👋 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.
Happy Monday! Big thanks to everyone who came to The SF Grind events last week! Shoutout to our event sponsors and partners from last week:
Sprinto - An autonomous trust platform.
Chargebee - A subscription billing and revenue management platform.
Highland Academy - A school for founders and high-level operators.
Corgi - A full-stack insurance platform built for technology companies.
Ambition: My first summit, Ambition, is on September 24th, 2026 in Santa Monica! We’ll have 150 people, a curated room, and one main day with a VIP dinner the night before. I’m really happy about the response so far, have locked down a venue and a couple of great speakers already, and I’m excited to make it into something special, hopefully hosting it annually. Apply to join.
a16z Speedrun reminder: Applications are open for the next cohort (SR007), with an investment up to $1M in your startup and $5M+ in perks. Deadline to apply is the end of day May 17, 2026. Apply now.
Let’s get to it.
Safeguard Your Startup’s IP Now
Have you double-checked that your patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and license agreements are truly secure? A quick mistake can cost millions later.
HPL Law’s IP Check-Up makes sure:
Ownership is in your current company’s name
Every assignment is signed and recorded with the right agency
Renewal and maintenance fees are paid on time and calendared for the future
You have one clean dashboard that shows what you own, the correct numbers, where the evidence lives, and who is on the hook for updates
Skip the guesswork. Know exactly where your creative assets stand before your next fundraise, product launch, or M&A convo.
Need a pro to walk you through it?
Email Anooj Patel at [email protected] today and protect what you have in mind.
Reply to this email if you want to sponsor this newsletter.
🌁 Upcoming Events We’re Hosting 🌁
🗓️ May 21: Curated Seed+ Founders Dinner. SF. 6:30 - 9 pm.
🗓️ May 22: Curated Seed+ Founders Breakfast. SF. 9 - 11 am.
👋 This Week in SF 👋
🗓️ May 4: Human Agency in the Intelligence Age with Jason Crawford. South Beach. 4:30 - 6:30 pm.
🗓️ May 4: San Francisco Small Business Week 2026 Opening Ceremony. Civic Center. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ May 4: ClawCamp Campfire. Mid-Market. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ May 4: Founders Game Night: Corgi x Rho. Union Square. 6:30 - 8:30 pm.
🗓️ May 4: Make Your Own Financial Agent for Investors. Mid-Market. 6:30 - 9:30 pm.
🗓️ May 4: Pebblebed's Builders Late Night Café. Mission District. 7:30 pm - 12 am.
🗓️ May 5: Transformers vs. Post-Transformers: The Deciding Round, with Lukasz Kaiser. South Beach. 5 - 8 pm.
🗓️ May 5: SF DWeb Meetup: Everything You Want to Know about DWeb Camp. Mid-Market. 5 - 9 pm.
🗓️ May 5: Daytona AI Builders w/ WorkOS & Coder. SoMa. 5:30 - 8 pm.
🗓️ May 6: Door 3: April Founder Elevator Pitch. Financial District. 5 - 8 pm.
🗓️ May 6: YC Poker Tournament | Batch vs Batch. Civic Center. 6 - 11 pm.
🗓️ May 6: Making a break into Venture Capital: Live Networking. San Carlos. 6 - 7 pm.
🗓️ May 6: Open Tab № 01. Union Square. 6:30 - 9 pm.
🗓️ May 6: Diversify: Founder Photography Experience. SoMa. 7 - 11 pm.
🗓️ May 6: Open Model Benchmarks. South Beach. 7 - 9 pm.
🗓️ May 6: Tipsy Co-Working. North Beach. 7 - 10 pm.
🗓️ May 7: DevGuild: Write-Only Code Summit. Lower Nob Hill. 9:30 am - 6 pm.
🗓️ May 8: Agentic AI Summit: Advancing Responsible AI. Palo Alto. 12 - 5:30 pm.
🗓️ May 7: Agentic + AI Coding Night SF. South Beach. 3:30 - 9 pm.
🗓️ May 8: AI Executive Dinner. Los Altos. 7 - 9:30 pm.
🗓️ May 9-10: Physical AI Hack World Tour. Marina District.
🗓️ May 9: Open Source Computer Use Hackathon. Civic Center. 10 am - 4:30 pm.
🗓️ May 9: SF Founders Badminton. South SF. 10 am - 12 pm.
🗓️ May 10: Running with Researchers. Marina District. 2 - 4 pm.
👀 Events Coming Soon 👀
🗓️ May 12: Women + AI: An SF Dinner Party Series, No. 3. Civic Center. 6:30 - 8:30 pm.
🗓️ May 13: Fin x Metronome: Pricing Strategies for AI Agents. SoMa. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ May 13: AI Healthtech Night. Mission Bay. 6 - 8:30 pm.
🗓️ May 15: Voker Fest: A Social Soirée. Oakland. 6 - 10 pm.
Reply to this email to submit an event for consideration in the next edition
Top 5 SF Startup Jobs
Senior Software Engineer - Cloud @ iSono Health
Recruiter (US & Canada) @ Infisical
Brand Designer @ Gumloop
Senior Product Designer @ Accord
Founding Account Executive or SDR @ Domu Technology Inc.
👋 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 3,000+ subscribers of this newsletter.
Nura Studios, a provider of an animation platform for storytellers to develop and share high-fidelity episodic content, raised an undisclosed amount Seed round backed by iGlobe Partners, Fellows Fund and Shanda Ventures.
Netomi, a customer service startup, raised a $110M round led by Accenture Ventures.
Creati Gen AI, a creator of an AI video-editing product creator called Buzzy, raised a $20M round led by Redpoint Ventures.
Fermeate, an industrial biotechnology company developing optogenetic control for industrial-scale precision fermentation, raised a $2M Seed round led by Newfund Capital.
Blomma, a provider of an AI career coaching platform, raised a $5M Seed round led by Felicis Ventures.
General Analysis, a company building security infrastructure for agentic AI, raised a $10M Seed round led by Altos Ventures.
Hightouch, a company which specializes in data and AI for marketing, raised a $150M Series D led by Growth Equity and Bain Capital Ventures.
OpenObserve, a provider of an open-source observability platform, raised a $10M Series A led by Nexus Venture Partners and Dell Technologies Capital.
Parallel Web Systems, a provider of an infrastructure helping AI agents access and use the open web, raised a $100M Series B led by Sequoia Capital.
Scout AI, a defense tech company which specializes in unmanned warfare solutions, raised a $100M Series A co-led by Align Ventures and Draper Associates.
TriFetch, a provider of an AI automation platform built for independent clinics and multi-specialty groups, raised a $1.9M round led by Nexus Venture Partners.
ComfyUI, a provider of a workflow platform for generative AI, raised a $30M round led by Craft.
Featured Location
Tiya. A modern Indian restaurant with creative, California-inspired dishes. It’s known for inventive, spice-driven cocktails. The vibe is upscale, stylish, and great for date nights.
Fun Events
See you next week,
Justin