Hi Friends,
Still writing to you from my hotel room in NYC. We sold out tonight’s event with the CTO of McKinsey Technology and the Head of AI at You.com, and I’m honestly blown away by the support. NYC — thank you. I can’t wait to celebrate with all of you tonight for my first event here.
Also, huge thanks to everyone who commented on my Top 10 Women in AI post — 20+ of you unlocked a free month of Founders Bay VIP. The response was amazing, so we’re doing it again today.
For International Women’s Month, comment on this LinkedIn post with the woman who paved the way for you and get 1 month of VIP free ($99 value)!
🔥 Featured Events
March 11 - NYC | 6PM - 9PM | YouCode Forum: Building What's Next in The Agentic Era
March 12 - Virtual | 11AM - 12PM | Deep Research Speedrun: Ship a Cited Research Agent in Minutes (You.com Research API)
March 12 - Virtual | 11AM - 12PM | Founders Bay Virtual Workshop: Reverse the Startup Model, Secure Global Scale First, and Unlock $250K Pre-Seed Without Pitching VCs
March 18 - SF | 5PM - 9PM | AI Startup Pitch Showcase @ Pilot.com
March 19 - Palo Alto | 5:30M - 9PM | GTC Night Shift: Sparkling Mixer
March 19 - SF | 6PM - 9PM | The Edge of AI: Builder Night @ Tesla with You.com × Founders Bay
March 23 - SF | 9:30AM - 11:30AM | VC & Founders Breakfast by Founders Bay × You.com
March 23 - SF | 12PM - 3PM | AI Demo Showcase (FREE)
The First Woman Who Paved The Way
Growing up in Lebanon before moving to Canada
My mom was the first woman in her family to go to college.
Education changed the trajectory of her life.
And eventually, mine.
This picture was taken in Lebanon.
The little baby girl in pink being held is me, and the woman holding me is my mom.
Because of her, I grew up believing I could become an engineer.
She believed it long before I believed it myself.
Late nights studying with me.
Cooking while I prepared for exams.
Arguing with the principal so I could take extra credits.
Fighting with me to get into engineering school.
She pushed doors open so I could walk through them.
When I studied engineering, I was the only woman in the building for years.
Sometimes it made me feel like I didn’t belong there.
But over time I realized something important.
Behind many women building the future of today, there is often a woman who was the first.
Maybe she was the first woman in her family to go to college.
Maybe she was the first to build a career.
Or maybe she was the first who believed in you before the world did.
My mom’s generation helped open doors.
Our generation is helping shape technologies like AI.
And the next generation will go even further.
Since it’s International Women’s Month, I’ve been thinking about the women who quietly opened doors so we could walk through them.
For me, that woman was my mom.
Who is the woman who believed in you before the world did?
Leave a comment on the LinkedIn post and I’ll send you a FREE month of Founders Bay VIP and I’ll feature your story in next week’s newsletter. 👇
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marianebekker_my-mom-was-the-first-woman-in-her-family-activity-7437542154857615360-ddPu?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAaZ6_kBd_MgwNXbHunny0zK6hM7OUsCMZo
- Mariane Bekker
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Upcoming Events
AI Demo Showcase (FREE) »
Monday, March 23 - 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Join us on March 23 from noon to 3 PM for an exclusive AI networking and demo showcase, co-located with RSA. Enjoy a keynote on ‘Building What’s Next for Enterprise AI in the Agentic Era’ sponsored by You.com, followed by a delicious buffet lunch while connecting with developers, startups, investors, and corporate executives. Explore the open demo showcase featuring startups and enterprise AI solutions for vertical markets, developer tools, and platforms. Interested in exhibiting or speaking? Contact Angel Launch at [email protected] or 310-621-6850.
Wednesday, March 11 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Navigating U.S. immigration can be one of the biggest challenges for startup founders and growing teams. This virtual workshop is designed to help founders, operators, and early employees understand the immigration pathways available to startups and their workforce—so you can plan with confidence and avoid costly missteps.
Wednesday, March 11 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Join us for a weekly check-in for very early stage founders who need a community of peers. Our goal is to create a space for sharing challenges and celebratory moments during this early phase. We will dedicate a portion of the meeting to self-care for high-performance as well. We will meet weekly via Zoom, and will have a monthly in-person meetup. All early stage founders are welcome.
Wednesday, March 11 - 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Join us in SoHo for an intimate evening with James Kaplan, CTO of McKinsey, and Saahil Jain, Head of AI of You.com, alongside enterprise builders and technical leaders.
Wednesday, March 12 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
In this 20-minute, developer-first speedrun, we’ll build a deep research endpoint using the You.com Research API that turns one prompt into a clean Markdown report with inline citations + source URLs—ready for your product, internal tools, or customer-facing workflows.
Thursday, March 12 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Reverse Ventures is the world’s first AI-native innovation platform that flips startup creation upside down. Entrepreneurs contribute a disruptive idea and become equal partners in the venture through a 50/50 structure.
