Hi Friends,

Here are some events happening this week:

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Not a Founders Bay Member yet? You’re missing out on:

✓ Private Whatsapp Founder & VC Channel
✓ Free Access to All Our Workshops and Recordings
✓ Monthly Investor Breakfasts and Dinners
✓ Weekly Expert Office Hours including with Mariane Bekker, Kristopher Floyd, Legal and CTO

👉 Join Founders Bay today and unlock all-access.

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Want us to sponsor an event or partner together? Contact us here

Wednesday, September 3 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

​Raising money isn’t just about numbers—it’s about YOU. In this fast-paced workshop, Bruna Grace, founder of Awaken Marketing Digital, reveals how a strong personal brand can open doors, win investor trust, and take your startup from seed to Series A.

Wednesday, September 3 - 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

​Join us for a special Women-Led Startups Edition of Palo Alto Pitch Nights where the most promising seed-stage companies led by women founders connect with active investors, top startup advisors, and a powerful founder network.

Wednesday, September 3 - 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

​Join us for an evening of insights and connections at our AI Panel & Networking event, where industry leaders and innovators will share their perspectives on the future of artificial intelligence, its applications across industries, and the challenges and opportunities it brings.

Thursday, September 4 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

​Our speakers, Jessica North and Jason Schneiderman from Perkins Coie LLP, are experienced startup lawyers who have helped many founders launch and grow their companies. They will share real-world insights on common challenges, legal steps, and smart fundraising strategies. 💡

Wednesday, September 10 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Together, we’ll explore the power of DevSwarm, a new approach that helps teams code smarter and in parallel. You’ll discover how this system accelerates development without sacrificing clarity, quality, or maintainability.

Thursday, September 11 - 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

​This private breakfast brings together top B2B founders, investors, and enterprise leaders for a curated morning of meaningful conversations, actionable insights, and a chef-prepared meal. We’ll dive into how AI is reshaping enterprise productivity, reimagining GTM motions, and what investors see as the next wave of scalable opportunities.

Saturday, September 13 - 9:00 AM - 6:30 PM

Join a community of mission-driven developers, designers, and dreamers for a one-day build sprint to prototype autonomous AI agents that solve real problems—from devops and debugging to health, productivity, and human connection.

Friday, September 19 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

​We’re excited to welcome Ellisha Blechynden, Principal Attorney at Blechynden Legal, as our featured speaker. Ellisha advises early-stage startups and investors on venture financings and deal structuring, and she’ll share actionable insights to help founders approach negotiations strategically.

Friday, September 26 - 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

​The Founders Bay Virtual Workshop will focus on why having a strong financial system is key to business success in 2026. It will help business owners and startup founders understand how tracking money, planning budgets, and managing cash flow can make or break a company. The session will show how good financial systems can help you grow faster and avoid big problems.

Don’t miss out on these exciting new offerings! Upgrade your membership today and take your involvement to the next level.

Subscribe To Growth Access and get free tickets to: Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - From Seed to Series A: How Founders Can Leverage Personal Branding to Raise Capital, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop: How to Get Started - Formation and Fund Raising, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - AI Coding for Velocity-Obsessed Developers: Code in Parallel, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - Term Sheets Best Practices for Founders, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop: Why a Financial System Will Make or Break Your Business in 2026

Subscribe To VIP Access, get all the workshops above for free and get free tickets to: Founders B2B AI Breakfast @ Cole Frieman & Mallon LLP, 🔥 SF AI Vibe Coding Hackathon, AI Innovation Panel & Networking Event

👉 LNDR$ + FRNDS Weekly Office Hours (2:30PM-3:30PM)
📍 Online
💬 Weekly office hours to get answers, workshop ideas, and grow your private lending journey. Hosted by Ashlee or Sam, each session helps aspiring and active lenders gain clarity, confidence, and actionable strategies.

👉 Get Mentoring! Get Educated! Get Funding! Get Deals! (4PM-5PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A real estate investing session focused on training, education, and mentorship. Attendees also get updates on live deals and proven strategies for success.

