pop-up cities = personal and professional impact
[This is day #28 of my 30-day microblogging challenge. You can and should still join!]
I met many of my closest friends through pop-up cities. In fact, I met 2 of my cofounders (and at least one of my exes) there! Other people found jobs, investors, startup ideas, romantic partners, and even switched into entirely different fields thanks to them.
The first pop-up city I attended was Zuzalu, the first one ever, which was a two-month “residential conference” hosting around 200 people in Montenegro in 2023. It was started by Vitalik Buterin (cofounder of the Ethereum network), and it covered topics such as AI, crypto, and longevity biotech through conferences, lectures and other community events. Each week or two focused on a different topic, gathering experts and enthusiasts to discuss important issues in their field.
My second pop-up city was Vitalia City (2024), a longevity biotech-focused event for which I was a lead organizer. It took place in Próspera, a charter city on the island of Roatán in the Caribbean (where I lived for a year!). Spanning two months, it featured themed weeks covering biotech, network states, blockchain, human enhancement, and AI. (Note: it then became a permanent location, with a “fork” of it called Infinita City still running there)
The event hosted around 100 residents and over 400 visitors in total, many of whom I still have an active relationship with.
I would dare say that both of these (and others I attended) were pivotal in my life. While at Zuzalu, I attended bootcamps that provided an in-depth introduction to topics such as AI safety and aging biology, my main focus area nowadays. My time at Vitalia opened many doors, transformed me personally, and dictated the trajectory of my life in many ways.
Since then, I have organized and attended a few other pop-up cities, all of which had at least some professional and personal impact on my life (some quite notable).
What sets these apart from standard conferences is the “intentional community” factor: attendees continuously share working, eating, and leisure spaces for weeks on end. For example, by having breakfast every morning in the same place, and seeing each other at the coworking and other sub-events.
The amount of “face time” and repeated discussion time you get with other attendees (who share at least some of your interests and values) is unmatched. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve that level of continued interaction with the same group of people (who share values and interests) in any other adult-life environment.
Another unique feature of pop-up cities is the blending of professional and personal spaces. While the event is essentially a conference, you also spend a lot of time with the same people doing activities outside of work, which inevitably leads to the creation of personal bonds.
(Side note: I have experienced similar benefits through another similar format, hacker houses or group houses, and have seen others do so too.)
It’s a unique experience and I don’t think I can do it justice in a microblog, but I wanted to capture some of the essence it. In the midst of the heavy “loneliness epidemics” we are seeing especially in big cities, I wanted to shed some light on alternative models that seem to stave off some of this loneliness and isolation.
I would like to cover these topics in more detail at some point (including hacker houses, group houses, and “fourth” spaces), so if any specific parts pique your interest, shoot me a DM to let me know! (My DMs are always open!)
(Fun fact: the next pop-up city I will be attending – Mirai Tech City, happening in Japan throughout October 2026 – is organized by some of my old Vitalia & Infinita City colleagues, who are now some of my closest friends!)