With well over a thousand events across the week, these are the ones that still stand out: go-karting with founders, a drag queen roasting startup pitches, a party where they take your phone away, an intimate dinner about AI memory, and a black-tie gala for the agent economy.
If you’re still filling out the rest of your SF Tech Week calendar, here are six worth trying to get into.
Founders Race Night
Thursday, October 8 · 5:30-10:00 PM
Corgi, Entrepreneurs First and Base44 are taking founders to K1 Speed for an evening of go-karting, food, drinks and startup conversation. Attendees race in teams with unlimited rides, making it one of the rare Tech Week events where the activity itself does the networking for you.
How to get in: The event is geared toward bootstrapped founders and Seed-to-Series A founders.
The Midweek Restock
Thursday, October 8 · 6:00-7:30 PM
A midweek reset for event and field marketers running from one Tech Week event to the next. Drop in for light bites, drinks and conversation with other marketers, plus a “Restock Table” stocked with the things event teams inevitably run out of: chargers, Sharpies, gaffer tape, snacks and more. With just 25 spots, it’s designed to feel more like a breather between events than another big Tech Week mixer.
How to get in: Space is limited to 25 event and field marketers, with attendance confirmed by email.
Pitches & Punchlines
Thursday, October 8 · 6:30-9:00 PM
Six founders get three minutes each to pitch before SF drag performer Elsa Touche roasts them live, followed by questions from investors. It takes one of Tech Week’s most familiar formats and gives it an actual entertainment hook, without losing the serious startup component.
How to get in: First-come first serve.
No Phones Party
Thursday, October 8 · 8:00-11:00 PM
The premise is exactly what it sounds like: your phone goes into a pouch when you walk in. CatGPT and Apollo are bringing the party to SF with a '90s dot-com theme, officewear dress code and even physical landlines inside. Taking phones out of the equation is a simple idea, but it completely changes the dynamic of a room full of people who are supposedly there to meet each other.
How to get in: Attendance is approval-only and geared toward founders, builders and creatives. Even approved guests are admitted first-come, first-served, so arrive early.
The Memory Table: What Should AI Remember?
Friday, October 9 · 6:00-9:00 PM
The Memory Table brings a small group of founders, investors, AI builders and thinkers together over dinner to explore memory, privacy and the question at the center of it all: what should AI remember, and who gets to decide? With just twelve people around one table, no panel and no recording by default, it’s a deliberately intimate counterpoint to the scale and noise of Tech Week.
How to get in: The dinner is approval-based. Include a little context about why the topic is relevant to you.
Agent Economy Gala
Friday, October 9 · 7:00-10:00 PM
A Gatsby-inspired, black-tie night bringing together founders, operators and investors across the AI agent ecosystem. With cocktails, live jazz and the Redwood Room at The Clift as the setting, it’s a pretty dramatic departure from another demo day or networking mixer, and probably the closest SF Tech Week gets to a proper gala.
How to get in: The event is invite-only. Make it clear how you fit into the AI agent ecosystem. Invitations may also come directly through one of the event’s co-hosts.
