Startup Office Hours

Join Foothill Ventures for a limited opportunity to connect one-on-one with the investing team during CMU Startup Week. These office hours are a chance for founders to share what they are building, get feedback, ask questions, and learn more about Foothill Ventures' perspective on early-stage startups and venture investing. Who you'll be meeting with: General Partner Max von Poelnitz: Max is a serial founder-turned investor; he has built and scaled health tech, payments, and food e-commerce businesses across the U.S. and Asia with a successful exit. He has spent a decade each in Europe and Asia and the past seven years in Silicon Valley. Most recently, he built a corporate venture fund for a single LP, establishing it as an active investor in photonics, energy, climate technology, and advanced materials. Previously, he managed investments for a family office and the minority holdings of a Dutch conglomerate, giving him experience across both founder and institutional investor perspectives. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, serves on the board of a child-development charity, and, after once aspiring to play golf professionally, still holds his own on the course. Software Investor Theresa Dai: Theresa is an investor at Foothill Ventures, where she invests in Seed and Series A companies in AI software infrastructure and applications. Before entering venture capital, Theresa started her career in consulting and worked as a product manager, building several SaaS products from 0 to 1. Her expertise spans B2B SaaS, agentic AI, healthcare technology, and both vertical and horizontal AI startups. Theresa holds a Mathematics degree from Northwestern University and an MBA from MIT. Both Max and Theresa flew in from San Francisco to meet with the CMU startup community. Availability is limited. Once your registration is approved, Foothill Ventures team will share a sign-up sheet for 20-minute meeting slots during the event window. We encourage interested founders to register early an

Find New Ideas for Your Hardest R&D Challenges in Unexpected Places Some of history’s biggest breakthroughs came from unexpected places: the Japanese bullet train borrowed from a kingfisher’s beak, the Wright brothers drew on bicycles, and NASA engineers used origami principles to solve spacecraft packaging problems. But these analogical breakthroughs still happen largely by chance. They depend on whether a team happens to encounter — and recognize — the right idea from another domain. When teams get stuck, they tend to search where they already know, while today’s AI often gives them more of the same. What if we could turn that serendipity into a repeatable, systematic process? Analogical Engines is building an AI platform to do exactly that: search distant domains for relevant mechanisms, map those mechanisms into new concepts, and help teams refine and test those concepts against real-world constraints. In a recent pilot on decade-old industrial R&D challenges, experts at a global material sciences company using Analogical Engines surfaced 30+ promising ideas that were rated 54% more novel, with no drop in feasibility, compared with just one promising idea using standard AI tools. In this interactive session, our team — researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute — will walk through the SMaRT framework for analogical innovation and show how we are turning more than a decade of research into a practical tool for solving hard R&D problems. You can learn more in our white paper: https://www.analogicalengines.com/research This won’t just be a talk. Bring a problem of your own. If you share an R&D challenge when you register, we can run it through Analogical Engines ahead of the session and create an account for you. During the event, you’ll be able to explore the unexpected inspirations and concepts the system finds for your problem and work through them with our team. Don’t have a problem to submit? Come anyway. Follow along w

Watch top regional VCs pitch their funds to a room of founders. Vote on the best fund thesis and win 1-on-1 VC office hours on stage! About This Event: Founders pitch VCs all year long. On September 16th, we’re flipping the dynamic. Join us at Daos Hub for Reverse VC Pitch Night, where active regional Venture Capitalists take the stage to pitch their funds, investment thesis, ticket sizes, and real value-add to a room of Web3, AI, and emerging tech founders. Instead of passive listening, you hold the floor: evaluate investor value propositions, vote on the top fund, and challenge VCs on their actual check-writing timelines. What to Expect: Reverse VC Pitches: 5-minute pitches from active VCs detailing what they look for, check sizes, and post-investment support. Founders' Choice Voting: Live interactive polling where attendees vote for the VC with the clearest thesis and most founder-friendly platform. The Crowd Interrogation (Q&A): Direct, unfiltered audience Q&A to ask VCs hard questions about deal flow, timelines, and terms. Lightning 1-on-1 Office Hours: Drop your deck or business card at check-in for a chance to win a live 5-minute speed session with the VC of your choice right on stage. Event Agenda: 6:30 PM – 7:00 PM | Doors Open, Card Drop & Networking1-on-1 Raffle Drop: Drop your pitch deck link or business card at registration to enter the end-of-night VC 1-on-1 raffle. 7:00 PM – 7:10 PM | Host Opening & Event Framing 7:10 PM – 7:40 PM | The Reverse VC PitchesVCs take the stage to pitch their funds back-to-back. 7:40 PM – 8:00 PM | Live "Crowd Interrogation" & Founders' Choice VoteAudience-driven Q&A pressing VCs on check timelines, value-add, and sector focus. Live voting for the Founders' Choice VC Award. 8:00 PM – 8:15 PM | Live VC 1-on-1 Raffle & Stage Meetings3-5 raffle winners drawn live for immediate 5-minute 1-on-1 sessions with the investor panel. 8:15 PM Onward | Drinks & Open VC Networking Who Should Attend: Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A/B Founde

