Why I'm moving to London

The weather sucks. The UK isn’t in the EU anymore. It’s expensive. I can’t wait.

Nov 23, 2024

Recently I shared that I plan to start a company and move to London.

The most common question I got after sharing that was “Why London?”

London is by no means a perfect city. The weather sucks. The United Kingdom isn’t in the European Union anymore. It’s expensive.

I know not everyone looks like Keira Knightley and speaks like Hugh Grant and I am aware that the chances of my befriending the royal family are slim (but not zero !).

Everyone in my family lives in the United States and San Francisco is arguably a better place to start a company.

And yet… I couldn’t be more excited to move to London. In this post, I explain why. Let me know at the end if I convince you to come with me.

TLDR: I’m moving to London because I want to live in Europe long term, I want to live in a city where English is the first language, and I want to live in a place where I can build a deep community, find an awesome life-partner, build a great career, and be immersed in incredible culture. Join me?

I want to be in Europe long-term

In January 2022 I moved to Sweden to take a job as a senior product manager at Spotify.

At the time, I figured I’d live there for a year or two, have my “abroad experience”, and then move back to the United States.

Initially, everything was going to plan. I was having a great time experiencing the Swedish way of life – fika! Midsommar! Kräftskivor! Jantelagen! Sauna! I loved getting to know folks from countries I was less familiar with like Poland, Ukraine, France, Argentina, and of course, Sweden. I even briefly dated a Swedish kvinna.

I loved spending time with folks from other countries. I loved how as an immigrant I could connect with other immigrants a bit better. I loved the short trips to other countries. I loved how Europeans seemed to “work to live” rather than “live to work”. I loved the greater emphasis on culture, language, history, art, and fashion. I loved universal healthcare.

In time, I came to accept a hard truth: I wanted to live in Europe long-term.

A place where English is the native tongue

One of the coolest things about living in Sweden was living in a place where English is *not* the first-language.

Swedes speak exceptionally good English. And over time I learned a bit of Swedish. But there’s just something different about living in a place where the first language is not your own.

I’ll never forget how it felt taking the bus to work in Stockholm – hearing Swedish over the speaker, and understanding none of it. Even though I looked like everyone else in Sweden, it was an invigorating daily reminder that I was, as they say, not in Kansas anymore.

And yet, eventually, I realized that living in a place where English was not the first language was a dealbreaker for me. Language is something I care a lot about. And I realized I’m not willing to handicap my communication with most people around me for that feeling of adventure.

I hugely admire people who are good with words. When I come across a particularly skillfully designed sentence or phrase, I feel warm and fuzzy inside. When I come across a new word I like I text it to my dad. If it’s a really good one, my Dad, a rather taciturn texter, replies with a 👍🏼! rather than a 👍🏼.

You gain certain things living in a place where your first language is not the main language. After two and a half years in Sweden, I built much more empathy for people navigating their day-to-day in their second or third language. But you also lose a lot. And for me, given the choice, what I lost was too much.

A place where I can build a deep community

My friends and my family are the most important part of my life.

So naturally when I was thinking about where to live next, a huge consideration was where I could form and nurture deep relationships.

London was a winner in this category for me for a few reasons. First, I already have a few good friends living in London I know from studying at Stanford, studying abroad at Oxford, and working at Spotify. Second, I’m optimistic I’ll get to meet and become friends with the friends of these people. Third, I imagine London attracts the kind of smart, creative people I like to spend time with.

In terms of family and friends back in the US… I think regardless of where I live I’d see them about the same amount. My brother lives in Los Angeles, my sister lives in Denver, my parents live outside Boston, and most of my friends live in San Francisco or New York City. That means even if I lived in the US, I’d see folks not in my city about once or twice a year.

I hope and expect to see all them a similar amount while living in London. London to New York City is a 7-8 hour flight. New York City to San Francisco is a 6 hour flight. I’m happy to watch one more movie on my way to visit my friends and parents on the East Coast.

My future wife lives in London (I think)

Who you marry is arguably the most important decision you make.

That’s true if you’re optimizing for happiness, meaning, success, money, family, or just straight-up rawdogging life.

I’ve never been married. But whether you’re evidence of choice is research studies, quotes, or David Brooks, it’s hard to argue with the idea that who you spend your life with matters a lot.

I’m not in a rush to get married. I’m 30 and still have some hair.

But as I thought what city to potentially live in long term, I knew it was important to me to choose one that attracts the type of people I’m looking for, romantically as well as platonically. I’m hopeful that will be the case for London.

Also, British romcoms are the best romcoms and everyone knows what you see in movies is always what happens in real life.

I can build a great company in London

If I were solely optimizing for my nascent startup’s success, I might choose San Francisco.

A few days ago, a very successful venture capitalist looked me dead in the eye and told me I was making a massive career mistake: If I was serious about building a company, he told me, I had to move to San Francisco. He has a point. Most of the biggest tech companies in the world were created in Silicon Valley. Most of my founder friends live in San Francisco.

Honestly, this is the one I worried about the most. My work is important to me, and I’m determined to build a great company.

However, after doing some research and talking with friends, I feel confident I can build a great company in London.

London has a world class tech ecosystem. It’s particularly strong in fintech and AI, but has breadth and depth in who’s there and what they’re building. According to one analysis of cities with startup ecosystems, London is tied with New York City at #2 in the world, just behind Silicon Valley.

Meanwhile, there are also major advantages to building a company in London over doing so in Silicon Valley:

You can hire extremely talented people for a lot less money
You’re international by default if serving European customers which can make expansion easier later on
Regulatory changes, often decried in the US tech circles, mean new business opportunities

Although this can be hard for the American mind to comprehend, the United States is not always the center of the universe.

I’m not moving to Antarctica. I’m moving to a city with the second best tech ecosystem in the world.

Keep calm and startup on.

I want to live at the center of the universe, minus the rats

London is a city where you can spend the morning at a 17th century church, the afternoon in a sweeping gardens, the evening seeing world-class theater, and all night at a rave.

It’s a city with history, culture, art, theater, food, fashion, and so much more. Over the last 10 years via a handful of short trips to London on study-abroad, vacation, and work trips, I’ve gotten glimpses of this.

I want to experience it full time.

When I lived in New York City, I loved getting to experience this kind of cultural vibrancy. With London, I get that without rats running over my feet and trash blocking the sidewalk ;)

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There you have it! Why I’m moving to London. I hope I have now successfully convinced you to come with me.

Let me know if I did in the comments below.

Cheers,

Lachlan

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