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 07
SF
AI x Fashion Coffee Club
AI x Fashion Coffee Club for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Inkitt Ironblood & Higgsfield AI Present: AI Filmmakers Breakfast
Inkitt Ironblood & Higgsfield AI Present: AI Filmmakers Breakfast for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Stanford AASF Frontier & Pioneer Symposium - Aug 7-9, w/ in-person conversations with Fei-fei Li, Jeff Dean, Terrence Tao, 5 Noble
Stanford AASF Frontier & Pioneer Symposium - Aug 7-9, w/ in-person conversations with Fei-fei Li, Jeff Dean, Terrence Tao, 5 Noble Laureates for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Snowflake X Beta Fund X Evermind Agent & Token Economy Hackathon
Snowflake X Beta Fund X Evermind Agent & Token Economy Hackathon for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
NYC
New York | Claude Impact Lab at Antler VC
New York | Claude Impact Lab at Antler VC for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
NYC
AI Won't Take Your Job. Someone Using AI Will
AI Won't Take Your Job. Someone Using AI Will for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
NYC
Girlie Pops Who VibeCode
Girlie Pops Who VibeCode for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Second Brain AI Salon #02 — Building the AI Second Brain and LingCode
Second Brain AI Salon #02 — Building the AI Second Brain and LingCode for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Gemini Meetup
Gemini Meetup for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
AI Workshop for Beginners: Private ChatGPT Experience on Your Own Computer - Running AI Locally
AI Workshop for Beginners: Private ChatGPT Experience on Your Own Computer - Running AI Locally for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Hacker's Book Club
Hacker's Book Club for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
symbients: growing relational AI entities without central control
symbients: growing relational AI entities without central control for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Vibe Night Demos (#23)
Vibe Night Demos (#23) for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Robotics + World Models Researcher Dinner Party | ThirdOrigin.ai
Robotics + World Models Researcher Dinner Party | ThirdOrigin.ai for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Supper & MCP
Supper & MCP for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
cocktails & games | YC/A16Z
cocktails & games | YC/A16Z for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 07
SF
Seldon's VGI-Bench Launch
Seldon's VGI-Bench Launch for the SF builder network with curated in-person attendance.
AUG 08
NYC
Raingentic Commerce Hackathon NYC
Raingentic Commerce Hackathon NYC for the NYC builder network with curated in-person attendance.
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.
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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.