San Francisco, CA

We're millennial brothers and business partners who left San Francisco's tech bubble for the Midwest manufacturing scene. We never would have been able to afford to launch our startup in California.

Published

2 years ago

May 25, 2024

We're millennial brothers and business partners who left San Francisco's tech bubble for the Midwest manufacturing scene. We never would have been able to afford to launch our startup in California.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with John Yuksel, 33, and Matine Yuksel, 29, two brothers who moved from San Francisco to Dubuque, Iowa, in 2020 to start Beltways, an accelerating walkway company. The brothers then moved to Cincinnati in 2022. Their company is based nearby in Northern Kentucky.

John: We’re children of immigrant parents who grew up in southern Arizona.

I’ve always known I wanted to be close to my brother. He’s my only sibling. We lived in San Diego for a few years after college, and then we moved to San Francisco in 2018.

Matine: San Francisco is amazing. It’s the most diverse environment I’ve been in, and it’s high-caliber for business, especially tech.

John: Matine was working for Walmart e-commerce and then later got a job with Apple. I was working as an attorney.

We were paying incredibly high rent but we had the best view, looking over the Pacific Ocean with the sunset in our windows each night.

But San Francisco was apocalyptic. During COVID, the streets were barren. It felt unsafe. I had my car broken into multiple times.

Matine: COVID helped us rethink and reprioritize things. Rather than work to release the next-generation iPhone, I wanted to make a new product that few people have ever heard of.

John: Beltways is really our father’s dream. Forty years ago, he was living in Istanbul and he realized today’s forms of mobility were not moving people efficiently. He thought up a modular design to make walkways 10 times faster.

John and Matine Yuksel with their parents.

Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel

My brother and I always wanted to do something together and years after our father came up with the idea, we started looking into it.

Matine: We established Beltways in July 2020. We quickly realized we had to move out of San Francisco. It would have been way too expensive to do what we needed there.

John: It wasn’t the right place for our startup. We’re a big hardware manufacturing startup. It made a lot more sense to be near industrial clusters of technology. We wanted to be in the Midwest, where there’s still viability for manufacturing.

Matine: John met someone with experience in the walkway industry and he offered us a shop out in Iowa.

We moved to Dubuque, Iowa, in 2020

John: It was a very small town in the middle of the cornfields, an hour and a half from any airport. Dubuque is a beautiful, quiet town on the Mississippi River. We could drive anywhere in town in two minutes.

We basically lived in a mansion. We had a three-story, four-bedroom place for half the price of our condo in San Francisco.

Matine: The snow was definitely a change of pace. We got our fair share of workout shoveling.

It was a different way of life. We needed to be focused and Iowa was good because we didn’t have too many distractions. The two years we spent in Iowa went by very fast.

The brothers said they had to adjust to small-town living after moving to Dubuque, Iowa.

Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel

John: We built the prototype for the world’s fastest-moving walkway while we were living there. It was a hundred-foot-long system and it got us our first VC check.

That was a big milestone for us. We put all our money into this company. We left stable jobs. We refinanced our home. There’s been nothing more fulfilling than making our father’s invention something commercial.

Matine: It was a surreal day when he came out and rode the system for the first time. It was the icing on the cake to see his excitement standing on something he thought up so many years ago.

John: We needed to start scoping out the next spot for our company. The next step was to pilot our walkway. We were invited by several airports to do a pilot demo of our system.

We knew CVG Airport in Cincinnati had a real track record of innovation and taking care of startups. The area was also advantageous for manufacturing. It’s super cheap. The facility we’re currently in is only a little more expensive than my rent in San Francisco, and this is 20,000 square feet.

We moved to Cincinnati in 2022

John: We even moved our parents out here, too. We wanted our father to work with us and be part of the company in person. Our parents live three floors below us in our building in the Mount Adams neighborhood.

Moving to Cincinnati felt like we were back in a big city after two years in Iowa. We have major sports teams and a large hub airport. It’s a much more temperate climate.

The winters have been pretty mild so far. The spring is lush and green. You can kayak down the rivers, and there are amazing trails nearby. The air quality is great. And the summers aren’t 120 degrees like they were in Arizona.

I met my partner, and now I have a child that was born here in Cincinnati. The city has become home for us. The company is here, the whole family is here.

John and Matine Yuksel enjoy a football game in Cincinnati.

Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel

We miss life on the coast sometimes. California is a beautiful place. We love that climate and the diversity of people. San Francisco is where tech starts and bleeds out from. It’s really the birthplace of a lot of amazing stuff.

