👋 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! We passed 1,000 subscribers to this newsletter last week and I’m hosting 3 events which I’m very excited for! We’re just getting started in SF, but have a lot more in the works. Before we dive in, I’d love your input:
What type of SF events would you most like to attend?
Let’s get to it.
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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.
🗓️ January 24: The SF Grind: SF Startup Community Walk. Marina. 9:30 - 11 am.
👋 This Week in SF 👋
🗓️ January 20: The Alchemy of Virality Ft. Jay Neo. Menlo Park. 5 - 9 pm.
🗓️ January 20: All Things Expo! Financial District. 5:30 - 8 pm.
🗓️ January 20: Vibes Don't Scale: Building Production Systems with AI Evals. South Beach. 5:30 - 8:30 pm.
🗓️ January 20: Why Good Pitches Don’t Get Funded: A Live Workshop on Clarity & Confidence from OpenAI coach. El Embarcadero. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ January 20: Build AI-First Products Workshop. Mid-Market. 5 - 10 pm.
🗓️ January 21: From Prototype to Planet-Scale: Lessons in Shipping AI Systems. Palo Alto. 4:30 - 7 pm.
🗓️ January 21: Mograph Club Bay Area Casual Meetup. San Leandro. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ January 21: South Bay Systems: Innovative Data Systems Research. Mountain View. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ January 22: Apollo SF Meetup: The AI GTM Playbook of 2026. El Embarcadero. 5:30 - 8:30 pm.
🗓️ January 22: SF Devtools Drinkup - Winter Edition. Mission District. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ January 23-26: Agentic Commerce on Arc. Mission District.
🗓️ January 23: AI Engineer SF Meetup: 2026 is the year of ____? Financial District. 5 - 8 pm.
🗓️ January 23: Rho - Community Dinner. Pacific Heights. 6 - 7 pm.
🗓️ January 24: Daytona HackSprint. Financial District. 9 am - 6 pm.
🗓️ January 24: Meebits Cafe in partnership with OpenSea. Palo Alto. 9:30 - 11:30 am.
🗓️ January 24: Positive AI Labs Workshop: Building AI Evaluations for Human Flourishing. Dogpatch. 9:30 am - 5:30 pm.
🗓️ January 28: Unicorner Presents: SF Seed+ Founders Dinner. Union Square. 6 - 8:30 pm.
Reply to this email to submit an event for consideration in the next edition
Top 5 SF Startup & VC Firm Jobs
Senior Software Engineer @ Etleap
GTM: Demand Operations @ Tandem
Member of Technical Staff @ Vapi
Manager, Fund Accounting @ VC Firm
Talent & Events Operations @ Y Combinator
👋 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 with the 1,000+ subscribers of this newsletter.
Pinch AI, a provider of an AI-powered post-purchase intelligence platform, raised a $5M round led by Dynamo Ventures and Infinity Ventures.
Higgsfield, a provider of an AI-native generative video platform provider, raised a $80M Series A extension led by Accel, AI Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures and others.
Meld, a provider of a network for accessing digital assets and stablecoins, raised $7M in funding led by Lightspeed Faction.
Vista AI, a company which specializes in automated MRI scanning software for hospitals and imaging centers, raised a $29.5M Series B led by Cedars-Sinai Health System, Intermountain Health and others.
Ammobia, a developer of low-cost ammonia production technology, raised a $7.5M seed round led by Shell Ventures, Air Liquide and others.
depthfirst, a company developing security solutions for businesses, raised a $40M Series A led by Accel.
Juvena Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, raised a $33.5M Series B led by Bison Ventures.
Inquis Medical, a developer of a thrombectomy system, raised a $75M Series C, in an investment provided by an undisclosed strategic investor.
Orca Bio, a late-stage biotechnology company developing cell therapies, raised $250M in aggregate funding including a Series F led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
AirNexis Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company developing therapeutics for pulmonary diseases, raised a $200M Series A led by Frazier Life Sciences.
Featured Location
Birdsong. A Michelin-starred restaurant offering a seasonal tasting menu focused on West Coast ingredients and live-fire cooking in an intimate, modern setting.
Fun Events
See you next week,
Justin
P.S. Want to connect? Book a Call.