Hi,

This week in SF in Nvidia GTC conference. I added a list of all the side events here. If you haven’t done so, connect with me on LinkedIn to keep track of all the events happening with Founders Bay and around San Francisco.

Also, good news, thanks to the community, my Linkedin got reactivated. I really appreciate all the support in helping me get it back online (Thank you C and J!)

This week, we have a bunch of exciting events:

• Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - How to Build an AI Chatbot with Google in 10 Minutes

• Supercharging Your Startup: Leveraging AI to maximize success

• Founders Bay Expert Office Hours: AI Agent Startup Building Advice with ​Miles Maggio

💸 Fund Update: We are looking for an investor to join us and be part of the team who has a good track record! If you’re interested, reply to this email. If you want to co-invest with us, apply here to be a limited partner » This is your chance to be part of something big — your support and involvement are key to our collective success. We’re all in this together!

If we’re not already connected, I’d love to hear from you—please follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram. Let’s connect!

Featured Events

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

Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - How to Build an AI Chatbot with Google in 10 Minutes

Tuesday, March 18 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

​Ever wanted to create your own chatbot but thought it was too technical? This beginner-friendly workshop will show you how to build a functional chatbot using Google Cloud - no coding experience required!

Newport Beach Investor Conference (I’m speaking)

Thursday, March 20 - 10am - 9pm

Join 500+ investors for an exclusive, one-day gathering showcasing cutting-edge investment opportunities across sectors like AI, Blockchain, Biohacking, Consumer Products, Longevity, Medtech, Real Estate, Sports and Tech.

This event is designed to connect accredited investors, venture capitalists, private equity firms, family offices, and other high-net-worth individuals with a curated lineup of presenting companies and entrepreneurs actively raising capital.

Women & Wealth Catalyst Summit (I’m speaking)

FOUNDERS25 for 25% OFF the early bird ticket.

March 27, 2025

Join us for a transformative event designed to inspire and guide women on their financial journeys.

Participate in a full day of impactful sessions, including fireside conversations, intimate panels, and engaging discussions with curated peer-to-peer matchmaking.

Walk away richer in knowledge, community, and resources.

Take steps immediately after the event with your Wealth Creation Toolkit. This includes priority-setting exercises, diagnostic worksheets, a resource directory, and various tools and books by our speakers to support you on your journey.

Exclusive AI Founders & VC Dinner

Thursday, March 27 - 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

​Join us for a night of great food and smart conversations!

​What to expect:
✅ Insights on the latest AI trends for enterprises
✅ Practical strategies for using AI to grow your business
✅ Networking with founders, tech leaders, and innovators

NOTES & WORDS

Saturday, April 5 - 7:30 PM

Join us at The Masonic on April 5, 2025, for a magical evening of outstanding musical performance and powerful storytelling, all benefiting UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals.

Enjoy an incredible lineup with Grammy Award-winning blues virtuoso, Gary Clark Jr.; singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Grace Potter; and supercharged Oakland band of siblings MeloDious.

Be inspired by internationally bestselling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin; and celebrated scholar, writer, and researcher Cat Bohannon.

AI INFRA SUMMIT

Exclusive discount (35%) code: MBlim35

Join us as we take AI INFRA SUMMIT to new heights, diving into the fast-evolving AI infrastructure landscape. From dirt up to APIs, we’ll explore the interconnected layers driving next-gen deployments. With a focus on ecosystem & optionality, top industry leaders will shape the future of AI infrastructure. 

Whether you're an AI builder, enterprise leader, investor, or industry expert, this summit offers a full day of insights, collaboration, and networking—delivered in style.

Women & Nonbinary Founders' Demo Day – Startup Innovation & Networking

​​📌 Join us for an inspiring evening at the Women & Nonbinary Founders' Demo Day, co-hosted by Women x AI and Germ! This exciting event, sponsored by Convex, will showcase innovations from 10 visionary founders, offering a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge technology and connect with fellow enthusiasts, investors, and industry leaders from AI and beyond.

This even is sponsored by Convex. Subscribe to their calendar to keep track of all their events!