👉 SMB Acquisitions Entrepreneurs Networking (8AM-10AM)
📍 Online
💬 Networking for entrepreneurs acquiring and growing small businesses. Meet like-minded investors focused on building and exiting acquired companies.

👉 Open House Event - Build your small business with local support! (12PM-1PM)
📍 Online
💬 Discover how local networking can help grow your word-of-mouth business. Connect with other Santa Cruz County businesswomen and see the Leads Club model in action.

👉 Pay your mortgage and all interest bearing debt off in 1/2 the time. (5PM-6PM)
📍 Online
💬 Learn proven strategies to pay off your mortgage and interest-bearing debt in half the time. A practical financial education event for long-term savings.

👉 Intercom x Alumni Ventures: Building Autonomous Companies with AI Agents (5:30PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Leaders from Intercom and Alumni Ventures discuss how AI agents are shaping autonomous companies. Expect insights on automation, leaner teams, and the future of scaling with AI.

👉 AI X Marketing Happy Hour (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A happy hour for B2B SaaS marketing leaders hosted by Tofu and SignalFire. Connect with execs from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gong, and more over drinks and conversations.

👉 Men's Group Meeting - Real Men, Real Visibility, Connection and Growth - SF (7PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A men’s group dedicated to visibility, connection, and personal growth. A supportive space for authentic conversations and community.

👉 Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - From Seed to Series A: How Founders Can Leverage Personal Branding to Raise Capital (11AM-12PM) [HOSTED BY ME]
📍 Online
💬 Learn how personal branding can help founders attract investors and raise smarter. Includes storytelling, trust-building, and strategies to stand out in funding rounds.

👉 Agents in the Enterprise with Kindred Ventures (3PM-5:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Explore the rise of intelligent systems in enterprise with leaders from Microsoft, Salesforce, and AI startups. The session covers lessons, challenges, and emerging use cases.

👉 Scaling With AI: Growth Lessons From Early Founders (4:45PM-5:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Founders share how AI accelerates growth across operations and strategy. Get practical advice and tools to scale efficiently with lean teams.

👉 AI Innovation Panel & Networking Event (5PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A panel featuring AI executives and investors on the opportunities and risks of AI adoption. Followed by networking with peers and industry leaders.

👉 API World 2025 - AI Startup Pitch Night with Qlay, Startup Intros, SBI & KIC (5PM-8PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 Pitch night for AI startup founders to showcase to VCs and industry experts. Includes live feedback, networking, and investor connections.

👉 Agentic Founders Mixer by Scalekit with CodeRabbit, Opsera, Convex, xpander, Ockam (5:30PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A mixer for founders and engineers building next-gen AI platforms and applications. Expect real conversations on edge cases, risks, and breakthrough challenges.

👉 SF Demo Night 🚀 (w/ The AI Collective) (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 An interactive demo night where attendees engage with presenters via a live app. The community votes on winners, who join the Demo Night Hall of Fame.

👉 Voice AI Pronunciation Challenges (6:30PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A technical deep dive into pronunciation challenges in voice AI apps. Covers phonemes, scaling issues, TTS provider tradeoffs, and real-world lessons.

👉 AI Agent Founder Dinner w VCs: Anti Fund & Prosus Ventures (6:30PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 An invite-only dinner for AI founders and VCs to discuss challenges and learnings. Limited-capacity, ticketed event covering food and drinks.

👉 AI Agent Founder Dinner w VCs: DST Global & Prosus Ventures (6:30PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Another exclusive founder dinner hosted by Agents and the Future. A small-group setting for candid conversations with top VCs.

👉 The Case for Hope in the Age of AI (7PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Tallulah Le Merle explores a hopeful perspective on AI’s impact. A conversation on risks, opportunities, and how AI might restore creativity and human connection.

👉 art & technology playgrounds #1 (7PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A showcase where art meets technology in interactive demos. Explore experimental, corporeal works using tech as a medium.

