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.
AUG 08
NYC
RAD Collective Aug General Meeting
RAD Collective Aug General Meeting for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
SF
San Francisco | Claude Impact Lab
San Francisco | Claude Impact Lab for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
SF
VCN #48: Total Recall
VCN #48: Total Recall for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
NYC
Solo Unicorn 1st Anniversary Social Mixer | AI-Native Transformation × One-Person Companies
Solo Unicorn 1st Anniversary Social Mixer | AI-Native Transformation × One-Person Companies for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
SF
Local Align #2 · Bay Area AI & Startup Social
Local Align #2 · Bay Area AI & Startup Social for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
SF
GOAI Global Open-source AI Challenge | ~US$730K Prize Pool | GOAI Open-source Pioneer Summit | Silicon Valley Stop
GOAI Global Open-source AI Challenge | ~US$730K Prize Pool | GOAI Open-source Pioneer Summit | Silicon Valley Stop for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
SF
GOAI Open-source Pioneer Summit | Silicon Valley Stop
GOAI Open-source Pioneer Summit | Silicon Valley Stop for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
SF
Accountable AI: Governing Autonomous Agents in Production
Accountable AI: Governing Autonomous Agents in Production for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
SF
Beginners Claude Code for Women Workshop 3: Automate Your Life
Beginners Claude Code for Women Workshop 3: Automate Your Life for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
SF
Korea's Next Move in AI
Korea's Next Move in AI for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
NYC
Checkout - The Travel & Hospitality Hackathon | Powered by Stay22, Rove & Propellic | $100k worth of travel prizes
Checkout - The Travel & Hospitality Hackathon | Powered by Stay22, Rove & Propellic | $100k worth of travel prizes for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
NYC
AI Voice Agent hackathon: Supafone.ai
AI Voice Agent hackathon: Supafone.ai for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
SF
👾 Hack with VoiceOS | $5k in OpenAI Credits
👾 Hack with VoiceOS | $5k in OpenAI Credits for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
NYC
Context Engineering Guild: August Edition
Context Engineering Guild: August Edition for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
SF
San Francisco. AI × Design Creative Picnic
San Francisco. AI × Design Creative Picnic for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
NYC
Informationbanker Fintech & AI networking walk
Informationbanker Fintech & AI networking walk for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
NYC
The Builders' Table
The Builders' Table for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
SF
🤖🍨 Sundae Robotics 03: Scaling Touch, Multimodal Perception & Dexterous Manipulation with Flexible Tactile Skin for Robot Learning
🤖🍨 Sundae Robotics 03: Scaling Touch, Multimodal Perception & Dexterous Manipulation with Flexible Tactile Skin for Robot Learning for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
SF
Breaking Models AI Security
Breaking Models AI Security for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
SF
Dinner Salon: AI as a Companion in Parenting
Dinner Salon: AI as a Companion in Parenting for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
SF
Founders - AI — Power Walk
Founders - AI — Power Walk for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
SF
A Community Reading: The Pope’s AI Encyclical, Large Language Mojitos, and Being Human Together
A Community Reading: The Pope’s AI Encyclical, Large Language Mojitos, and Being Human Together for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 09
SF
N of 1: Padel + Personalized Health with YC S26
N of 1: Padel + Personalized Health with YC S26 for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 10
SF
9Zero x Vectors Capital Community Lunch & Learn: Data Center Power Supply - Fuel Cells
9Zero x Vectors Capital Community Lunch & Learn: Data Center Power Supply - Fuel Cells 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.