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 - How to Build an AI Chatbot with Google in 10 Minutes, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - Shaping Your Brand: Identity, Story, Impact, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - Structuring Operations for Scale 

Subscribe To VIP Access, get all the workshops above for free and get free tickets to: Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - How to Build an AI Chatbot with Google in 10 Minutes, Founders Bay Expert Office Hours: AI Agent Startup Building Advice with ​Miles Maggio, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - Shaping Your Brand: Identity, Story, Impact, Founders Bay Expert Office Hours: Marketing Advice with Bryce Parrish, Exclusive AI Founders & VC Dinner, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - Structuring Operations for Scale, Founders Bay Expert Office Hours: Digital Transformation & AI Strategies, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - Backward Approach to Entrepreneurial Success, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - New Era: Latest Advances in Longevity Biotech, Drug Discovery, and AI, Founders Bay Virtual Workshop: Securing the Unseen: AI, Cyber Threats & the Battle for Trust

🗓️ Monday, Mar 17

👉 Beyond CUDA Summit (12PM-10PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 Join AI founders, researchers, and engineers to explore the future of AI compute beyond CUDA.

👉 SustainX: Power Deals - Unlocking Long-Duration Storage with Form Energy (5PM-6:30PM)
📍 Stanford
💬 Learn from Form Energy’s Scott Burger about multi-day iron-air battery storage and its impact on renewable energy.

👉 Sports Tech Demo Night (5PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Discover AI-driven sports innovations in performance, injury prevention, and fan engagement at House of Web3.

👉 Game Developer Conference GDC Side Event (5:30PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Network with gamers, founders, and investors at San Francisco AI Marketers, hosted by Open Future Forum.

👉 Sync SF (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join the first Sync SF meetup to explore new approaches to software development with industry experts.

👉 Careers in AI: Higher Education and Industry (6PM-8PM)
📍 Berkeley
💬 Connect with SGN’s global community of AI professionals to explore career opportunities in academia and industry.

👉 Perplexity Developer Meetup - POSTPONED! (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Meet the Perplexity team, learn about Sonar API, and network with fellow developers over drinks and bites.

👉 The Future of AI & XR w/ Unity (GDC) (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Unity Muse showcases generative AI tools to accelerate game development, animation, and troubleshooting.

👉 GDC Dinner "AI in Gaming: Shaping the Future of Player Experience" (7PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join Unusual Ventures for an exclusive dinner discussing AI’s role in revolutionizing gaming experiences.

🗓️ Tuesday, Mar 18

👉 VIP Salon Dinner: The Future of Secure AI Infrastructure (6AM-8PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 An exclusive dinner with top AI and computing leaders, featuring discussions on secure, scalable AI infrastructure. Hosted at Rollati Ristorante.

👉 Silicon Valley Bootstrappers Breakfast (Online) (6AM-7:30AM)
📍 Remote
💬 A gathering for startup founders bootstrapping their businesses, focused on practical growth strategies through peer discussions.

👉 Run Time: GDC - 5km Social Run 🎮​🌁🦭 (7AM-8AM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A friendly 5K run along the SF Boardwalk to Pier 39, offering casual networking for gaming and tech professionals.

👉 Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - How to Build an AI Chatbot with Google in 10 Minutes (10AM-11AM)
📍 Online
💬 Learn to build and customize an AI chatbot step-by-step, perfect for non-tech professionals and entrepreneurs. Hosted by me.

👉 Protect Muni Now Keep Muni Forever Rally (11AM-12PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A rally opposing Muni service cuts, followed by a public comment session urging officials to explore alternative funding.

👉 GTC Hack Night [San Jose] (4:30PM-9PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 An evening of AI-focused hacking, networking, and innovation, hosted by Weaviate, Wikimedia Enterprise, AIMon, and Mistral.

👉 Hack Night [San Jose] (4:30PM-9PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 A hands-on AI hackathon exploring new ideas and building impactful solutions, hosted by Weaviate at Beckhoff.

👉 NVIDIA GTC: Scaling LLMs, AI Applications & Infra, Deep Tech & Robotics (5PM-8PM)
📍 Sunnyvale
💬 AI industry leaders discuss the scalability of LLMs, AI applications, and future deep tech and robotics trends.

👉 AI For Future - Pitching, Funding and Speech (5PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A networking event featuring AI startups, investors, and thought leaders, including top speakers from Stanford HAI and Google.

👉 Cleantech Open 2025 San Francisco Kick-Off Event (5PM-7:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Entrepreneurs tackling global environmental challenges present their innovative cleantech solutions in various industry domains.

👉 Go-to-Market Strategies for Agentic AI Founders (5:30PM-7:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A deep dive into scaling agentic AI startups, with insights from founders, investors, and experts on navigating a crowded market.

👉 Built on Bedrock Demo Nights (5:30PM-7:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 An evening of Generative AI demos showcasing how startups are leveraging Amazon Bedrock for real-world applications.

👉 Low-Key Data Happy Hour - San Francisco (6PM-8:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A casual meetup for data professionals to network and discuss data topics—no sponsors, no formal talks.

👉 Press Start: Indie Happy Hour by Bezi (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 An indie game developer networking event featuring a panel discussion on overcoming challenges in game development.

👉 AI + Hardware After Party for GTC by DataCrunch & Shadeform (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 A casual post-keynote meetup for AI engineers and researchers working on cutting-edge AI infrastructure.

👉 MCP Lightning Talks SF (6PM-8:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A series of technical talks on the Model Context Protocol, showcasing what developers are building with it.

👉 The Crossfire Lounge by GamesBeat / GDC (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 An invite-only lounge for gaming executives and developers, featuring candid debates and high-level networking.

👉 GenAI Collective x Novita AI - GTC After Hours (6:30PM-9:30PM)
📍 Sunnyvale
💬 A high-energy event on next-gen AI inference, bringing together industry leaders, researchers, and founders.

👉 Game Dev Connect - Indies Online: Challenges & Solutions (6:30PM-9:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A discussion with indie developers on overcoming challenges in online gaming, featuring industry experts.

👉 The Rooftop Penthouse Party: Pizza, Gaming & AI (7PM-9:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A rooftop mixer during GDC with game founders, investors, and AI innovators, featuring free pizza and networking.

👉 Alpha Night: Presented by Arbitrum + KGeN (7PM-10PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 An exclusive, no-phones-allowed event for web3 gaming founders to present their groundbreaking projects.

🗓️ Wednesday, Mar 19

👉 All Things Web at Convex (5PM-8:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A meetup featuring talks on web development, including image optimization and AI coding agents. Network over snacks and drinks while learning from industry experts.

👉 Web3 Collective Networking Breakfast (8AM-10:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Start your morning connecting with Web3 Games professionals over coffee and breakfast at La Société Bar & Café.

👉 Founders Bay Expert Office Hours: AI Agent Startup Building Advice with ​Miles Maggio (10AM-12PM) [HOSTED BY ME]
📍 Online
💬 Get tailored advice on AI agent development, scaling, and strategy from industry expert Miles Maggio in this interactive session.

👉 GDC Talk: Implementing Game Agents in Commercial Games (10:30AM-11AM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A technical discussion on AI-powered game agents, reinforcement learning, and LLM-driven NPCs with real-world case studies and demos.

👉 GDC Pop Up! UGC AMA on Legal & AI (2:30PM-4:45PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join UGC game developers and investors for a discussion on Web3, legal aspects, and AI-driven game asset creation.

👉 Pitch in Person to CVCs/VCs/Angels at SF Campus of UCB (4:30PM-8:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A hybrid pitching event featuring speakers on AI entrepreneurship and funding opportunities, followed by live investor pitches.

👉 The Generative AI Gathering - Presented by Turing & Fireworks AI (5PM-7PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 An evening of networking with AI and LLM professionals, featuring great food and creative cocktails.

👉 Convai Summit: AI Characters in Virtual Worlds (5PM-11PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Industry leaders discuss AI-driven character experiences in gaming, with panels, networking, and live demos.

👉 Bay Area AI Party (5:30PM-7:30PM)
📍 Sunnyvale
💬 A meetup for AI designers and professionals hosted by Voiceflow and elaineinthebay.

👉 Daytona AI Builders SF March '25 @GitHub (5:30PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A gathering for AI enthusiasts to collaborate, share ideas, and explore advancements in artificial intelligence.

👉 AI x CRM - Evolution of CRMs in the Agentic Era (5:30PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A discussion on how AI is reshaping CRMs, making them smarter and more intuitive for businesses.

👉 Monthly Robotics & AI Meetup (5:30PM-7:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 An informal meetup for robotics and AI enthusiasts to collaborate and exchange ideas.

👉 Unleash Japan’s Gaming Power: Insights, Pitches & Panels @ GDC (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A deep dive into Japanese game development with demos, discussions, and networking opportunities.

👉 The Immutable Saloon @ GDC 25 (6PM-10PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A Web3 gaming event with exclusive activations, craft cocktails, giveaways, and networking.

👉 AI For Designers #24 (6PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A meetup exploring AI-powered design tools and insights from industry leaders shaping creative AI.

