California might have its problems, but it might still be an amazing place for a young ambitious person to build a life and career.
Naval Ravikant, the influential entrepreneur and investor behind AngelList, doesn’t mince words when it comes to the Bay Area’s unique advantages. In a recent discussion that has been making rounds in tech circles, Ravikant made a bold claim that cuts through the typical narratives about California’s challenges—from housing costs to regulatory burdens—to highlight something he believes is transformational about the region’s opportunity landscape.
“I think the Bay Area is a huge cheat code to a level that I can’t even talk about on Twitter, because it would just piss people off who can’t get in here,” Ravikant said. “It’s really good here and now. Obviously, quality of life might be better in some other places, or the cost of living might be better in some other places. But your earning power here is unparalleled.”
The entrepreneur, known for his philosophical takes on wealth creation and happiness, acknowledges the trade-offs that come with Bay Area living. Yet he argues that the financial upside compensates for these drawbacks in ways that extend beyond simple salary comparisons. “The weather’s pretty darn good,” he continued. “There’s a lot of—you’re living in the future. You can take a Waymo, you can take a robot taxi, you can see all the drones, you can see all the cool stuff being built out and developed.”
But for Ravikant, the technology and lifestyle perks are secondary to what he sees as the region’s most compelling attribute: “The single biggest thing is you are here with the smartest people in the world. It’s the highest IQ density of anywhere on the planet.”
This isn’t just Silicon Valley boosterism. Ravikant places the current Bay Area moment in historical context, drawing parallels to other transformational periods: “I would argue that through human history, there have been a few magical places and a few magical times. So maybe it was Athens during the Greek Renaissance. Perhaps it was Rome when the Roman Empire was up there. Maybe it was Manchester or Birmingham or London during the Industrial Revolution. Maybe Paris during a certain period of time.”
“But there are these magical places where the best people in the world—even people who are not necessarily in the industry, even artists or business people, whoever—they’re attracted to that place,” he concluded.
Ravikant’s thesis aligns with broader economic data showing the Bay Area’s continued dominance in venture capital deployment, startup creation, and high-paying technology jobs. Recent reports indicate that despite remote work trends accelerated by the pandemic, major tech companies continue to expand their Bay Area footprints, while venture capital investment remains heavily concentrated in the region. The arrival of advanced autonomous vehicle services like Waymo, along with ongoing developments in AI and robotics companies headquartered in the area, lends credence to his “living in the future” observation. Whether this current moment represents a peak or simply another chapter in the Bay Area’s innovation story remains to be seen, but Ravikant’s historical framing suggests we may indeed be witnessing one of those rare confluences of talent, capital, and opportunity that define technological epochs.