Hunkered-down tech workers built a virtual Silicon Valley with dozens of offices like Salesforce and Uber and a 'secret tunnel for Jack Dorsey' as the region remains shut down

Katie CanalesMay 2, 2020, 05:06 IST

A screenshot of the map built in Figma shows the virtual offices of Salesforce, Uber, Airbnb, and others as their real-life counterparts remain closed.Brianne Kimmel/Figma

A venture capitalist built a virtual layout of Silicon Valley using the web design tool Figma.
She shared it with other tech workers in the region, who built scores of digital offices, bars, and other symbols as the San Francisco Bay Area continues to shelter in place.
The result is a digital Silicon Valley rife with inside jokes unique to the region's tech culture.
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The glistening tech offices of modern-day San Francisco may be closed, with workers hunkered down in their homes, but a digital layout of the tech region has been constructed online.

Investor and founder Brianne Kimmel with WorkLife Ventures and designer Fiona Carty built the virtual environment, dubbed Stay At Home Valley, in the collaborative web design platform Figma. Kimmel told Business Insider that she started with a few landmarks, and then shared it with other designers to add what they wish.

Within 12 hours, the offices of 200 companies were created in the virtual world, with Dropbox, Slack, Airbnb, Uber, and the Salesforce Tower being some of them. People started "reopening" their favorite bars and cafes — like Blue Bottle Coffee and Boba Guys — that have been shuttered for weeks due to the shelter-in-place order. Electric scooters dot the streets, climbing gyms have been reopened, and a "secret tunnel for Jack Dorsey between meetings" is noted next to the CEO's Square and Twitter digital office blocks.

The result is a virtual placeholder for Silicon Valley insiders to build and "live in" their region and among its idiosyncrasies as the real-world landscape is currently shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's what the map looks like.

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The universe has a good mix of influence from the worlds of tech, music, and gaming as video games have become a popular pastime with many seeking means of entertainment during the shutdown.

Riot Games, the creator of "League of Legends," dropped a satellite onto the map for a show of support. Brianne Kimmel/Figma

The universe has a good mix of influence from the worlds of tech, music, and gaming as video games have become a popular pastime with many seeking means of entertainment during the shutdown.

Reddit cofounder and investor Alexis Ohanian's daughter is seen close to her dad's Initialized office, but not quite right outside of it — she's at a tennis court not far away, a nod to her tennis champion mother, Serena Williams.

A screenshot of the map shows the Initialized office. Brianne Kimmel/Figma

Reddit cofounder and investor Alexis Ohanian's daughter is seen close to her dad's Initialized office, but not quite right outside of it — she's at a tennis court not far away, a nod to her tennis champion mother, Serena Williams.

An icon depicting Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is outside the company's virtual office with a tag promoting Spotify's COVID-19 Music Relief campaign.

The Wing office next to the Spotify office, along with 'Animal Crossing' character K.K. Slider. Brianne Kimmel/Figma

A designer with the General Motors-owned self-driving division Cruise added autonomous vehicles to the universe.

A Cruise autonomous vehicle is seen on the map. Brianne Kimmel/Figma

Someone added a "secret tunnel for Jack Dorsey between meetings" next to the CEO's Square and Twitter digital office blocks.

A screenshot of the map shows the offices of Reddit, Uber, Square, Twitter, and others. Stay At Home Valley

Techies started adding their respective companies, like payment company Stripe.

Stripe board member and sailing fanatic Diane Green is pictured alongside four unicorns — the startup is valued at $36 billion. Brianne Kimmel/Figma

Its virtual office shows shoes outside the office in a nod to the company's shoeless culture. Employees were known to scurry around the office in socks or slippers, leaving their shoes at their door.

Employees at Notion's San Francisco office leave their shoes at the door. Katie Canales/Business Insider

Its virtual office shows shoes outside the office in a nod to the company's shoeless culture. Employees were known to scurry around the office in socks or slippers, leaving their shoes at their door.

The office of Notion, an enterprise software startup, was the first to be built to announce the company's new funding round, Kimmel said.

Enterprise software startup Notion's place in the virtual map. CEO Ivan Zhao is perched on top. Brianne Kimmel/Figma

Kimmel said she wanted to create something that felt almost like playing the SIMS or Animal Crossing.

A screenshot shows offices and icons on the map. Brianne Kimmel/Figma

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Hunkered-down tech workers built a virtual Silicon Valley with dozens of offices like Salesforce and Uber and a 'secret tunnel for Jack Dorsey' as the region remains shut down

The universe has a good mix of influence from the worlds of tech, music, and gaming as video games have become a popular pastime with many seeking means of entertainment during the shutdown.

Reddit cofounder and investor Alexis Ohanian's daughter is seen close to her dad's Initialized office, but not quite right outside of it — she's at a tennis court not far away, a nod to her tennis champion mother, Serena Williams.

An icon depicting Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is outside the company's virtual office with a tag promoting Spotify's COVID-19 Music Relief campaign.

A designer with the General Motors-owned self-driving division Cruise added autonomous vehicles to the universe.

Someone added a "secret tunnel for Jack Dorsey between meetings" next to the CEO's Square and Twitter digital office blocks.

Techies started adding their respective companies, like payment company Stripe.

Its virtual office shows shoes outside the office in a nod to the company's shoeless culture. Employees were known to scurry around the office in socks or slippers, leaving their shoes at their door.

The office of Notion, an enterprise software startup, was the first to be built to announce the company's new funding round, Kimmel said.

Kimmel said she wanted to create something that felt almost like playing the SIMS or Animal Crossing.