Matine: But Cincinnati’s tech scene has also been very good to us. It’s growing. It’s a close-knit startup community. From the moment we got here, the community has been so welcoming.

John: And it’s a lot cheaper here.

Bringing our father’s dream to life has been incredible

Matine: We started Beltways in a humble garage in Tucson, where my brother built prototypes himself. Now, we’re in a 20,000-square-foot facility here in Northern Kentucky, right next to our first airport customer. And we’re US-made.

John: Our goal is to become an official partner of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics to provide temporary high-speed conveyance.

Cincinnati is a great place to raise a family and have a business. We see ourselves staying for the foreseeable future.

But our ultimate goal is to make our walkways commonplace and spread this technology around the world. So wherever we have to go to make that possible, we will. This is bigger than us.

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San Francisco, CA

Where the wild things dine: Inside Wolfsbane, San Francisco’s most exciting new restaurant

Published

40 minutes ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Where the wild things dine: Inside Wolfsbane, San Francisco’s most exciting new restaurant

SAN FRANCISCO — There’s a new kind of magic happening in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood; the kind that arrives quietly, in nine courses, with a glass of rare Kentucky bourbon in hand.

Wolfsbane, named for the ancient plant of folklore said to keep werewolves at bay, opened its doors last Fall as a collaboration between Tommy Halvorson, a Kentucky-born chef and catering veteran, and the husband-and-wife duo behind the beloved Michelin-starred Lord Stanley, chef Rupert Blease and general manager Carrie Blease. Together, the three have transformed the former space of Serpentine, Halvorson’s previous restaurant, into one of the city’s most anticipated fine dining destinations.

The idea, Halvorson says, had been brewing for years. “I always kind of had in the back of my mind, I was like, we should have Rupert and Carrie,” he recalls. The opportunity came last year as both camps closed up their respective restaurants. “I texted Rupert and I was like, dude, it’s time. We need to open a restaurant.” Once the decision was made, there was no looking back. “We pretty much stepped on the gas and started rolling.”

The Bleases are no strangers to commitment. Carrie first met Rupert while interning at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in England, a storied Michelin two-starred property helmed by Raymond Blanc. “We worked at a lot of places together, probably more so than apart,” Carrie says. After years in London, New York, and the English countryside, San Francisco became home and eventually their life’s work. Lord Stanley ran for a decade before the couple channeled everything into this new chapter.

The nine-course tasting menu is rooted in Northern California’s rich bounty. “We go to the farmer’s markets several times a week,” says Rupert. “We buy directly from farms. We use all of the local produce that we can possibly find when it’s in season.” Standouts include an edible sunflower fashioned from artichoke heart with toasted seed butter and poppy seeds, and the return of favorites from Lord Stanley, including its buttermilk cabbage dish and delicate onion petal appetizer.

But for all its refinement, Wolfsbane is deliberately unpretentious. “We don’t want to create a space where people feel uncomfortable because they think they’re going to be looked down upon because they don’t know which fork to use,” Halvorson says. The bar program reflects his personal obsession; rare bourbons sourced over years, including a barrel named after his family’s Kentucky farm. “When you get into really well-made bourbon, really high-proof, and it doesn’t feel like they are, that’s when you know you’ve got something special there.” What Halvorson says about bourbon also sums up Wolfsbane-high-concept dining that doesn’t feel like it, making for a special and unforgettable experience.

For more information, visit https://wolfsbanesf.com/

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San Francisco, CA

Daniel Lurie sparked confrontation that injured security team: Police report

Published

13 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Daniel Lurie sparked confrontation that injured security team: Police report

Mayor Daniel Lurie sparked the altercation that led to a fight and injuries to two San Francisco police officers in his security detail, according to a police report of the incident obtained by the Standard.

On Thursday evening at 5:38 p.m., Lurie, an aide, and two members of his security team were driving north on Larkin St. when they spotted several people sitting on the sidewalk on the corner of Cedar St., an alley in the Tenderloin.

The mayor ordered the driver of his Rivian SUV, Officer Nicholas Boccio, to pull over. Lurie hopped out of the SUV. His second bodyguard, Officer Joel Aguayo, followed.

What happened next would result in two injured officers, a gun aimed at a man’s chest, two arrests, and renewed questions about the public safety under the mayor’s leadership.

While footage of the incident after the officer pushed one of the men has been published by Mission Local (opens in new tab), details about what led up to the fight have not been previously revealed.

After leaving the safety of his vehicle, the mayor took matters into his own hands, the report says. Lurie attempted to get the group hanging out on Cedar St. to move, but one of the men refused.

