recently decamped from New York City and is renting a residence suite at the W South Beach. He suggests I stay with him over the weekend and meet up with some of his friends in town.

Since the lockdown, I’ve generally sheltered in place aside from hikes and a few trips out to nature. The thought of a cross-country flight and rumors of Florida’s lax pandemic guidelines gives me pause. F assures me we can restrict our socializing to rooftops and other well-ventilated spaces. Everything will be pandemic-sensible.

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