Emergence is the word everyone reaches for when a system starts doing things nobody programmed. In AI, it's a talking point. In Dr. Aaron Engelhart's lab, it's a benchtop problem. Dr. Aaron Engelhart's lab at the University of Minnesota and the related SpudCell project both probe how life might emerge, from opposite directions: building it up versus rewiring its molecular parts. SpudCell, the first synthetic cell with a complete cell cycle, shows that a full cell cycle, growth, replication, and even evolution can emerge from purified components alone, using fewer genes than previously thought minimal for life. Dr. Engelhart's lab complements this by engineering RNA and DNA to do more than store information. His group uses experimental and ML/AI tools to evolve and engineer cofactor-binding nucleic acids that catalyze reactions and fluorescent RNAs for imaging and pathogen detection. Together, this work clarifies the molecular conditions from which life-like behavior can emerge, models how early biochemistry may have started, and builds tools for future biosensing and biomanufacturing where emergent properties of engineered nucleic acids can be put to practical use. Come early for open office hours with law firm, Cooley LLP, details below. Date/Time: September 17, 2026 / 5:00 - 7:30 PM📍Location: BGA HQ Agenda 5:00 - 6:10 pm Office hours w/ Chris Holly (Patent partner, Cooley LLP) + networking. 6:10 - 6:15 pm Welcome from BGA + Cooley; intro to Dr. Engelhart 6:15 – 6:45 pm Talk: Emergence (Dr. Aaron Engelhart) 6:45 – 7:00 pm Fireside chat + audience Q&A (moderated by Scott Nisbet) 7:00 – 7:30 pm NetworkingFood + drinks provided Cooley Office Hours (5:00 – 6:10 pm) Cooley attorneys will be available for short, one-on-one sessions to help emerging companies work through practical questions involving IP strategy, company formation, financing, and diligence preparation. Bring us the issues you’re thinking through now, or the ones you want to get ahead of before your next

Join us for a casual happy hour at Westside Motor Lounge, a chance to connect with others across the Atlanta tech community in a relaxed, social setting. This one is all about meeting new people, catching up with familiar faces, and having real conversations. It’s an easy way to expand your network and get plugged into the community. If you’ve been to past events, come hang and reconnect. If you’re new, this is a great entry point — just show up, say hi, and join a conversation. 📍 Westside Motor Lounge 🕒 6 PM - 8:30 PM Food and drinks will be available for purchase (everyone covers their own tab). If you’ve been wanting to meet more people in the community or just get out and connect, we’d love to see you there. Everyone participating in the REFACTR.TECH conference, events and Discord/Slack community—including, but not limited to attendees, speakers, sponsors and volunteers at REFACTR.TECH, are required to agree to the following code of conduct. Organizers will enforce this code throughout the event.

Join OpenAI for a morning of hands-on building, live demos, and discussion in Munich co-hosted with n8n. See how teams connect models to real-world tools and workflows, get practical with Codex, and continue builder conversations around Bits & Pretzels. What to expect: Hands-on building with founders and engineers. OpenAI technical office hours and product feedback. Food, peer connections, and optional attendee demos. Agenda 8:30 - 9:00 - Welcome and arrivals 9:00 - 9:15 - Tech lightning talk 9:15 - 9:45 - Fireside with Jan Oberhauser (Founder & CEO) 9:45 - 11:30 - Building, food and drinks Bring your laptop and an idea you want to build.

Office Hours are unstructured discussions between Golden Seeds members and entrepreneurs. This opportunity is particularly relevant for companies that are likely to seek funding in the next 12 to 24 months.

Startup Founders: Bring your startup questions and challenges to the Startup Council’s FREE founder support “Office Hours”. Get FREE expert Silicon Valley advice to help you start and grow your venture. Want to find angel investors? Practice your investor pitch? Have questions about raising venture capital? How to find product/market fit? Pitch decks? Building your team? Protecting your intellectual property? Starting a company as a first-time, female, or minority founder? We're here to help! A free, fun, friendly livestream for startup founders and friends worldwide, our mission is to increase access to innovation and investment for all. Join Startup Council CEO, Scott Fox, for valuable startup strategy advice, fundraising expertise, and networking. NOW NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Just join us at call time here: https://www.startupcouncil.org/startup-office-hours WHEN: The 4th Tuesday of every month at 900pm US Pacific Time (aka 12 midnight US ET). That's WEDNESDAY at 5:00am UTC / 9:00am GST / 10:30am IST / 3:00pm AEST for our friends in Asia, Australia, MENA, and India. AT SHOW TIME YOU CAN WATCH & CHAT LIVE AT ANY OF THESE CHANNELS: https://www.startupcouncil.org/startup-office-hours https://www.youtube.com/scottfox (with Live Chat!) HAVE A STARTUP QUESTION to ask Scott ON CAMERA? Or want to practice your INVESTOR PITCH? You'll get helpful, free expert feedback LIVE if you RSVP in advance! Submit your Startup Question or Pitch summary here BEFORE the show to get the ON CAMERA participation link: https://startupcouncil.org/sohsrsvp Priority Access for StartupCouncil.org Members Priority for on camera questions and pitch practice is given to startup Member companies listed on StartupCouncil.org. Learn More and join now at https://StartupCouncil.org/join Your Host & Moderator: Scott Fox, CEO of the Startup Council, Chairman of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs SoCal (Orange County), ecosystem builder & speaker, investor in 30+ startup companies, serial star