“On whose behalf do I need to move?” asked one of the men named Tony Phillips, according to Aguayo’s statement.

According to the narrative of the combined witness statements, “Mayor Lurie addressed the group and requested that they move along, as they were standing in the roadway. Phillips became immediately argumentative, stating that he did not have to move.”

Lurie told Phillips that Aguayo was an SFPD officer. Aguayo repeated that and requested that Phillips comply and move out of the way. Phillips again refused.

The police report said the mayor and Aguayo asked Phillips to move at least four times, at one point saying they would call uniformed officers to remove him.

Still, Phillips refused, as the mayor paced a few feet away from Aguayo, video of the incident shows.

While most of the group of four men appeared to stay put, according to footage of the incident, Phillips stepped toward Aguayo, who was standing in front of the mayor.

According to the police report, Phillips then said, “I’ll Bruce Lee kick your ass.” Aguayo then swiftly pushed Phillips to the ground. Phillips got up and was pushed again before rushing the officer. The pair grappled and then fell to the ground, and Aguayo struck the back of his head.

During the fight, Lurie ran to the parked SUV to tell the driver, Boccio, that his partner was in trouble. When Boccio rushed to help, another man in the alley — Abraham Simon — grabbed the officer and reached for his waistband. Simon backed off after Boccio pulled his service weapon.

Boccio then helped Aguayo but was unable to restrain Phillips. It wasn’t until several uniformed officers arrived that Phillips was taken into custody.

Aguayo, who suffered cuts to the back of his head, facial bruising, and a back injury, said to investigating officers that he had to use force on Phillips because he was threatened verbally and got within inches of him. The officer also said he tried to de-escalate to no avail. Boccio’s hand was cut during the confrontation.

No body camera footage was captured of the incident because officers in the mayor’s security detail did not wear them.

The incident, about which Lurie has made brief statements, has raised questions about whether Lurie’s freewheeling approach to walking the streets could put him into danger. The mayor told reporters last week after the incident that he asked the people to move because he was concerned for their safety and that of other pedestrians and drivers.

“I’m out here walking the streets of San Francisco like I do every day. I believe that you can’t solve what you can’t see,” Lurie said in an Instagram post Monday, seemingly doubling down on his approach to interacting with San Franciscans.

When asked for comment, the mayor’s spokesman Charles Lutvak referred to the Instagram post and a story Lurie shared in his State of the City speech about approaching a man who appeared to be an addict, who told the mayor to mind his own business.

The mayor’s reply: “You are my business.”

Lurie’s own account of the incident was not included in the police report, although the document says he later would be contacted for a statement.

Phillips is set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of threatening an officer, inflicting great bodily injury, and contempt of court for violating a stay-away order from the alley. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office will request that Phillips remain in custody as he is a threat to the public.

Simon is also set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of interfering with an officer.

The incident is also being investigated by the Department of Police Accountability, according to The Chronicle.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco man charged with attempted murder in unprovoked daylight Chinatown stabbing

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

San Francisco man charged with attempted murder in unprovoked daylight Chinatown stabbing

SAN FRANCISCO – A 37-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder in what authorities described as an unprovoked, broad daylight stabbing in San Francisco’s Chinatown last week.

Suspect charged

What we know:

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that Jian Feng Huang was charged with attempted murder in connection with the attack at Stockton and Sacramento streets.

Huang, of San Francisco, will be arraigned Tuesday. He remains in custody.

Jenkins described the incident as a “horrific attack of an innocent man waiting to cross the street.” She said there is no indication that the victim and the suspect knew each other.

Surveillance video captures attack

Dig deeper:

Surveillance footage circulating online shows a man in a black hoodie walking down Stockton Street before suddenly lunging at a man who was waiting at a corner to cross the street.

The attacker stabbed the victim in the back and then walked away, according to the video. The victim is seen collapsing to the ground.

The attack occurred shortly after 1 p.m.

Bystanders rush to help

Local perspective:

Bystanders and business owners rushed to help the wounded man.

“We bring the ice and the towels to stop bleeding,” said Rawnie Chan, manager of Flags International Services. Chan said the victim was speaking in Cantonese and said he was in pain.

One business owner said she grabbed frozen dumplings from an office refrigerator to place on the wound because there were no restaurants nearby with ice available.

Victim recovering

Jenkins said the victim is recovering at a local hospital. Authorities previously said the victim suffered life-threatening injuries and has undergone at least two surgeries.

The Source: This story was written based on information from San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

San FranciscoCrime and Public Safety

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