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.
OCT 24
NYC
Spooky Civic AI Hackathon: Build Weekend
Spooky Civic AI Hackathon: Build Weekend for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
NYC
Fitness × AI: A Build Day
Fitness × AI: A Build Day for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
EvalEval Micro Conference: Embedding Evaluators in Practice
EvalEval Micro Conference: Embedding Evaluators in Practice for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Personal Agents Hackathon in SF
Personal Agents Hackathon in SF for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Stanford Frontier Signal: From Hardware to Physical AI
Stanford Frontier Signal: From Hardware to Physical AI for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Win iPhone Duos at Patch the Conference Hackathon
Win iPhone Duos at Patch the Conference Hackathon for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Build Day with Qualcomm
Build Day with Qualcomm for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Kane CLI Hack Day, supported by OpenAI
Kane CLI Hack Day, supported by OpenAI for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Physical AI for Science Hack @ Studio 45 with Claude Community
Physical AI for Science Hack @ Studio 45 with Claude Community for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Agent Builders Hackathon
Agent Builders Hackathon for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Stanford Frontier Signal: From Hardware to Physical AI
Stanford Frontier Signal: From Hardware to Physical AI for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Stanford Frontier Signal: From Hardware to Physical AI
Stanford Frontier Signal: From Hardware to Physical AI for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
NYC
AI for Human Connection
AI for Human Connection for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
AI × GTM Day: Growth Hackathon, Talks & Social
AI × GTM Day: Growth Hackathon, Talks & Social for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Small World Compute: An AI Infrastructure Summit
Small World Compute: An AI Infrastructure Summit for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
NYC
Can China and the US Stop AI Development?
Can China and the US Stop AI Development? for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Lovable x Girls into VC Buildathon
Lovable x Girls into VC Buildathon for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
AI Next: Silicon Valley Founders Forum & Global Startup Demo Day | NUS新全球企业家硅谷论坛（第四季）
AI Next: Silicon Valley Founders Forum & Global Startup Demo Day | NUS新全球企业家硅谷论坛（第四季） for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Taiwanese AI x Bio Social
Taiwanese AI x Bio Social for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 24
SF
Silicon Valley Investors Dinner Night: AI & Lifescience
Silicon Valley Investors Dinner Night: AI & Lifescience for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 25
SF
Dell x NVIDIA AI Hackathon, San Francisco
Dell x NVIDIA AI Hackathon, San Francisco for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 25
NYC
Sunday Brunch With Scientist and Architect - forgot machine 002
Sunday Brunch With Scientist and Architect - forgot machine 002 for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 25
SF
Bay Area AI+car hackathon
Bay Area AI+car hackathon for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 25
SF
NewKid, Growing up in the Age of AI : an event for families
NewKid, Growing up in the Age of AI : an event for families 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.