About us
Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting entrepreneurs globally.
The cornerstone of our global community are monthly events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share lessons learned on the road to building great companies.
Founded in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind has helped millions of entrepreneurs build their businesses, connect with strategic partners, and secure funding.
- Start a Chapter in your city! - http://www.startupgrind.com/start
- Sponsor an event! - https://www.startupgrind.com/sponsor
- Have a Startup? your startup & meet investors at a regional conference through our Startup Program - http://bit.ly/sg_meetup_startup_first
Upcoming events
8
The AI Briefing by Startup Grind - Retail
Civic Hall, 124 East 14th Street, New York, NY, USThe 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: From Warehouse to Wallet – State of AI in Retail & CPG 2026 (NVIDIA – Jan 2026)
Across retail and CPG, AI has moved from isolated experiments to a core part of how leading brands plan demand, run stores, and design customer journeys.
Most retailers in the survey are already using or evaluating AI and plan to increase spend again in 2026, yet only a subset are translating that investment into clear margin lift and distinctive customer experiences.
As value‑seeking consumers, channel fragmentation, and labor constraints intensify, the gap is widening between AI‑native operators and incumbents still treating AI as a set of pilots rather than a new operating system for retail.
🏔️ The Mission: Turning AI retail budgets into real operating leverage
- This session goes beyond generic “AI in retail” hype to examine how AI is actually reshaping merchandising, supply chain, stores, and CX—and why so many initiatives still stall at the proof‑of‑concept stage.
- We will dig into where returns are emerging in practice (forecasting, inventory optimization, pricing, service, and content), what Agentic AI looks like in a retail context, and how teams are re‑architecting data and workflows to support it.
📊 The Format:
- 10-Minute Executive Download: A fast walkthrough of the NVIDIA 2026 findings: adoption and investment trends across retail and CPG, early results from AI in forecasting, supply chain, and CX, and how leaders are thinking about agentic AI in the next 12–24 months.
- Operational Reality Check – The Store/Ops Threat: How lean, AI‑native teams are using models and agents to compress planning cycles and automate decisions “from warehouse to wallet,” while many traditional retailers still ship changes in quarters, not weeks.
- Cross-Pollinated Debate: Builders share where AI already takes hours of merch, planning, or service work down to minutes; executives and operators unpack why, even with those gains, org design, risk, and legacy architecture still block them from rebasing pricing, headcount, and store formats.
🤝 Who Should Attend:
- Retail & CPG Executives: Clarify why AI initiatives show promising pilots but limited P&L impact—and hear how peers are restructuring roadmaps, KPIs, and vendor strategies to change that.
- Founders & Builders: Identify the most urgent problem spaces—demand planning, inventory, store ops, personalization, content, and customer service—where budget owners are actively looking for AI‑native partners and where agentic workflows are starting to land.
- Product, Data, and Operations Leads: Compare notes on data foundations, experimentation, and deployment: how others are wiring models into merchandising, supply chain, and service workflows, and where human‑in‑the‑loop design is non‑negotiable.
📬 The Prep: This is a working session, not a lecture. Review the report here. Bring your perspective.
2 attendees
VC x Founder Fundamentals: Pitch Deck & GTM Teardown
The Yard: Herald Square, 106 West 32nd Street, New York, NY, US🚨 CLICK HERE to RSVP 👈
You asked for it, and we’re delivering. We’re bringing Katie Weiss back for a hands-on masterclass that will make you throw away your current pitch deck and build a new one that investors will actually pay attention to.
Most founders think they have a clear value prop until they face a seed-stage VC. In a market that now demands operational efficiency over pure growth at all costs, your pitch deck and Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy need to be airtight.
Join Startup Grind for a Pitch Deck & GTM Teardown with Katie Weiss, Principal at ff Venture Capital. Since 2008, ffVC has been a cornerstone of the NYC venture ecosystem, with a portfolio (including AI, Robotics, and Manufacturing) that advances to Series B at 5x the industry average.
🚨 CLICK HERE to RSVP 👈
Drawing on her background as a program builder at Salesforce and her leadership of ffVC’s AI Point Solutions (AIPS) program, Katie will pull back the curtain on the specific metrics and narrative structures that get checks signed in 2026.
Who Should Attend- The Seed-Stage Founder: You are currently refining your deck for a 2026 raise and want to see how a professional investor audits slides in real-time.
- The Hard Tech Builder: You are navigating the complex GTM cycles of AI, Robotics, or Energy and need a playbook that goes beyond standard SaaS models.
- The Transitioning Operator: You’re a PM or Engineer moving from MVP to a production-grade business and want to understand the defensibility markers VCs look for.
Key Takeaways: What You'll Learn
- 🎯 The Real-Time Audit: Watch as Katie tears down sample deck structures to show what earns a follow-up meeting and what leads to an immediate 'no.'
- 📈 GTM for the New Economy: Get specific on Go-To-Market strategies for AI and automation, moving past the hype to demonstrate actual unit economics and scalability.
- 🤖 Operational Defensibility: Learn how to present your internal use of AI as a competitive advantage that reduces costs and increases your firm's value.
- ⚠️ The Outreach Playbook: Beyond the deck, learn the modern protocol for founder-to-VC outreach, timing, and valuation conversations.
🚨 CLICK HERE to RSVP 👈
Your ticket includes drinks, food, and a seat at the table for one of the most tactical sessions we've hosted this year.
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.
Space is limited. Secure your spot and get ready to refine your pitch deck.
Getting a ticket guarantees admission. No waitlisting.
🚨 CLICK HERE to RSVP 👈
2 attendees
The Startup Pitch: Demo Showcase
The Yard: Herald Square, 106 West 32nd Street, New York, NY, US🚨 CLICK HERE to RSVP 👈
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!
🚨 CLICK HERE to RSVP 👈
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.- 📅 Date: Thursday, May 21st
- 🕓 Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
- 📍 Venue: The Yard: Herald Square
- 🎫 Tickets: Only $5 (includes happy hour refreshments)
- 📑 Founders: Sign up here to apply to pitch at an upcoming event
🚨 CLICK HERE to RSVP 👈
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
AGENDA
- 5:30 PM: Doors Open & Networking
- 6:00 PM: Startup Pitches & Demos with Audience Q&A
- 7:00 PM: Meet the Presenting Startups
PITCH FORMAT
- Pitch & Demo - 6 minutes
- Audience Q&A - 4 minutes
- Pitch deck AND product demo are required
🚨 CLICK HERE to RSVP 👈
2 attendees
Where Art Meets Machine: Creating Stories That Change How We See
The Sculpture court at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY, USAward-winning directors Michaela Ternasky-Holland and Aaron Santiago are building worlds at the cutting edge of AI, VR, and immersive media.
Rather than create for spectacle, their aim is to collapse the distance between strangers.
In collaboration with the National Arts Club and its Art and Technology Committee, this conversation will reveal how they use generative AI, motion capture, 360° cinematography, projection mapping, and volumetric capture to tell stories that cross lines of culture, ability, and lived experience.
From Emmy-winning VR documentaries screened at Tribeca and Cannes to experimental AI films created with OpenAI's SORA, Ternasky-Holland and Santiago work where technology stops being a tool and starts becoming a language.
They'll discuss their solo projects, their collaborations, and the question at the heart of their practice: Does technology inspire art, or does art give technology meaning?
Whether you're a creator, technologist, or just curious about where storytelling is headed, this is a rare chance to hear from two artists shaping the future of how we connect.
Reserve your spot and arrive early. Space is limited.
2 attendees
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