The gravity of hubs
Earlier this month, I met some of my closest friends for a mountain hike in Slovenia. It was one of those rare trips that pushed both your body and your mind. Along the way, I realized something simple: when you remove all the noise, no phones, no schedules, conversations go deeper. We talked about everything, from life decisions to careers to the forces that shape them.
One conversation stuck with me. I argued that once you reach a certain level of competence in your work, you’re naturally pulled toward one of the world’s top hubs. If you study history, the pattern becomes obvious. The top people of any generation, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, often knew each other. Sometimes, they were rivals. More often, they were friends. The gravity of excellence draws people together in proximity.
Since that hike, I’ve given more thought to why this happens. Writing it down, I figured, would help clarify it even further.
Hubs exist for a reason
Let me first explain what I mean by a “hub.” Places like LA (entertainment), SF (startups), NYC (finance), Milan (fashion), Paris (art), and Vienna (music) didn’t become centers of their industries by accident. They concentrate on talent, capital, ideas, and ambition. Once that happens, the effect compounds. People move there because the best people are already there.
Now, here’s why I believe these hubs draw in the top 1%:
Hubs are, generally, great places to live
Although not perfect, cities like NYC, LA, SF, Milan, Paris, and Vienna each have objectively desirable characteristics, culture, infrastructure, quality of life indicators, etc. Such places offer unmatched professional and social opportunities. Even if some people differ significantly in their values and priorities (some might prefer less renowned places to stay close to family or be closer to nature), given the objective advantage in professional opportunity, it's probably safe to conclude that these hubs have strong universal appeal particularly if you're highly ambitious or career-driven.
I’ve experienced it myself in Singapore. The tiny but mighty nation has been pulling me in its orbit over the past four years, and it’s hard to consider other locals in the region, given the opportunity cost!
While hubs are imperfect, they’re definitely optimized for ambition.
Density accelerates you
Once you reach the top 1% in your field, you will begin to feel the gravity of those hubs. After all, these locations tend to concentrate all core resources, talent, capital, and opportunity. The best of everything relevant to your field is likely to exist in higher density there than anywhere else. This clustering effect probably accelerates your career growth and magnifies your impact. If you're ambitious, and presumably you are, if you’re in the top 1%, this concentrated opportunity would be extremely attractive. So yes, it makes sense that you'd be "pulled" in that direction. While that pull is not 100% irresistible, even people who place a high value on personal happiness rooted in family ties, cultural affinity, or deep local connections might find a way to make it work. Perhaps they would choose temporary relocation, maintain dual residency, or frequent travel. Even if someone doesn’t fully relocate, they may still frequently orbit these hubs.
That proximity to energy and momentum matters. Being great in isolation is possible but much harder.
Great people seek each other out
Most top performers want to be around others who push them. Hubs maximize those collisions. The chance meeting, the late-night conversation, the startup idea over dinner, these things happen more often when you’re in the right place. You can’t schedule serendipity. You have to be in motion for it to find you.
Smaller cities, no matter how nice, can’t offer that same volume of opportunity. The ceiling is lower.
Even if you prefer to be a big fish in a smaller pond (assuming you prefer a quieter life), such a preference might be relatively rare (or perhaps temporary?). Even those individuals might regularly travel to global hubs for conferences, networking, or collaboration.
Money matters
Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room and talk about compensation. Higher compensation clearly is a powerful incentive. Money isn't everything, but for ambitious people, it's a significant factor, enabling personal freedom, lifestyle choices, early retirement, investments, and family well-being. You would always be able to make more money in one of the hubs, and even if you decide to relocate temporarily to capitalize on the opportunity, purely for financial gain, there is a real possibility of discovering the hub to be pleasant enough to remain permanently afterward. One way or another, you will experience the hub.
You might go for financial reasons and then stay because the upside ends up being more than you expected.
Drawn in
When I talked about this with my friends, some pushed back. They value where they live. They like their communities, routines, and pace of life. And that’s valid. But it reminded me of a story.
One of my friends is a highly successful doctor in Seoul. He runs his own clinic and lives a very comfortable life. For years, he never considered moving to China until he was offered a position in Shanghai. At first, he dismissed the idea. But the more he looked into it, the more it made sense: a larger market, wealthier patients, better facilities, a more prestigious stage. What started as a casual offer turned into serious contemplation. Shanghai wasn’t just an opportunity, it was a new lens through which he saw what was possible.
Initially resistant, he began to reconsider once he saw the scope of what was on the table. Better compensation, new networks, broader reach. And lifestyle upgrades, not just financial but personal and professional. The fact that he started to change his mind 180 degrees and seriously considered China is telling.
The lesson: people often don’t know what they’re open to until the right opportunity shows up. The gravitational pull of a hub kicks in. Not always immediately. But persistently.
Final thoughts
But does that mean everyone in the top 1% feels the same pull? Not necessarily. Some will choose to stay local, build strong reputations at home, and enjoy a high quality of life without the friction of international relocation. Those choices are valid. Still, while exceptions exist, the core logic remains. Global hubs offer a dense mix of opportunity, access, and upside. And in my experience, incentives are what ultimately move people. Charlie Munger said it best:
"Show me the incentive, and I’ll show you the outcome."
The gravitational pull of hubs is real. Once you reach the top of your field, the incentives begin to stack, and the logic becomes hard to ignore.
The hub is the outcome. The incentive is everything it offers.