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 23
NYC
NYC Cross-Campus Hackathon
NYC Cross-Campus Hackathon for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
NYC
AI Innovation Accelerator | Fall '26 Demo Day
AI Innovation Accelerator | Fall '26 Demo Day for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
NYC
Founders Friday by Neo with Kumesh Aroomoogan
Founders Friday by Neo with Kumesh Aroomoogan for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
AI Operator Run Club
AI Operator Run Club for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
NYC
KFT & Friends: Happy Hour + AI Coworking
KFT & Friends: Happy Hour + AI Coworking for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
NTU Tech Summit & Alumni Conference: Engineering the Next Frontier
NTU Tech Summit & Alumni Conference: Engineering the Next Frontier for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
NYC
Pratt - Bentley Workshop
Pratt - Bentley Workshop for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Monday Girl San Francisco Summit 2026
Monday Girl San Francisco Summit 2026 for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Fireside Chat with Normal Computing and EnvisionX Capital
Fireside Chat with Normal Computing and EnvisionX Capital for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
NYC
Pratt - SOLIDWORKS Workshop
Pratt - SOLIDWORKS Workshop for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Ai Hacks - Jack London Edition
Ai Hacks - Jack London Edition for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Build for GTM: A Multiplayer AI Hackathon
Build for GTM: A Multiplayer AI Hackathon for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Investing in Startups: Live Networking
Investing in Startups: Live Networking for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
🔐 LET’S CELEBRATE CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS MONTH!
🔐 LET’S CELEBRATE CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS MONTH! for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
NYC
AI Collective & Suneet Bhatt Presents: Making Sense of Purpose
AI Collective & Suneet Bhatt Presents: Making Sense of Purpose for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
NYC
The AI Era & What It Means To Be Human: Dinner & Dialogue
The AI Era & What It Means To Be Human: Dinner & Dialogue for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Math minded: The Mathematics of Intelligence: Graphs, Transformers & First Principles
Math minded: The Mathematics of Intelligence: Graphs, Transformers & First Principles for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
NYC
AI Founders, Operators, & Investors: Mocktails and Legal AMA
AI Founders, Operators, & Investors: Mocktails and Legal AMA for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Cloud Agents Meetup at Revyl
Cloud Agents Meetup at Revyl for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Gemini Meetup
Gemini Meetup for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Open Source AI Awards Night (Open Source AI Week)
Open Source AI Awards Night (Open Source AI Week) for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Physical AI & Personal Agents: Risk and Opportunities
Physical AI & Personal Agents: Risk and Opportunities for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
Deep Tech & Hardware Mixer: Singapore x Bay Area
Deep Tech & Hardware Mixer: Singapore x Bay Area for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 23
SF
EA Wine Night: AI X Travel Planning
EA Wine Night: AI X Travel Planning 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.