Our first group on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt is Michael Arrington speaking with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and VC Ron Conway. The group is discussing the amazing growth in tech jobs within the city limits, and Lee makes it a point to visit these companies every Tuesday.
He calls it “Tech Tuesday”.
As the trio discusses the city, when it comes to tech, Lee says that San Francisco is “unabashedly the innovation capital of the world.” It’s a statement that’s hard to argue with.
The mayor has also has a 17 point plan, which includes details on staying on top of being the innovation capital of the world. Recent stats show that 32,000 jobs have been created by 1,600 companies with annual growth at almost 30%, just in tech alone.
When you recognize what that means for the city, you can see that we’re well on our way.
Among his favorite places to visit is Twitter, which has a pretty awesome rooftop, Lee shared.
The month of October has been dubbed “Innovation Month” in San Francisco, and there are big plans to make it an event that will continue for years and years. To support this, a “Startup map” was announced and will be launched today.
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Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025
Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, Vinod Khosla — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before doors open to save up to $444.
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