👉 ACGSV Female Executive Leaders Circle (FEL) (7PM-10PM)
📍 San Mateo
💬 A peer-to-peer circle for female executives in Silicon Valley. Focused on building support, connections, and leadership community.

👉 Transitioning your association community with confidence (7AM-8AM)
📍 Online
💬 Learn how to migrate your association’s community platform without losing years of valuable data. Hivebrite experts and CASE share a real-world success story of smooth transition.

👉 Early-Stage Founder Co-working at Antler SF (10AM-12:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Founder House comes to Antler SF for early-stage founders and teams to work, connect, and tap into the Antler network. Includes a founder circle, office hours, and access to workspace resources.

👉 [Hands-on Workshop] Building Production-Ready Voice AI Agents (10AM-2PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A practical workshop where you’ll build and optimize voice AI agents for production use. Work directly with leading tool creators and get real-time technical feedback.

👉 Founders Bay Virtual Workshop: How to Get Started - Formation and Fund Raising (11AM-12PM) [HOSTED BY ME]
📍 Online
💬 A workshop for early founders on forming companies and raising funds with confidence. Legal experts share practical insights on business structure, ownership, and fundraising strategies.

👉 Scale your AI apps @ Redis Released (11AM-6PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Redis hosts a full-day event on building fast, scalable AI apps with context engineering and memory tools. Features panels, keynotes, workshops, and live demos from industry leaders.

👉 Investing in the Next Japan: Women Shaping the Future (3:15PM-4:30PM)
📍 Online
💬 A panel featuring Kathy (ex-Goldman Sachs Japan) and Shiho (ex-Google, Mercari) on women leading innovation. Learn from their leadership journeys and opportunities at the Japan-US startup intersection.

👉 AI Agent Builder Summit (4:30PM-9:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A major AI summit featuring talks from Databricks, OpenAI, and others, plus workshops and demos. Explore production-grade AI agents and connect directly with the engineers building them.

👉 AI x GTM Mixer at INBOUND (Invite Only) (4:30PM-7:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A private rooftop happy hour for CMOs and GTM leaders running AI-first teams. Expect peer networking, shared playbooks, food, drinks, and sunshine.

👉 Dollars, Watts, and Tokens: Engineering the Lean AI Stack (5PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A salon on the future of AI scaling, energy limits, and sustainable infrastructure. Leaders discuss throughput, efficiency, and next-gen architectures for real-world AI.

👉 Web3 x AI: Community Happy Hour & Pitch Night (5:30PM-7:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A relaxed happy hour blending Web3 and AI builders over beer, wine, and pizza. Includes fast pitches, networking, and community connections.

👉 AWS + Anthropic Gen AI Series (5:30PM-8:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 AWS and Anthropic showcase generative AI development with Amazon Bedrock and Claude. Expect technical demos, networking, and practical applications for startups.

👉 Prompt Driven Launch Party presented by Toolhouse (6PM-8PM)
📍 Palo Alto
💬 Learn about Prompt-Driven Development (PDD), a new approach to clean, scalable code generation. This launch event introduces tools to reduce technical debt and streamline AI coding.

👉 Build your AI website concierge with Digital Wisdom - Public (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A workshop to build an AI concierge that answers questions, guides customers, and boosts sales. Learn setup, customization, and advanced integrations for your website.

👉 XDC Vibe Coding Bootcamp - Final Stage: Pitch (6PM-7PM)
📍 Online
💬 Final pitch stage of the XDC Network bootcamp, focused on decentralized apps with AI and stablecoins. Participants showcase projects and compete for prizes.

👉 Physical AI Meetup: Robotics, Smart Mobility & Edge AI Systems (6:30PM-9PM)
📍 Palo Alto
💬 Meetup for professionals working on robotics, mobility, hardware, and on-device AI. Hosted by NATEA-SV, it fosters technical discussions and networking in Physical AI.