Startup Founders: Bring your startup questions and challenges to the Startup Council’s FREE founder support “Office Hours”. Get FREE expert Silicon Valley advice to help you start and grow your venture. Want to find angel investors? Practice your investor pitch? Have questions about raising venture capital? How to find product/market fit? Pitch decks? Building your team? Protecting your intellectual property? Starting a company as a first-time, female, or minority founder? We're here to help! A free, fun, friendly livestream for startup founders and friends worldwide, our mission is to increase access to innovation and investment for all. Join Startup Council CEO, Scott Fox, for valuable startup strategy advice, fundraising expertise, and networking. NOW NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Just join us at call time here: https://www.startupcouncil.org/startup-office-hours WHEN: The 4th Tuesday of every month at 900pm US Pacific Time (aka 12 midnight US ET). That's WEDNESDAY at 5:00am UTC / 9:00am GST / 10:30am IST / 3:00pm AEST for our friends in Asia, Australia, MENA, and India. AT SHOW TIME YOU CAN WATCH & CHAT LIVE AT ANY OF THESE CHANNELS: https://www.startupcouncil.org/startup-office-hours https://www.youtube.com/scottfox (with Live Chat!) HAVE A STARTUP QUESTION to ask Scott ON CAMERA? Or want to practice your INVESTOR PITCH? You'll get helpful, free expert feedback LIVE if you RSVP in advance! Submit your Startup Question or Pitch summary here BEFORE the show to get the ON CAMERA participation link: https://startupcouncil.org/sohsrsvp Priority Access for StartupCouncil.org Members Priority for on camera questions and pitch practice is given to startup Member companies listed on StartupCouncil.org. Learn More and join now at https://StartupCouncil.org/join Your Host & Moderator: Scott Fox, CEO of the Startup Council, Chairman of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs SoCal (Orange County), ecosystem builder & speaker, investor in 30+ startup companies, serial star

Office Hours are unstructured discussions between Golden Seeds members and entrepreneurs. This opportunity is particularly relevant for companies that are likely to seek funding in the next 12 to 24 months.

Office Hours are unstructured discussions between Golden Seeds members and entrepreneurs. This opportunity is particularly relevant for companies that are likely to seek funding in the next 12 to 24 months.

Office Hours are unstructured discussions between Golden Seeds members and entrepreneurs. This opportunity is particularly relevant for companies that are likely to seek funding in the next 12 to 24 months.

Office Hours are unstructured discussions between Golden Seeds members and entrepreneurs. This opportunity is particularly relevant for companies that are likely to seek funding in the next 12 to 24 months.

Office Hours are unstructured discussions between Golden Seeds members and entrepreneurs. This opportunity is particularly relevant for companies that are likely to seek funding in the next 12 to 24 months. If you are considering applying for funding, we urge you to review our investment criteria.

Startup Founders: Bring your startup questions and challenges to the Startup Council’s FREE founder support “Office Hours”. Get FREE expert Silicon Valley advice to help you start and grow your venture. Want to find angel investors? Practice your investor pitch? Have questions about raising venture capital? How to find product/market fit? Pitch decks? Building your team? Protecting your intellectual property? Starting a company as a first-time, female, or minority founder? We're here to help! A free, fun, friendly livestream for startup founders and friends worldwide, our mission is to increase access to innovation and investment for all. Join Startup Council CEO, Scott Fox, for valuable startup strategy advice, fundraising expertise, and networking. NOW NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Just join us at call time here: https://www.startupcouncil.org/startup-office-hours WHEN: The 4th Tuesday of every month at 900pm US Pacific Time (aka 12 midnight US ET). That's WEDNESDAY at 5:00am UTC / 9:00am GST / 10:30am IST / 3:00pm AEST for our friends in Asia, Australia, MENA, and India. AT SHOW TIME YOU CAN WATCH & CHAT LIVE AT ANY OF THESE CHANNELS: https://www.startupcouncil.org/startup-office-hours https://www.youtube.com/scottfox (with Live Chat!) HAVE A STARTUP QUESTION to ask Scott ON CAMERA? Or want to practice your INVESTOR PITCH? You'll get helpful, free expert feedback LIVE if you RSVP in advance! Submit your Startup Question or Pitch summary here BEFORE the show to get the ON CAMERA participation link: https://startupcouncil.org/sohsrsvp Priority Access for StartupCouncil.org Members Priority for on camera questions and pitch practice is given to startup Member companies listed on StartupCouncil.org. Learn More and join now at https://StartupCouncil.org/join Your Host & Moderator: Scott Fox, CEO of the Startup Council, Chairman of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs SoCal (Orange County), ecosystem builder & speaker, investor in 30+ startup companies, serial star