⟶ The journal

Notes from the scene.

Playbooks, city guides and field notes for founders, investors and operators. Written by the team that runs the rooms.

How to actually work a pitch night
★ FeaturedPlaybooks

How to actually work a pitch night

A founder's field guide to getting more out of the room than a free drink — before, during and after the event.

Startup Valley · May 21, 2026
7 min read →
SF & Silicon Valley event spaces for startup events, pitch nights & investor presentations
City Guides

SF & Silicon Valley event spaces for startup events, pitch nights & investor presentations

Fourteen Bay Area venues with map links: the spaces we've produced nights at (AngelList, Tesla Van Ness, AI Start Academy), Frontier Tower, AWS Builder Loft, SHACK15, The Battery and more, plus the checklist that decides the night.

Aug 10, 20269 min
Where to find venture networking events (the full map)
Playbooks

Where to find venture networking events (the full map)

Recurring pitch-night series, the discovery platforms, the institutional calendar, and the invite-only layer — where investor-attended events actually live, and how each opens.

Aug 9, 20267 min
NYC startup events & conferences: the H2 2026 shortlist
City Guides

NYC startup events & conferences: the H2 2026 shortlist

FinovateFall, Advertising Week, the AI Summit — plus the recurring events underneath them. The fall calendar we'd actually plan around, our own biweekly nights included.

Aug 7, 20267 min
Silicon Alley in 2026: a field guide to NYC startups
City Guides

Silicon Alley in 2026: a field guide to NYC startups

What the old name means now, where the density actually moved, and how founders and angels plug into the second-largest startup scene on earth.

Aug 6, 20268 min
Toronto's startup scene: notes from 82 nights
City Guides

Toronto's startup scene: notes from 82 nights

Our longest-running city, and some of our best-attended events of 2026. How Canada's biggest startup scene works — and the honest playbook for plugging in.

Aug 4, 20269 min
NYC startup events: which ones are worth your evening
Playbooks

NYC startup events: which ones are worth your evening

Demo days, mixers, hackathons, pitch nights — a working filter for the busiest startup calendar in the world, from people who run events for a living.

Jul 30, 20267 min
San Francisco in 2026: the scene from 75 nights
City Guides

San Francisco in 2026: the scene from 75 nights

Through the doom loop discourse and the AI supercycle: what SF actually looks like from the floor of 75 events — and how to use the densest scene on earth.

Jul 27, 20269 min
A founder's guide to Palo Alto's startup scene
City Guides

A founder's guide to Palo Alto's startup scene

The most storied startup town on earth is also the easiest to misread. Who's actually there, how the town works, and where newcomers plug in.

Jul 23, 20269 min
Dubai's startup scene: a field guide from 44 nights
City Guides

Dubai's startup scene: a field guide from 44 nights

The fastest ramp of any city we run in, and the most globally mixed crowd we host. Who's there, how the capital works, and how newcomers plug in.

Jul 16, 20268 min
What investors look for in a five-minute pitch
Fundraising

What investors look for in a five-minute pitch

We asked 30 investors who attend our nights what makes them lean in — and what makes them check their phone.

May 14, 20266 min
The best cities to raise a pre-seed in 2026
City Guides

The best cities to raise a pre-seed in 2026

Where early capital is actually moving this year, ranked by deal velocity and the density of angels who show up.

May 7, 20269 min
We ran 850 events. Here's what makes a room click.
Behind the Scenes

We ran 850 events. Here's what makes a room click.

Eight hundred fifty nights of data on guest ratios, room size, and why the cheese plate matters more than the agenda.

Apr 29, 20268 min
Operator to angel: how to start writing checks
Investing

Operator to angel: how to start writing checks

A practical on-ramp for operators who want to angel invest — sourcing, sizing, and not embarrassing yourself.

Apr 22, 202610 min
A founder's guide to Amsterdam's startup scene
City Guides

A founder's guide to Amsterdam's startup scene

The funds, the spaces, the WhatsApp groups and the one canal-side cafe where half the seed deals get talked through.

Apr 15, 202611 min
The cold intro that actually gets a reply
Fundraising

The cold intro that actually gets a reply

Anatomy of the investor email that gets answered — and the seven that get archived in under two seconds.

Apr 8, 20265 min
Getting your first 100 users from events
Playbooks

Getting your first 100 users from events

How three founders in our directory turned a single pitch night into a launch list — without being annoying.

Apr 1, 20267 min
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