👉 From Prompts to Products: Exploring AI Use Cases & Challenges (5:30AM-8:30AM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join industry leaders in AI, ML, and Data Science for panels and talks on the most pressing directions in AI. Expect engaging discussions, actionable insights, and chances to meet collaborators.

👉 Silicon Valley Bootstrappers Breakfast (In Person) Downtown Campbell (7AM-8:30AM)
📍 Campbell
💬 A breakfast meetup for entrepreneurs to share challenges and learn from one another. Connect with founders in a supportive, peer-driven setting.

👉 U.S. Visa Options for Int'l Tech Professionals, Entrepreneurs, and Investors (9AM-10:30AM)
📍 Online
💬 Learn about U.S. visa options for tech professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors. The workshop covers challenges, strategies, and the best paths for company founders.

👉 Online: Book Club Meeting (10AM-11AM)
📍 Online
💬 This session explores David Brooks’ How to Know a Person, a guide to empathy and human connection. The discussion blends psychology, philosophy, and practical wisdom for living meaningfully.

👉 AnalyticsCLUB JobExpo Virtual Business, Data & Technology Job Expo (11AM-12PM)
📍 Online
💬 A global online job fair connecting professionals, employers, and recruiters across tech and business. The platform supports networking, hiring, and career development in real time.

👉 AI Bootcamp: Hands-On Immersive Bootcamp for Leaders and Innovators (8AM-5:30PM)
📍 Mountain View
💬 A full-day AI bootcamp for executives and product leaders to learn transformation strategies and tools. Participants gain hands-on prototyping experience plus training in AI governance and ethics.

👉 Man vs. Machine (9AM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A live challenge testing AI coding agents against human developers on speed and quality. Participants compete in teams with support from Factory, METR, and other sponsors.

👉 Founders Running Club :: Easy 5-10km Run + Talks (9:30AM-11:30AM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Weekly runs bringing founders, investors, and operators together for fitness and casual networking. Choose your pace, then connect over coffee afterwards.

👉 New Investor Q&A and Masterclass LIVE on Rotating Topics (10AM-11AM)
📍 Online
💬 A live Q&A and training session on investor-submitted topics with host Lane. Designed to deepen financial education, not to promote open deals or specific funds.

At our recent Founders Bay Virtual Workshop, founders dug into one of the toughest—and most critical—parts of building a company: raising capital with confidence. Stephen Vincent Grassi, Co-Founder of Ellerra and an expert in startup finance, led a practical session on how to prepare for investors and avoid the most common fundraising mistakes.

His advice was simple but powerful: successful fundraising starts long before the pitch.

💡 Key Takeaways:

🔹 Preparation Wins Deals
Investors expect clean, well-prepared financials and a solid grasp of your numbers. Coming to the table unprepared is the fastest way to lose credibility.

🔹 Know Your Valuation and Dilution
Stephen walked founders through how valuation works and why understanding dilution is essential. A fair and defensible valuation sets the stage for a healthy long-term cap table.

🔹 The Power of a Clean Cap Table
Messy ownership structures scare investors away. Founders learned how to structure equity, vesting, and early agreements to keep their companies fundable.

🔹 Fundraising Instruments 101
SAFE, convertible notes, or priced equity—each has tradeoffs. Stephen explained how to choose the right fundraising tool for your stage and strategy.

🔹 Avoid Investor Red Flags
Missing documents, unclear IP ownership, or inconsistent reporting are signals investors won’t ignore. Building trust through transparency sets you apart.

🔹 Think Beyond the Pitch
Fundraising isn’t just about closing a round—it’s about building long-term relationships. Transparency and strategic preparation make you a founder investors want to back.

💬 “Raising money isn’t about impressing investors—it’s about building trust through clarity and preparation.” – Stephen Vincent Grassi

Founders left with a toolkit for approaching fundraising not as a gamble, but as a process they can navigate with confidence. For anyone gearing up for a first pitch or a seed round, this workshop delivered the clarity needed to fundraise smart, not just fast.

Stay tuned for our next Founders Bay session

View the entire workshop video here: