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.
JUL 09
NYC
CoClaude & CoWork NYC
CoClaude & CoWork NYC for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
NYC
Fireside chat: "Can We Patent AI?"
Fireside chat: "Can We Patent AI?" for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Agent Builders Breakfast - Founders & Builders in SOMA, SF
Agent Builders Breakfast - Founders & Builders in SOMA, SF for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Build AI with AWS -July 9th
Build AI with AWS -July 9th for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
BARA Series: July Meeting
BARA Series: July Meeting for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
NYC
AGENTIC FINANCE - NYC
AGENTIC FINANCE - NYC for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
NYC
Operators Club: World Cup Edition
Operators Club: World Cup Edition for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Silicon Valley JiangHu 575 Happy Hour & Connecting Founders, Investors, Merchants & Community.
Silicon Valley JiangHu 575 Happy Hour & Connecting Founders, Investors, Merchants & Community. for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
NYC
Executive Dinner & Peer Discussion
Executive Dinner & Peer Discussion for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
NYC
Sapienne x Google Ventures - Katie Burke (Harvey, COO)
Sapienne x Google Ventures - Katie Burke (Harvey, COO) for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Scrappy AI Founders Play Pickleball (seed to series A)
Scrappy AI Founders Play Pickleball (seed to series A) for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
NYC
Flatiron AI Reading Group (FLAIR)
Flatiron AI Reading Group (FLAIR) for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
AI Founders & Global Scale 🚀🌍 Why AI companies get stuck when expanding？
AI Founders & Global Scale 🚀🌍 Why AI companies get stuck when expanding？ for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
The Engineering Roles That Will Matter In The AI Era By Thine AI
The Engineering Roles That Will Matter In The AI Era By Thine AI for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
The GTM Summit for Founders, Investors, and Creators by Founder Social Club and Anwar Enterprises
The GTM Summit for Founders, Investors, and Creators by Founder Social Club and Anwar Enterprises for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Can Agents Actually Self-Improve?
Can Agents Actually Self-Improve? for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Enterprise Agentic AI at the Edge
Enterprise Agentic AI at the Edge for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Enterprise Agentic AI at the Edge: Memory, Reasoning, and Physical Intelligence
Enterprise Agentic AI at the Edge: Memory, Reasoning, and Physical Intelligence for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Future of Product Innovation & Venture Investing
Future of Product Innovation & Venture Investing for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
On-Device Night | Founders Building Local Agents by AGI, Inc.
On-Device Night | Founders Building Local Agents by AGI, Inc. for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Real World Agentic Solutions on MCP
Real World Agentic Solutions on MCP for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
CIO Dinner
CIO Dinner for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
San Francisco Is Back: The C1.ai Opening Party
San Francisco Is Back: The C1.ai Opening Party for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
JUL 09
SF
Sloptimist Etymologies with Adam Aleksic & Daniel Keller
Sloptimist Etymologies with Adam Aleksic & Daniel Keller 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.