👉 Making an Impact in Healthcare with AI: A Dinner Conversation (6:30PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A private dinner for healthcare and AI innovators to discuss maximizing AI’s impact in healthcare.

👉 Her Movie Screening (7PM-10PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A private screening of Her for AI professionals to reflect on the future of AI-human interaction.

👉 AI Pioneers Happy Hour (7:30PM-10PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 Network with AI industry pioneers over food and drinks at this high-energy happy hour.

👉 Networking in AI & Tech, hosted by Microsoft & NVIDIA (7:30PM-10PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 A high-impact networking event connecting AI, cloud, and emerging technology professionals.

👉 GDC Mega Party 🎉 Stash, Fateless, AppsFlyer Ft. Justin Kan (8:30PM-1:30AM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A massive GDC party featuring a live DJ set by Justin Kan, food carts, and top gaming industry professionals.

🗓️ Thursday, Mar 20

👉 Founders Bay Virtual Workshop - Shaping Your Brand: Identity, Story, Impact (11AM-12PM) [HOSTED BY ME]
📍 Online
💬 Your brand is more than just a logo—it’s the story, personality, and promise that connect you with your audience. Learn how to define your core values and create a compelling brand identity that resonates.

👉 AI-Powered Job Search – Unlocking Opportunities with Clay: Virtual Workshop (12:30PM-1:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Discover how Clay, an AI-driven networking tool, can help uncover hidden job opportunities. Learn how to streamline outreach and build meaningful professional connections.

👉 Supercharging Your Startup: Leveraging AI to maximize success (1PM-2PM)[HOSTED BY ME]
📍 Virtual
💬 Discover how Clay, an AI-driven networking tool, can help uncover hidden job opportunities. Learn how to streamline outreach and build meaningful professional connections.

👉 INNOVIT Demo Day - AI in Game Development / Immersive Technologies / Metaverse Cohort (3:30PM-7PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Explore the intersection of AI, gaming, and immersive technologies at INNOVIT’s Demo Day. Engage with industry leaders discussing the future of game engines and real-world applications.

👉 Hailuo (MiniMax) x fal: GenAI Meetup @ SF; Founders, Execs & Creators (4:30PM-7:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A meetup for GenAI founders, executives, and creators to discuss cutting-edge AI advancements. Network with industry leaders and explore state-of-the-art multimodal AI technology.

👉 AGI is Just Another Open Source Away — AI Builders Meetup (5PM-7:30PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 Join a discussion on the critical role of open-source in AI development. Industry experts will explore how open-source technology is shaping the path toward AGI.

👉 Batter Up! San Jose (5PM-8PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 A live pitch event for startup founders seeking investor insights. Gain actionable feedback and improve your fundraising strategy in a supportive, interactive setting.

👉 Revolutionizing Healthcare with AI (5PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A networking event with Women in Data, discussing AI's impact on healthcare. Connect with experts exploring innovations, challenges, and real-world AI applications in the field.

👉 Advanced AI and Tool Use Meetup #3 @ GitHub (5PM-8PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Explore advanced AI use cases, memory for LLMs, and sandboxed AI execution. An evening of knowledge-sharing for AI builders and enthusiasts.

👉 SF Ruby in March @ New Relic (5PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A monthly meetup diving into Ruby and Rails development. Expect technical talks, experiments, and open discussions in a friendly community environment.

👉 LPs & Family Offices Summit - How to Deploy in the Age of AI (5:30PM-9PM)
📍 Hillsborough
💬 Investors, LPs, and founders discuss the evolving AI investment landscape. Gain insights into deployment trends, emerging tech, and practical M&A strategies.

👉 AI Circle: The Frontier of Human Data (5:30PM-9PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A gathering of AI experts from Google, Amazon AGI, Perle, and Oxen. Explore the intersection of human intelligence and machine learning in an engaging discussion.

👉 Accelerating AI Applications Development (6PM-8PM)
📍 Sunnyvale
💬 Hear from Alluxio, PingCAP, and Intuit on the latest advancements in scalable AI solutions. Network with AI application developers in the Bay Area.

👉 ByteByteGo Book Signing/Giveaway Event: Coding Interview Patterns & Generative AI System Design (6PM-8:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Meet the authors of Coding Interview Patterns and Generative AI System Design. Get a signed copy, enjoy networking, and discuss AI system design best practices.

