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Investors frequent Starbucks in the Presidio, which looks onto the Palace of Fine Arts. | Source: Thomas Sawano\/The Standard<\/p>\nIt\u2019s 9 a.m. on a Wednesday, and there\u2019s a line out the door at Starbucks in the Presidio. Inside is the typical collection of TikTok-addled teens and impatient locals, but it\u2019s impossible not to notice the vests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They\u2019re fleece and monogrammed with names like \u201cFelicis,\u201d \u201cForerunner,\u201d and \u201cHeadline.\u201d Those donning the uniform chatter VC-speak: All \u201cTAMs,\u201d \u201cAUMs,\u201d and, wait, did someone say \u201cbillion with a B?\u201d<\/p>\n
A similar scene plays out in small pockets of the Bay Area most weekdays (except when the investor class is summering in Europe or wintering in Jackson), but nowhere in as starkly beautiful a place as the forested expanse at the southern foot of the Golden Gate Bridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Presidio is fast becoming San Francisco\u2019s hub for venture capital, and a growing number of firms are trying to shoulder in. Just as the city\u2019s startup scene has developed a specific AI-inflected flavor over the last few years, its venture community now has a unique personality defined in opposition to the Big Tech companies of the last era.<\/p>\n
You could call it Sand Hill Road\u2019s chiller cousin to the north. Surely that\u2019s what the VCs gathering there want you to think.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of a change happening in venture, where it\u2019s no longer rich people sitting on Sand Hill Road and entrepreneurs coming to them,\u201d said Ross Fubini, who moved his remote 15-person venture firm XYZ into the Presidio last summer. \u201cWe\u2019re in the city, we\u2019re in this place that is amazing for walks and deep thinking, and everything is a short Waymo ride away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investors frequent Starbucks in the Presidio, which looks onto the Palace of Fine Arts. | Source: Thomas Sawano\/The Standard<\/p>\n
San Francisco has emerged as the country\u2019s undisputed AI epicenter \u2014 home to OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, startup accelerator Y Combinator, and dozens of hacker houses overflowing with vibe-coding college dropouts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That gravitational pull has drawn investors, too. In the past few years, firms like XYZ, Nimble Partners, Forerunner Ventures, and Atomic have joined the Presidio\u2019s growing roster of venture upstarts. Headline relocated from the Transamerica Pyramid \u2014 one of downtown\u2019s premier business addresses \u2014 before the pandemic, joining the likes of Peter Thiel\u2019s Founders Fund, which set up shop in the former military outpost back in 2006.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Presidio\u2019s investor ecosystem is definitely more diverse,\u201d said Ben Hemani of Bison Ventures, alluding to the many hedge funds, family offices, and wealth management companies that are headquartered in the park, in addition to approximately two dozen venture firms. \u201cIt\u2019s less of an old-guard vibe, and it feels more vibrant and growing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Noelle Becker Moreno, chief marketing officer for Edge & Node, which operates crypto club House of Web3 in a converted military barracks<\/a>, said the firm was among the first to move in after the large-scale pandemic retreat from San Francisco. Since opening in 2022, Edge & Node has let the Presidio Trust tour prospective tenants through its space, which boasts a Soho House aesthetic and views of the Golden Gate Bridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the groups touring our space are tech companies and venture capital firms,\u201d Becker Moreno said. \u201cIt feels like this is becoming the new Sand Hill Road.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u2019re drawn to the proximity to the big names in AI, the cleanliness and safety, and the ease of access to residences in Marin, the Marina, and Pacific Heights. Oh, and have they mentioned the views?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really like a utopia,\u201d said Becker Moreno. \u201cPeople joke about going out and touching grass, but you can literally do that every day here.\u201d<\/p>\n For Fubini, the difference between Sand Hill Road and the Presidio is that \u201cinvestors are here because they love San Francisco and on Sand Hill Road because they love Stanford.\u201d And as the AI boom unfolds mostly in the city, Fubini foresees the Presidio\u2019s venture muscle only growing stronger.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe plan to be here for a decade and hopefully many decades,\u201d Fubini said. \u201cI\u2019m constantly going on walks with investors and founders \u2014 down to Crissy Field, over to Starbucks, and to the food trucks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, the dining options leave something to be desired. (The closest Blue Bottle is nearly a mile away, and forget about Sightglass.) Options for the power-lunching crowd include the Eastern Mediterranean restaurant Dalida<\/a>, Colibri Mexican Bistro, and the Italian restaurant Piccino. The highly anticipated The Mess Hall (opens in new tab)<\/a> is slated to open next year at Tunnel Tops park, a complex that will have restaurants, a bar, and a market.\u00a0<\/p>\n Limited food options is one of the growing pains that comes with transforming a former U.S. Army post into a commercial business district. The other is more literal \u2014 there\u2019s no space left to move into. Mark Zuffo, who leads real estate leasing for the Presidio Trust, the federal agency that manages the park, said its commercial space has a 96% occupancy rate. By comparison, Jackson Square is at roughly 80%, according to Cushman and Wakefield.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761658332_893_-S3840x5760-FPNG.png\"\/)
XYZ founder and managing partner Ross Fubini moved his team to the Presidio last summer and intends to stay for at least a decade. | Source: Thomas Sawano\/The Standard<\/p>\n