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.
NOV 05
NYC
Fintech Coffee: What an Agentic World means for Identity, Risk and Compliance
Fintech Coffee: What an Agentic World means for Identity, Risk and Compliance for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
The Outliers Summit (Nov 5 & 6)
The Outliers Summit (Nov 5 & 6) for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
YOUR DIGITAL ADVANTAGE WORKSHOP- Turn Visibility into Opportunity w. Ashley Coppola
YOUR DIGITAL ADVANTAGE WORKSHOP- Turn Visibility into Opportunity w. Ashley Coppola for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
SF
AIAS⁺ 2026 | AI for Scientific Discovery
AIAS⁺ 2026 | AI for Scientific Discovery for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
SF
Workshop: Chain of Choices — Human Judgment in the AI Era + AI Workforce Panel ft. DeepMind, IBM & Lightspeed
Workshop: Chain of Choices — Human Judgment in the AI Era + AI Workforce Panel ft. DeepMind, IBM & Lightspeed for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
AI, Trust, and the Future of Insurance
AI, Trust, and the Future of Insurance for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
SF
Voice Agents Forum
Voice Agents Forum for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
SF
AI, Your Work and Your Next Move — Lunch & Learn for Women of 9Zero
AI, Your Work and Your Next Move — Lunch & Learn for Women of 9Zero for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
SF
Stanford Computational Medicine Research Colloquium | When AI Writes: Fabricated References, Agentic Literature Synthesis, and Amb
Stanford Computational Medicine Research Colloquium | When AI Writes: Fabricated References, Agentic Literature Synthesis, and Ambient AI for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
SuperSessions 26 | New York City
SuperSessions 26 | New York City for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
SF
Claude SMB Workshop with Orbital Beam - San Francisco
Claude SMB Workshop with Orbital Beam - San Francisco for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
Building a New Market: Compute as an Asset Class
Building a New Market: Compute as an Asset Class for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
LibreChat Meetup New York
LibreChat Meetup New York for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
SF
Korean AI Startup Demo Day
Korean AI Startup Demo Day for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
Contra Studios
Contra Studios for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
SF
Networking & Reception at TechEquity Ai Summit
Networking & Reception at TechEquity Ai Summit for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
Claude for Marketers: A Hands-On Workshop
Claude for Marketers: A Hands-On Workshop for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
Cracken CISO Dinner event
Cracken CISO Dinner event for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
First Concepts Creative Sprint NYC
First Concepts Creative Sprint NYC for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
Ghosts in the System - How AI Powers Scale
Ghosts in the System - How AI Powers Scale for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
MuSE::Suno hands-on session
MuSE::Suno hands-on session for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
Next Up with Comcast Ventures: Bold Bets & Board Games
Next Up with Comcast Ventures: Bold Bets & Board Games for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
Not So Boring AI
Not So Boring AI for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
NOV 05
NYC
November 5: how does leadership need to change in the era of AI?
November 5: how does leadership need to change in the era of AI? for the NYC 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.