👉 Product-Market Fit with Maria Pienaar (6PM-8:30PM)
📍 Mountain View
💬 Learn how to achieve product-market fit with startup expert Maria Pienaar. Understand key milestones and actionable steps to drive success.

👉 Evaluating and Scaling AI Agents - Fireside Chat hosted by LangChain, Writer, & Susa (6PM-8:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A fireside chat with LangChain and Writer founders on scaling AI agents. Learn evaluation strategies, real-world use cases, and best practices for AI deployment.

🗓️ Friday, Mar 21

👉 Mtn View Bootstrappers Breakfast at Red Rock Coffee (7AM-8:30AM)
📍 Mountain View
💬 A gathering for entrepreneurs focused on growing businesses through internal cash flow and organic profit. Expect deep conversations about bootstrapping strategies.

👉 AI Keynotes at Microsoft - Sales and Marketing at Microsoft (9AM-11:30AM)
📍 Mountain View
💬 Discover how AI is revolutionizing sales and marketing with insights from top AI leaders, investors, and innovators.

👉 Making a Break into Venture Capital: Live Networking (11:30AM-12:30PM)
📍 Palo Alto
💬 Learn how to evaluate and invest in AI startups at this exclusive session for accredited investors committing at least $100K over four years.

👉 AI Go-to-Market Salon (12PM-1:30PM)
📍 Palo Alto
💬 Join GTM professionals to explore AI-driven changes in lead generation, organizational roles, and revenue strategies.

👉 AI Keynotes at Microsoft - AI Infra at Microsoft (12:30PM-4:30PM)
📍 Mountain View
💬 A deep dive into AI infrastructure trends with industry leaders, investors, and innovators.

👉 JavaOne Unconference with SF JUG (1PM-7PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Connect with Java enthusiasts and experts at this community-driven event featuring discussions, networking, and post-event socials.

👉 Engineers Only: GPU Hackathon – Fine-Tune DeepSeek + Master Chess 🇺🇸 (6PM-8:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A hands-on AI/ML hackathon for engineers comfortable with PyTorch, focused on multi-node training and GPU scaling. Vetting required for entry.

🗓️ Saturday, Mar 22

👉 AI Dev Tools Hackathon @ SF (9AM-6PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A hands-on AI hackathon where developers, founders, and API enthusiasts collaborate on innovative solutions using the latest AI tools.

👉 Founders Running Club :: SF (9:30AM-11AM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A casual run for founders, investors, and operators, followed by coffee and networking. Pets, friends, and family are welcome!

👉 AI Startups & Venture Capital: Powering the Future of Innovation (10:30AM-1:30PM)
📍 Mountain View
💬 A panel discussion with investors and tech leaders on AI startups, investment trends, and scaling strategies.

👉 🌸 Celebrate the Festival of Colors: Holi at Mission Dolores Manor Garden 🌸 (11AM-4PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Celebrate Holi with vibrant colors, music, and community festivities in the beautiful Mission Dolores Manor Garden.

👉 Scaling Diffusion Transformer (DiT) Models for Image Generation | Post GTC Brunch (11AM-1PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A deep dive into diffusion transformer models for image generation, covering architectures, applications, and hardware.

👉 Creative AI: How Multimodal Models are Transforming Art, Video, and Entertainment (2:30PM-4:30PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A discussion with AI founders, researchers, and investors on the latest breakthroughs in AI-driven media and entertainment.

🗓️ Sunday, Mar 23

👉 Game Market West: Spring 2025 (10AM-3PM)
📍 San Jose
💬 A tabletop game market where indie designers showcase and sell their latest board and card games, with an open play area.

👉 BARRE, BRUNCH & BAUBLES 🥂✨ (11AM-1PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 A morning of fitness, food, and fun with a barre class, a customizable bagel bar, and a permanent jewelry experience.

📊 Startup Founders & Ownership: How Much Do Founders Keep Across Rounds?

By Mariane Bekker

Raising capital is essential for fueling your startup’s growth — but every round comes with a dilution tradeoff. A burning question for many founders: How much ownership should I expect to retain after each funding round?

Here’s a look at how founding team ownership typically evolves from Seed to Series C, based on recent data across the startup ecosystem.

Hi! I'm Mariane Bekker, an investor and a tech executive with over a decade of experience building high-performing engineering teams at leading startups such as New Relic and Mindbody. I've led engineering through 5 acquisitions and 1 IPO. 

I’m the founder of Founders bay and Women Founders bay, connecting founders with expert guidance, events and funding opportunities in the Bay Area.