👋 I’m Justin. I run The SF Grind, The LA Grind, and scout for Headline. I live in LA but spend a lot of time in San Francisco meeting founders, hosting gatherings, and enjoying the wonderful city. If I’m not writing this, I’m probably out on a run.
Happy Monday! I published a 2025 review last week that received some amazing responses. Probably because 2025 was the hardest year of my life, but built the foundation for what’s next. Take a look!
Looking for sponsors: I’m partnering with a small number of sponsors across both events and The SF Grind newsletter.
Events: I’m hosting several upcoming SF events for the startup and tech community. These range from curated founder dinners to more casual community gatherings. Event sponsors get in-person exposure plus shoutouts in this newsletter and on social.
Newsletter: I also have limited sponsor slots in The SF Grind newsletter, reaching 900+ readers across the SF startup ecosystem each week.
If you’re interested in sponsoring an event, the newsletter, or a bundle of both, just reply here and I’ll send details.
Let’s get to it.
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Polsinelli has a strong technology and emerging growth practice supporting founders from formation through fundraising and scale. They work with startups across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and major innovation hubs nationwide.
I’ve personally worked with Ephraim Hintz from their team, and he’s excellent if you ever need a warm intro or trusted guidance on anything legal.
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🌁 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌁
🗓️ January 22: The SF Grind: Curated Founder Dinner. San Francisco. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ January 23: The SF Grind: Startup Community Coffee Meetup. Cow Hollow. 8 - 10 am.
👋 This Week in SF 👋
🗓️ AI x Healthcare - Silicon Valley Investing Summit. Financial District. 10 am - 6 pm.
🗓️ January 12: Migrant Founders Fireside Chat: How to Scale Biotech and HealthTech in the US. Civic Center. 2:30 - 4:30 pm.
🗓️ January 13: Wake up with Turbine. Financial District. 7 - 11 am.
🗓️ January 13: JPM Week: Why Your Deals Stall After the First ‘Yes'. Financial District. 11:15 am - 12:45 pm.
🗓️ January 13: Kernel Demo Day - Open Registration. Mid-Market. 1 - 4 pm.
🗓️ January 13: -1 to DoorDash with Tony Xu. South Beach. 3:30 - 5 pm.
🗓️ January 13: JPM week 2026 : Women’s Health & Longevity. Mid-Market. 5 - 7:30 pm.
🗓️ January 13: JPM week 2026: Scaling Healthcare Marketplaces with AI. Financial District. 5:30 - 8 pm.
🗓️ January 13: Cybersecurity After Dark — Builders, Breakers & Defenders. Mid-Market. 7 - 10 pm.
🗓️ January 14-16: HealthTech Summit 2026. Civic Center.
🗓️ January 14: Fire Pitch Competition. Union Square. 1 - 3 pm.
🗓️ January 14: Founders in Arms Live. Union Square. 5 - 8 pm.
🗓️ January 14: SF Meetup: First Look at Laravel AI SDK. South Beach. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ January 15: MongoDB.local SF: For Founders Building What’s Next. Islais Creek. 8 am - 6 pm.
🗓️ January 15: BioPioneers @ JPM: Builders, Backers & Biotech. Chinatown. 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
🗓️ January 15: Founder Dinner - Augmentation Lab x Rho. Pacific Heights. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ January 15: The Blueprint for Scaling AI Support. SoMa. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ January 15: Brains, Bodies, Environments: Neurotech Fireside Chat @JPM. Mid-Market. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ January 16: Alma x The Residency Community Lunch. Pacific Heights. 1 - 2 pm.
🗓️ January 16: Founders & Funders Soccer 3v3 Tournament - Rho x GLO. Civic Center. 5 - 8 pm.
🗓️ January 16: Bad Ideas Pitch Competition. Mid-Market. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ January 16: AI Executive Dinner. Los Altos. 7 - 9:30 pm.
🗓️ January 16: JPM HealthTech Week Grand Finalé Celebration – Featuring HealthTech Wearables Fashion Show. Civic Center. 5 - 11:30 pm.
Reply to this email to submit an event for consideration in the next edition
Top 5 SF Startup & VC Firm Jobs
AI Engineering Lead @ Aden
Senior Product Designer @ Accord
Associate or Senior Associate @ Bessemer Venture Partners
Head of Technical Special Projects @ Overview
Founding Designer @ Syntra
👋 Hiring? Reply to this email to feature your job in this newsletter.
Other Opportunities
Know a founder or investor in SF who is raising capital or searching for a co-founder? Reply to this email with more details that I could share in this newsletter.
Unusual, a company developing a platform that helps businesses improve both their AI visibility as well as their AI brand alignment, raised $3.6M in funding. Backers included BoxGroup, Long Journey Ventures, Y Combinator, Max Mullen (co-founder of Instacart), and Phosphor Capital.
Apella, a health technology company, raised $80M in Series B equity and venture debt in a round led by HighlandX.
Canopy, a provider of a connected safety platform for U.S. health systems, raised $22M in Series B funding in a round that was co-led by 111° West Capital and ACME Capital.
Corgi, a startup insurance services provider, raised $108M in funding. Backers included Y Combinator, Kindred Ventures, Contrary and more.
IMVARIA, a health tech company, raised an undisclosed amount in funding in a round led by InHealth Ventures.
Soley Therapeutics, a drug discovery and development company, raised $200M in Series C funding in a round led by Surveyor Capital.
Autonomous Technologies Group (ATG), an research lab focused on solving complex financial problems, launched with $15M in pre-seed funding. Backers included Y Combinator, Collaborative Group and more.
LMArena, a provider of a community-driven platform for AI benchmarking, raised $150M in Series A funding in a round led by Felicis and UC Investments.
Array Labs, a developer of space-based radar systems, raised $20M in Series A financing in a round led by Catapult Ventures.
Featured Location
The Progress. A stylish restaurant serving inventive, seasonal New American dishes meant for sharing, set in a warm, modern space.
Fun Events
See you next week,
Justin
P.S. Want to connect? Book a Call.