Curated AI events in NYC and SF.
For Students, Developers, and Funded Founders
I run two calibrated tracks: Students / Developers and Funded Founders. We host high-quality hackathons, founder dinners, and premium PMF conversations in NYC and SF.
Design Principles
Built like a real team: curation, context, and execution discipline.
Room Quality First
Attendee quality beats vanity metrics. The right room creates compounding outcomes.
Context by Track
Students/developers and funded founders get separate, purpose-built experiences.
Operator-Led Formats
Events are run with production-level planning, not community chaos.
Real Follow-Through
Dinners, intros, and post-event workflows are built to move relationships forward.
Ecosystem
Trusted by leading organizations
Mission
From discovery to PMF: events that match founder stage and technical depth.
We blend flagship hackathons with intimate founder rooms. Early builders get momentum, while funded teams get high-context peer networks and PMF-level strategy conversations.
See founder dinner formatsAbout James Steinberg
AI researcher, serial entrepreneur, and host of high-signal builder rooms.
Background, operator context, and founder outcomes are documented below. These references explain why these events are run with a tighter standard than generic meetups.
Two Tracks
One network, two intentionally different experiences.
Students / Developers
Execution-heavy programs for technical builders shipping projects and meeting mentors.
- Hackathons with clear build milestones
- Hands-on workshops and technical talks
- Demo-focused events with real feedback loops
Funded Founders
Private founder rooms optimized for tactical growth and high-trust relationship building.
- Curated dinners across NYC and SF
- Operator and investor-adjacent conversation
- Selective PMF conversations and peer exchange
Event Formats
Programmed with card-level precision and strong attendance intent.
SEP 01
SF
Headway Harness & Breakfast
Headway Harness & Breakfast for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
KCD SF Bay Area: AI, Kubernetes, and Platform Engineering
KCD SF Bay Area: AI, Kubernetes, and Platform Engineering for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Founders + Solo Operators: Get Your Time Back w/ Minds
Founders + Solo Operators: Get Your Time Back w/ Minds for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
NYC
NYC Voice AI Meetup: Build Smarter Voice Agents
NYC Voice AI Meetup: Build Smarter Voice Agents for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
NYC
Build AI AGENTS with Avahi
Build AI AGENTS with Avahi for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
NYC
AI 2040 discussion: AI safety planning workshop
AI 2040 discussion: AI safety planning workshop for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
NYC
Girlie Pops (and friends) Who VibeCode
Girlie Pops (and friends) Who VibeCode for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Agentic + AI Night: Multi-Agent Governance and Security
Agentic + AI Night: Multi-Agent Governance and Security for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
First Look: Korea Private Investor Showcase
First Look: Korea Private Investor Showcase for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
SuccessLab Executive Roundtable: The New Architecture of AI-Powered Support
SuccessLab Executive Roundtable: The New Architecture of AI-Powered Support for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Agents & Bagels: Weekly meet up for agent builders
Agents & Bagels: Weekly meet up for agent builders for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
AI Creative Lab: Create Beautiful Reports, Slides, Posters & Videos
AI Creative Lab: Create Beautiful Reports, Slides, Posters & Videos for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Should I Use AI for This? Using AI Safely at Work
Should I Use AI for This? Using AI Safely at Work for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Learning Layer Paper Reading Club - Week 30 - ARIS: Autonomous Research via Adversarial Multi-Agent Collaboration
Learning Layer Paper Reading Club - Week 30 - ARIS: Autonomous Research via Adversarial Multi-Agent Collaboration for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Software, but make it cute 🎀
Software, but make it cute 🎀 for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Creative Intelligent Machines Continuum: Luma maker night #2
Creative Intelligent Machines Continuum: Luma maker night #2 for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Forward Deployed: Evals - Beyond the Vibe Check
Forward Deployed: Evals - Beyond the Vibe Check for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Grok @bot builder demos
Grok @bot builder demos for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Hedge West SF September 2026 Meetup
Hedge West SF September 2026 Meetup for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Secrets of Best-in-Class Ai-Pilled Companies
Secrets of Best-in-Class Ai-Pilled Companies for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
The Reality Gap: A Sim-to-Real Seminar
The Reality Gap: A Sim-to-Real Seminar for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
Together Table | AI Leaders
Together Table | AI Leaders for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 01
SF
pAIthon Meetup
pAIthon Meetup for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
SEP 02
SF
AI Builders Breakfast @ Tesla
AI Builders Breakfast @ Tesla for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
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Real rooms. Real builders. Real follow-through.
Founder Dinner Series
Funded Founder Rooms
We host intimate dinners across NYC and SF with founders from ecosystems like Y Combinator, Speedrun, and Techstars.
PMF Track
Product-Market-Fit Dinner
More selective than standard founder dinners, this room is generally reserved for teams that have raised $4M+ and are beginning to show PMF.
Contact
Want your next event room to feel this sharp?
If you are building in AI and care about room quality, we should talk.