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 07
NYC
AI Search Lab NYC: How Brands Win in AI Search @ Corgi Cafe
AI Search Lab NYC: How Brands Win in AI Search @ Corgi Cafe for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
Ruby Advisory: Build Your Own AI Chief of Staff
Ruby Advisory: Build Your Own AI Chief of Staff for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
Frontier AI Session: NVIDIA
Frontier AI Session: NVIDIA for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
init() by WorkOS
init() by WorkOS for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
Agentic Zero: The Agentic Finance Summit #SFTechWeek
Agentic Zero: The Agentic Finance Summit #SFTechWeek for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
AI Founder Breakfast hosted by Auth0 for Startups - #SFTechWeek
AI Founder Breakfast hosted by Auth0 for Startups - #SFTechWeek for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
OpenAI Forum Community Coffee in the Park
OpenAI Forum Community Coffee in the Park for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
San Francisco | Claude for Connected Agents
San Francisco | Claude for Connected Agents for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
MCP, APIs & THE AGENT INTEGRATION LAYER
MCP, APIs & THE AGENT INTEGRATION LAYER for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
The Governance Foundation for Scalable AI in Lending
The Governance Foundation for Scalable AI in Lending for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
Physical AI Hackathon & Demo Day: Build a Product You Can Hold #SFTechWeek
Physical AI Hackathon & Demo Day: Build a Product You Can Hold #SFTechWeek for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
Sovereign AI at the Application Layer - Enterprise, Finance, and Data
Sovereign AI at the Application Layer - Enterprise, Finance, and Data for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
Zero Human Startup Hackathon | #SFTechWeek
Zero Human Startup Hackathon | #SFTechWeek for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
CoClaude & CoWork NYC
CoClaude & CoWork NYC for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
Queens AI Innovation Day — Reverse Network Meet
Queens AI Innovation Day — Reverse Network Meet for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
Build Personal AI with Coding Agents - #SF TechWeek
Build Personal AI with Coding Agents - #SF TechWeek for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
COLM Researcher Lunch
COLM Researcher Lunch for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
From Idea to Marketing Campaign: Build a Video + Landing Page #SFTechWeek
From Idea to Marketing Campaign: Build a Video + Landing Page #SFTechWeek for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
The Universal Connector for AI during SF a16z TechWeek
The Universal Connector for AI during SF a16z TechWeek for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
SF
WiML Social @ COLM 2026
WiML Social @ COLM 2026 for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
AAAW · Agentic Advertising At Work
AAAW · Agentic Advertising At Work for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
AI Agents Hack Night | Mistral AI x Elasticsearch
AI Agents Hack Night | Mistral AI x Elasticsearch for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
AI Forum on Experiential Innovation & Devices Showcase — Live in NYC
AI Forum on Experiential Innovation & Devices Showcase — Live in NYC for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
OCT 07
NYC
Creating with AI World Models
Creating with AI World Models 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.