Written by: IOSG Ventures
Foreword
In the realm of human collaboration, we are witnessing an extraordinary transformation. While the world's gaze remains focused on traditional tech centers, a new model is emerging that may fundamentally change how we co-create the future together. This model is 'pop-up cities' - transient yet purposeful communities. These cities prove that innovation is not limited by geography but is catalyzed by the right people coming together at the right time in the right environment.
1. Beyond Traditional Models: The Next Evolution
Understanding how pop-up cities transcend existing innovation models is the first step toward grasping this concept. As Vitalik stated in (Why I Created Zuzalu):
'We already have hacker houses that can exist for months or even years, but typically only accommodate ten to twenty people. We also have large conferences where events can host thousands, but each conference lasts only a week. This is enough for people to meet by chance, but not enough to establish deep connections.'
Pop-up cities represent a leap forward - 'taking a step in both directions' - creating spaces that can accommodate hundreds, lasting for months. This is not merely an expanded hacker house or an extended conference event. Vitalik describes it as a 'sweet spot' - ambitious yet unique enough to provide new insights, and light enough for logistical management.
Over the past few years, I have been deeply involved in the crypto ecosystem, experiencing the unique challenges and opportunities of this industry's remote culture firsthand. As a venture capitalist, I have witnessed countless teams building revolutionary technologies dispersed across different time zones and continents. This distributed approach has granted unprecedented freedom but has also come with an implicit cost - I gradually realized that this is the 'magic' lost due to a lack of genuine human connection.
I still vividly remember my first experience at a crypto conference. After months of Zoom meetings and Telegram chats, suddenly seeing the real faces behind those familiar usernames was exhilarating. They were not just participants of the conference - they were developers whose code I had reviewed, founders of projects I had invested in, and thought leaders whose ideas I had followed. In those hallway conversations and impromptu whiteboard discussions, ideas that had brewed in isolated digital spaces suddenly came to life through face-to-face collaboration.
2. The First Experiment: From Network State to Zuzalu
2.1 The Vision of Network States
The theoretical foundation of these communities stems from Balaji Srinivasan's revolutionary 'Network State' concept - a vision where digitally unified communities through shared values can transform into physical spaces. This suggests a profound future: the way humans organize may no longer be constrained by arbitrary geographical boundaries but shaped by common goals and visions.
Source: Balaji Srinivasan's vision of network states
What makes the crypto community the ideal vanguard of this new model? Unlike the traditional tech industry, which tends to concentrate around a single center, the crypto space has always embodied a different spirit. The Ethereum development team spans the globe, from Switzerland to Singapore, from Berlin to Romania. This natural resistance to centralization, combined with years of rich experience in global coordination, lays a perfect foundation for this new endeavor.
2.2 Zuzalu: From Theory to Reality
In early 2023, this vision became a reality in Montenegro with the whimsically named 'Zuzalu,' which held no specific meaning. Within two months, Lustica Bay became home to 200 residents - a carefully selected group of Ethereum developers, longevity researchers, and governance experts. This was not merely a gathering but a living laboratory where new ideas could be tested, refined, and implemented in real time.
Source: Peter Young - Black Mountain Lustica Bay
Its impact is direct and significant. For example, Zupass - a prototype identity system initially developed by the 0xPARC team. Through continuous interaction with users and rapid iterations, a tool that might have taken months to develop in a traditional environment evolved into a practical tool within weeks and is now widely used across multiple pop-up communities.
3. Downward Vision: From Zuzalu to Chiang Mai
3.1 Open Borders
Then, this movement evolved further in the uniquely decentralized manner characteristic of the crypto space. In December 2023, Vitalik proposed 'reopening the frontier' and supported this vision through two rounds of Gitcoin funding totaling 500 ETH. The core goal is very clear: to remove any central authority and empower anyone who identifies with this mission to create their own 'Zu Village.'
This new approach explicitly discards:
A core long-term event
The clear concept of 'Zuzalu Citizen' or 'Zuzalu Resident'
The binding of the name 'Zuzalu' to specific physical events
Instead, it actively encourages existing community members and newcomers to host their own pop-up cities, even at the same time and in close proximity.
