It seemed Allie didn’t know many people at the meetup, either. Her roommates were alums of Ivy League universities, and most of the people here were recent transplants from “back East,” thrilled to be in “San Fran.” Allie suggested we take a walk. On our way out of the apartment, I overheard one guy attempting to impress someone by explaining that he’d passed on an offer from McKinsey in order to come out west and “risk everything.” The company he named employed more than five hundred people, hardly a startup.