← Confidence Has No Budget

San Francisco: 2004–2020

From dotcom recovery to pandemic exodus

A chronological timeline of San Francisco's emergence as the capital of the 21st-century economy. Beginning with Google's IPO and the rise of Web 2.0, the sequence traces the iPhone era, the consolidation of Big Tech, the local backlash, and the pandemic-driven shift to remote work that called the city's centrality into question.

9 events·0 data points·2004–2020

Web 2.0

2004–2011

  1. Google IPOs

    2004-08-19

  2. First-generation iPhone announcement

    2007-01-09
    San Francisco, California · Steve Jobs
    Steve Jobs introduces iPhone in 2007

  3. Bitcoin launch

    2009-01-03

Consolidation and a tense peak

2011–2013

  1. Zoom founded

    2011-04-21
    San Jose, California

  2. Steve Jobs dies

    2011-10-05
    Palo Alto, California

  3. Facebook acquires Instagram

    2012-04-09
    Palo Alto, California

Techlash

2013–2020

  1. San Francisco tech bus protests

    2013-12-09
    San Francisco, California

  2. Donald Trump Elected 45th President of the United States

    2016-11-08

COVID-19, exodus + ??

2020

  1. Twitter tells employees they can keep working from home “forever”

    2020-05-11
    San Francisco, California

    "The past few months have proven we can make that work, so if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen."

    Jack Dorsey