3.2 Chiang Mai: The Realization of Vision
In October 2024, Chiang Mai, Thailand, witnessed the simultaneous emergence of multiple pop-up cities, creating an unprecedented interconnected community ecosystem. Notably, many of these projects can trace their roots back to the original Zuzalu experiment: Edge City Lanna, ShanhaiWoo, The Mu, MEGAZu, HER DAO, Invisible Garden, Lovepunks, Funding the Commons, and other emerging communities. Each community brings a unique perspective while preserving the collaborative spirit unique to Zuzalu.
As a venture capitalist at IOSG Ventures, we were honored to sponsor The Mu, and I had the opportunity to witness this vibrant ecosystem firsthand. The Social Layer platform became our shared digital 'city center,' showcasing an incredible range of activities across all communities. Every day, from tech demo days (where builders showcase their latest projects), to rock climbing courses, Muay Thai training, meditation workshops, recreational trips exploring Thai cultural sites, community dinners, and social gatherings, the variety of activities is vast.
What makes this experiment truly special is that each community actively encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration. Everyone is welcome to participate in activities across various communities - this is not just permitted but warmly celebrated. The weekly Zuzalu community assembly became a core event where representatives from each pop-up city share updates, and community members can connect across projects and interests. These converging moments demonstrate how, when traditional constraints of time and space are removed, ideas flow freely, relationships deepen, and innovation accelerates in ways that traditional methods cannot achieve.
4. The New Silicon Valley Model
What is special about pop-up cities is that they redefine the essence of innovation hubs. Traditional tech centers like Silicon Valley succeeded by gathering talent in one place, but their limitations are becoming increasingly apparent: exorbitant living costs exclude diverse perspectives, visa restrictions shut out global talent, and even more destructively, the increasingly converging culture may stifle true innovation.
Pop-up cities offer entirely different options. They recreate the density of talent and interaction that Silicon Valley relied upon, but directed toward a global digital age.
In pop-up cities, developers can experiment with collaboration models through short-term projects before formal partnerships, teams can test compatibility, and ideas can receive real-time validation from a diverse global community.
This contrast was particularly vivid while I participated in both Devcon and The Mu. While Devcon was filled with energy and possibilities, its brief time frame meant that many potential connections might never truly develop. You might have an inspiring conversation about zero-knowledge proofs in a café, exchange contact information, and promise to follow up - but once everyone returns to their respective time zones, that momentum often dissipates.
Pop-up cities solve this problem by providing 'relationship infrastructure' - the duration and shared context required for true collaboration. They find a middle ground between the brief interactions of conferences and the long-term commitments of traditional tech centers. This is precisely the missing piece in our industry's remote-first model: enabling spontaneous, unstructured collaboration that leads to breakthrough innovations.
As a member of IOSG Ventures, we support this vision because we see the fundamental potential for innovation within pop-up cities. The success of multiple concurrent communities in Chiang Mai indicates that this model is transformative - it combines the best characteristics of Silicon Valley's innovation density with the global dynamic nature of the crypto ecosystem.
5. A Committed Future
At a discussion in Chiang Mai titled 'The Commitment of Pop-Up Cities,' Vitalik sketched a compelling vision of the future: specialized communities will emerge to tackle specific challenges, from biotech hubs to self-sustaining infrastructure experiments. This specialization, combined with the global flexibility of pop-up cities, reveals their profound significance.
Reflecting on the various crypto conferences, hackathons, and now pop-up cities I have participated in, I feel deeply that this movement is not just an evolution of work methods but a transformation in how we build communities in an increasingly digital world. The remote-first nature of the crypto industry has granted us unprecedented freedom, but it has also made us realize the irreplaceable value of face-to-face connections. Pop-up cities do not just address productivity or innovation issues - they more profoundly satisfy our sense of belonging and purpose in this globally distributed industry.
Perhaps the future will not emerge in a singular 'Silicon Valley,' but will appear in a series of purpose-driven communities that can manifest whenever innovation is needed. In fact, such iterations are already taking shape - for example, ZuThailand, held in Pattaya from November to December 2024, which we at IOSG Ventures are honored to support. These communities will not be merely transient gatherings - as Janine from Edge City stated, they are 'social incubators' where we can test and develop new models for education, healthcare, and human development.
Looking ahead, I believe we have only just scratched the surface of possibility. Each new pop-up city teaches us valuable lessons about community building, governance, and collaboration. Through these experiments, we are witnessing what may be the early stages of the most significant transformation in human collaboration since the Industrial Revolution. The potential is evident: pop-up cities are not only changing where innovation occurs - they are fundamentally reshaping how we co-create the future.