You can just host things

If you're proactive, your social life can double your professional network

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A beautiful phenomenon exists in San Francisco that elsewhere would seem strikingly unprofessional: the lines between personal and professional are blurry.

In San Francisco, your social network is your professional network. You go to a friend’s birthday party and end up meeting your future co-founder. You host a small dinner and someone mentions their partner is hiring. You meet a new friend for coffee and work at a startup together the next year.

In most cities, you network to advance your career. in San Francisco, you live your life, and your career advances as a byproduct. Serendipity is engineered into the fabric of daily existence.

This creates a rare and underleveraged truth: you can build a top-notch network, not by asking for access, but by being the person who creates it. Most people wait to be invited. A small few do the inviting. This simple reversal can turn you from a connection in someone else’s network to a node everyone connects through.

The common objections are “I don’t have time” or “I don’t know enough people.” These miss the point here. You don’t need an impressive networking event with speakers and catering; the most impactful gatherings are ones that are small, informal, and built around whatever you genuinely enjoy.

You can double your network with a simple park hang.

What matters are three principles:

1. Make it easy to say yes. Think about what makes people hesitate: “Will I know anyone there?” “Do I need to stay the whole time?” “Is it too far?” Address these upfront. Give a flexible time window so people can drop in without feeling trapped. Tell them it’s casual and they can bring someone. By eliminating the mental barriers to attending, you make saying ‘yes’ the default.

2. Make it repeatable. Consistency beats novelty here. Friday night board games might just mean Catan and beer, but host it regularly and it becomes part of people’s routines. They start planning around it. It doesn’t need to be a weekly event; monthly or quarterly works fine. What matters is that when people can count on something, they make space for it and bring new faces. A few times in, you’ve met a dozen people you never would have crossed paths with otherwise.

3. Make it low-lift. This is about bringing people together, not about impressing anyone. You don’t have to cook an elaborate meal or spend money on supplies. Keep it simple and use what you have. When hosting feels easy, you’ll enjoy it more, and people respond to that energy.

Some great examples from the FYSK community:

Community member Ryan Alameddine is a board game fanatic, so naturally he hosts weekly game nights. He gives a 5 hour window to drop by anytime on a week night and encourages you bring a friend. They’re fun, low-key, and a great way to connect with new people over a shared activity that doesn’t feel awkward.

SF Compute founder Evan Conrad hosts quarterly potlucks, but there’s no pressure to cook (DoorDash works just fine). It’s a simple way to bring together the random people he’s met at events and friends of friends for a day in the park or evening at home.

Software-engineer-turned-coffee-connoisseur Neel Khare turns his love for coffee into fun monthly events for friends with his coffee brand anecdote, like water tastings (very important for coffee) and omakase-style coffee ceremonies.

The bottom line: hang out with your friends regularly, encourage them to bring someone new, and you’ll organically double the number of interesting people you know. Capitalize on the fact casual hangouts with friends can meaningfully advance your career in San Francisco by being the person who creates those opportunities.

Want to invite other like-minded people to your events? Apply to our community where members share their personal/professional gatherings and connect.