Today’s newsletter is 505 words - a 2-minute read (4-minute if you’re…🐌)

Welcome everyone,

Who we are: We’re Chris & Nolan (@chrisnolansf), two former colleagues who met via investment banking in San Francisco and bonded over the f***ing horrible incredible learning opportunities. We’re now working on a couple ventures together and thought, why not add a newsletter to the ever-growing list. So here we are. What we’ll be writing about → the latest business and cool local news in San Francisco.

Why the name: SF Whisper? Because… at the end of each newsletter 👇, we’re going to have a whisper. This could be a secret, or a fun prize like:

• dinner & drinks with us at Quince Taco Bell Cantina

• trending spots in the City for entertainment & nightlife

• new hot restaurants and bites

• our feet pics 🦶 👀

Anyways. Let’s get started.

POTUS lands in Marina Green

President Biden’s visit to Bay Area: he’s set to attend two fundraisers — one of which is hosted by Vinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures) at his home in Portola Valley. Expect some traffic in Nob Hill, Chinatown and Highway 101.

SFMTA is closing California St between Powell & Taylor, and Mason St between Pine & Sacramento. More details here

TabaPay backs out on Synapse acquisition

TabaPay has backed out of acquiring Synapse's assets due to issues with banking partner Evolve Bank & Trust. Synapse blames Evolve for failing to meet closing conditions, while Evolve denies involvement. Synapse CEO still hopes to salvage the deal. The dispute revolves around funding of FBO accounts.

Synapse alleges that Mercury withdrew more funds than agreed upon during their transition, a claim Mercury denies. Synapse filed for bankruptcy, and TabaPay was set to acquire its assets pending court approval. The purchase price is $9.7 million, significantly less than Synapse's VC funding. TabaPay is a SoftBank-backed instant money movement platform. Synapse faced layoffs due to economic challenges impacting its clients and growth.

🎇 8 new SF pop-ups set to debut in June

The City allocated over $1 million to fund city-backed pop-up businesses in empty downtown storefronts to inject more energy. Each of the SMBs will operate rent-free in their respective commercial spaces for 3-months each with the option to extend. We’re excited to try some (if not all 😉) of these!

East Cut (Rincon Hill):

• Auroro Centro

• Hungry Crumbs

• Steep Creamery

• Koolfi Creamery

• Paper Son Coffee

FiDi & Yerba Buena:

• 7×7 Social Club

• SAINTFLORA

• Public Glass Gallery

Let us know if we should rank them in June 😁 

Catch up on the latest:

• Do you have your Real ID ready for next year? (Link)

• 1st Neuralink experiences a problem (Link)

• Google staff question executives (Link)

• Did you know TikTok is banned in Montana? (Link)

Today’s 😢 whisper:

RIP to Leo Lukenas III, an investment banking associate in the FIG group at BofA. As former & current bankers, we firmly believe the outdated work culture of banking needs change. Support the Lukenas family here