The first problem, as any transplant to the Bay Area knows, was housing. Kurnia rapidly booked a stop-gap Airbnb. The place was far from ideal: a dorm-like flophouse outside Mountain View, whose rooms of clustered bunkbeds were mostly filled by young would-be entrepreneurs. The place was miles from Y Combinator, a tough walk with Adam in tow (Uber was out of the question, financially).
Kurnia scoured Airbnb and Craigslist for something better, but at the rare places she could afford, she was rejected by people who didn’t want to live with a mother and her two-year-old. The flophouse, then, it would be: Kurnia and Adam wound up sharing a single bunk for the full three months of YC, with as many as 15 other roommates at once.
Sometimes, when Kurnia became absorbed in her work, the naturally curious Adam might wander over to another resident to ask what he (the residents were mostly male) was doing on his computer. Some found this cute; most didn’t. Finally, someone complained to the landlord, who threatened to throw Kurnia and Adam out unless she agreed to clean the bathrooms. Scrubbing toilets for 15 people seemed too time-consuming, so Kurnia negotiated: she would pay a higher rent, take out the trash, and keep closer watch over Adam. The landlord granted a reprieve.
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