Sunday, March 15 - 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Use FB10 for 10% off
Renaissance 2026 is AI+’s flagship summit bringing together the founders, researchers, and engineers defining the next decade of intelligence.
Over two days on the weekend between GDC and Nvidia’s GTC, we convene 40 AI leaders, 20+ top AI startups, and 2,000 founders, builders & investors to explore frontier breakthroughs across Multimodal Intelligence, Agents, AI Infrastructure, Embodied AI and Robotics.
Tuesday, March 17 - 5:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Some of the most valuable connections in AI are sparked after hours✨
🎉Welcome to GTC Night Shift: Sparkling Mixer🎉
Join 70+ AI researchers/builders/founders from Meta, Adobe, Pinterest, Google, Apple, as well as Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Duke…
Wednesday, March 18 - 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
The Venture Revolution is a leading venture capital and innovation conference. Building on the success of last year’s event, the conference brings together investors, founders, and operators from across the global venture ecosystem.
Wednesday, March 18 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Join us for a tactical session with Sherry Prescott-Willis, a seasoned Growth & Demand Generation Executive, as she breaks down how high-performing teams define, validate, and operationalize their ICP. Sherry will share real-world frameworks and examples drawn from her experience scaling revenue and go-to-market teams.
Wednesday, March 18 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Join us for a weekly check-in for very early stage founders who need a community of peers. Our goal is to create a space for sharing challenges and celebratory moments during this early phase. We will dedicate a portion of the meeting to self-care for high-performance as well. We will meet weekly via Zoom, and will have a monthly in-person meetup. All early stage founders are welcome.
Wednesday, March 18 - 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Mariane brings a unique blend of experience as an investor, engineer, and community leader to help startups succeed at every stage, offering hands-on guidance in fundraising strategy, technical decision-making, co-founder matching, talent recruitment, and personal branding. From crafting compelling investor pitches and selecting the right technology stack to building strong founding teams and credible personal brands, Mariane provides personalized, practical support designed to turn ambitious ideas into scalable, investable companies.
Wednesday, March 18 - 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Join us for an exclusive evening celebrating the next generation of AI innovation, hosted by Mariane Bekker from Founders Bay. The AI Startup Pitch Showcase brings together visionary founders, savvy investors, and industry leaders to witness cutting-edge AI startups present their ideas, receive live feedback from top VCs, and connect with a curated network of innovators. 🌟
Apply to pitch HERE
We’re looking for VCs who would like to be judges. If interested, please reply here.
Thursday, March 19 - 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Join us on March 19th for an exclusive evening of AI insights, featuring a keynote and panel discussion with top AI experts at Tesla Van Ness – SF.
With live music from Bisi Obateru.
Monday, March 23 - 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Join us on March 23 in San Francisco for an intimate VC & Founders Breakfast, bringing together founders, investors, and builders from the AI and startup ecosystem. This morning gathering is designed to spark meaningful conversations, share insights, and create new connections. 🥐☕
We’re looking for VCs who would like to speak. If interested, please reply here.
Wednesday, March 25 - 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Join us for an exclusive evening designed for founders who have raised $1M+ for their current company. This private dinner brings together a select group of high-growth founders, with limited spots reserved for aligned investors looking to connect in a meaningful, intimate setting.
Enjoy curated conversations, shared learnings, and a panoramic penthouse view—perfect for building relationships that move companies forward.
This dinner is proudly supported by Fidelity Private Shares.
Members of the Founders Bay community will receive 20% off of any paid cap table subscription plan. For more information, you can contact David Santana here: [email protected]
Thursday, March 26 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Building a startup is not just about product and growth—it’s about making smart ownership decisions early. In this interactive virtual workshop, Aleks Gollu, Founder & CEO of 11Sight, will break down how early-stage founders can design a healthy cap table, structure fundraising rounds, and avoid unnecessary dilution as they scale.
Thursday, March 26 - 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Join us for an exclusive evening where founders meet investors in an intimate, curated setting, hosted by Mariane Bekker from Founders Bay. The Founder × VC Connect: Dinner & Panel brings together visionary startup leaders and top venture capitalists for a night of insights, storytelling, and meaningful connections.
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Hi! I'm Mariane Bekker. I’m the founder of Founders Bay, connecting founders with expert guidance, events, and funding opportunities in the Bay Area. I’m also Head of Developer Relations at You.com, and we just raised $100M to grow our AI Search Infrastructure!
Founders Bay curates and shares information about third-party events for informational purposes only. Founders Bay does not organize, manage, operate, control, or guarantee any event listed unless explicitly identified as the host. All event-related decisions, obligations, liabilities, and communications rest solely with the respective event organizers. Founders Bay disclaims all responsibility for changes, cancellations, pricing, speaker participation, venue matters, refunds, or damages arising from event participation. For events hosted by Founders Bay, participation is voluntary. By registering for or attending a Founders Bay event, you acknowledge and agree that you assume all risks associated with attendance and release Founders Bay and its affiliates from liability to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.