Startup Grind NYC

The AI Briefing by Startup Grind

Fri, Apr 10 · 10:00 AM EDT

Civic Hall, 124 East 14th Street, New York, NY, US

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The AI Briefing is a recurring AI deep-dive for decision-makers.

Each month, we select one high-signal industry report, circulate it in advance, and meet to cut through the noise.

📜 This Month’s Source: AI Adoption in Financial Services (Caspian One - Feb, 2026)

Across banking, wealth, and capital markets, AI has quietly shifted from isolated pilots to infrastructure. The majority of institutions now report AI embedded in core workflows, yet only a minority are converting that into defensible advantage.

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Current AI investment levels echo pre‑crisis technology surges: big spend, uneven discipline, and widening performance dispersion.

As we move into a cycle defined by margin pressure, regulatory tightening, and escalating model‑risk scrutiny, the firms that outperform will be those that treat AI as an operating system, not a lab experiment.

🏔️ The Mission: Reinforcing your footing before the spread widens. This session moves past generic “AI in finance” narratives to analyze where returns on AI spend are actually emerging—by function, talent model, and architecture—in a high‑rate, high‑volatility market.

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Deconstructing the Twilight Zone: How 1960s Sci-Fi Predicted our AI Future

Mon, Apr 13 · 7:00 PM EDT

The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY, US

Long before we were debating the ethics of Agentic AI or the security of edge systems, The Twilight Zone was exploring these same dilemmas on a black and white screen.

Between 1959 and 1964, the popular show served as a speculative sandbox for the postwar technological boom. It provided a roadmap for both the shining promises and the darker corners of innovation that we are currently navigating in 2026.

It provided early evidence of how humans would eventually interact with complex, connected ecosystems.

Join author and designer Arlen Schumer — the creator of Visions from The Twilight Zone and the new book The Five Themes of The Twilight Zone — as he examines more than a dozen classic episodes that brilliantly anticipated the technological struggles of our own century.

Complete your FREE RSVP here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1979900491668

In collaboration with the National Arts Club and its Art and Technology Committee, this is a specialized opportunity to hear directly from an expert whose work sits at the intersection of historical media, hardware deconstruction, and the architectural foundations of our modern tech stack; helping technologists understand how to present and build systems with code, data, and machine logic.

What You Will Learn

• Autonomous Logic: How the series predicted the sensor-heavy ecosystems required for machine decision-making and smart city infrastructure.
• Deconstructed Hardware: Identifying the shift from single-purpose devices to the personal digital ecosystems of wearables and haptics we use today.
• Intelligence as Disruption: Connecting early speculative tech to the current rise of Agentic AI models and industrial automation.

Reserve your spot and arrive early. Space is limited.

Complete your FREE RSVP here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1979900491668
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​This event was rescheduled due to the Great Blizzard (Winter Storm Hernando). We look forward to hosting you on April 13th.

The Startup Pitch: Demo Showcase

Thu, Apr 16 · 5:30 PM EDT

The Yard: Herald Square, 106 West 32nd Street, New York, NY, US

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​It's time to go beyond the deck and see the best live tech from New York's emerging startups.

​Welcome to a pitch event with a twist. We skip the fluff and focus on what matters: a live look at real products.

​This pitch & demo showcase gives you a first look at new technology from startups that are actively building and shipping product — sometimes even before VCs have seen them!

​The format is fast-paced and interactive. After each demo, the floor is open for questions, ideas, and honest feedback from the community.
​
We welcome investors who want an unfiltered look at new technology and early-stage teams.

👉 CLICK HERE TO RSVP 👈

• ​📅 Date: Thursday, April 16th
• ​🕓 Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
• ​📍 Venue: The Yard: Herald Square
• ​🎫 Tickets: Only $5 (includes happy hour refreshments)
• ​📑 Founders: **Sign up here to pitch **at an upcoming event

​
WHO SHOULD ATTEND

• ​Startups ready to demo a real product and get honest feedback
• ​Engineers, PMs, and designers who love seeing new tech in action
• ​Investors looking for a ground-floor, early look at local startups
• ​Anyone in the NYC tech scene who wants to connect with and support the people building things

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AGENDA

• ​5:30 PM: Doors Open & Networking
• ​6:00 PM: Startup Pitches & Demos with Audience Q&A
• ​7:00 PM: Meet the Presenting Startups

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PITCH FORMAT

• ​Pitch & Demo - 6 minutes
• ​Audience Q&A - 4 minutes
• ​Pitch deck AND product demo are required

👉 CLICK HERE TO RSVP 👈

Raising Your Seed Round: How Investors Actually Decide If You're a Good Bet

Thu, Apr 23 · 6:00 PM EDT

Civic Hall, 124 East 14th Street, New York, NY, US

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Most fundraising advice focuses on surface-level networking and directory awareness.

Charlie O’Donnell thinks this approach is a waste of time.
As the founder of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and a faculty member at NYU, Charlie has spent twenty years at the center of the New York City startup ecosystem.

He was the first analyst at Union Square Ventures and helped launch the First Round Capital office in New York. He has backed more than 100 local companies, including Hungryroot, GroupMe, and Radformation.

On Thursday, April 23rd, Charlie joins Startup Grind at Civic Hall to share insights from his new book, Founder Unfriendly.
This session is a brass-tacks breakdown of the honest mechanics of venture capital that investors usually keep hidden.

Until now.

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WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• The Decision Logic: Understand the specific mechanics of how VCs decide to fund a company or pass.
• Influencing the Room: Strategies to shape the conversations investors have when you aren't there to defend your idea.
• Shifting a No to a Yes: Practical tools to move skeptical investors toward an enthusiastic commitment.
• Beyond Clichés: Skip the recycled wisdom and focus on granular, specific tactics that transform your deck into an asset.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

• Early-Stage Founders: Builders preparing to raise their first institutional checks.
• First-Time Entrepreneurs: Professionals weighing whether to pitch themselves on a new idea.
• Technical Operators: Practitioners who want to align operational math with fundraising success.

Tickets for this event include food and drinks, as well as direct access to the most accessible early-stage investor in New York.

👉 CLICK HERE TO RSVP 👈

RSVP now to pre-order the book and pick it up at the event. If you're lucky, Charlie might even sign your copy. 🖋️

🚨 Selecting the book bundle ticket guarantees you a copy of Founder Unfriendly. This ticket also includes exclusive access to 8 live virtual AMA sessions with successful founders. This is a series of candid conversations about starting up from an extremely experienced group of entrepreneurs.

Getting a ticket guarantees admission. No waitlisting.

You'll also meet dozens of other high-performing entrepreneurs who are creating their next big thing. Seriously, it's some of the best founder networking in the city.

AGENDA

• 6:00 PM: Networking, Food & Drinks
• 7:00 PM: Fireside Chat with Charlie O'Donnell
• 8:00 PM: Meet the Speaker
• 9:00 PM: After Party at Time Out Market

👉 CLICK HERE TO RSVP 👈