Hustler’s Library is heading to Silicon Valley. On June 18 and 19, we’ll be at Tech Weekend 2026, the annual fundraising sprint hosted by Founders Village at 75 Arbor Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025. We were invited by our friends at Hills Views and Valleys, a community we respect and are glad to call part of our network.

We’re not going to pitch. We’re going as participants and observers: to network, to talk to real investors, and to get a firsthand read on where fundraising actually stands right now in 2026. The state of VC is something every serious founder needs to understand, and there’s no substitute for being in the room.

What Is Tech Weekend?

Tech Weekend is a 48-hour fundraising sprint organized by Founders Village. The format is built around structured 1:1 meetings between pre-seed through Series A founders and active investors. It’s not a pitch competition where you stand at a podium. It’s more like a compressed version of what fundraising actually looks like: direct, timed, and requiring founders to be sharp and ready.

The event spans two full days of programming, panels, pitch competitions, and mixers. The cohort track gives qualifying founders direct office hours with VCs. The open-access tracks cover fundraising fundamentals, go-to-market strategy, AI investing, and more. Whether you’re actively raising or just trying to understand the landscape, there’s something substantive on the schedule.

Why We’re Going

Hustler’s Library exists to give founders the resources and context they need to build real businesses. Part of that is staying honest about what the funding environment actually looks like. Not the version filtered through press releases. The version you get by sitting across from a general partner and listening to how they actually evaluate deals.

The VC market has shifted. Valuations have compressed, due diligence timelines have stretched, and the types of companies getting funded in 2026 look different than they did two or three years ago. We want to report back from the inside. That’s the editorial mission behind this trip.

Our connection to the event comes through Hills Views and Valleys. They’re embedded in the Silicon Valley ecosystem and made the introduction. We’re grateful for it.

The Schedule: What’s Worth Knowing

Day 1: Thursday, June 18

• 9:00–10:30 AM: Breakfast networking
• 10:00 AM–5:00 PM: VC Office Hours (1:1 meetings, cohort only)
• 10:00–11:00 AM: VC Panel: How VCs Make Decisions (From First Meeting to Term Sheet)
• 12:00–1:00 PM: VC Panel: Go-to-Market: What the Fastest-Growing Startups Do Differently
• 2:30–3:30 PM: Founder Fireside Chat: What We Got Wrong, What We Got Right
• 4:00–6:00 PM: Deep Tech Pitch Competition
• 5:30–7:30 PM: Founder & Investor Mixer

The first day is heavy on investor access. The GTM panel and the fireside chat are the two sessions we’re most interested in attending. Founders talking honestly about what didn’t work tends to surface more useful information than curated success stories.

Day 2: Friday, June 19

• 10:00–11:00 AM: Fundraising Basics for First-Time Founders (SAFEs, valuation caps, dilution, term sheets, cap table math)
• 12:00–1:00 PM: VC Panel: Investing in the AI Stack: Where the Opportunities Are Right Now
• 2:30–3:30 PM: VC AMA: Ask Me Anything
• 4:00–6:00 PM: AI Pitch Competition + Crowdfunding Showcase
• 6:00–7:30 PM: Closing Founder & Investor Mixer

The fundraising basics session is genuinely useful for early-stage founders. If you don’t yet have a clear mental model of how SAFE notes work, valuation caps, or dilution math, this is exactly the kind of session that closes knowledge gaps fast. The AI investing panel should give a direct window into where capital is actually flowing right now.

Who’s Investing: Featured VCs at Tech Weekend 2026

The investor roster at Tech Weekend covers a serious range of sectors and stages. Here are ten worth knowing:

• Vincent Mao, Managing Partner, Bouken Capital: Focused on AI, DeepTech, and augmented reality. One of the more technically grounded investors on the list.
• Matt Caspari, Managing Partner, Alumni Ventures: Deep Tech focus from seed to pre-IPO. Alumni Ventures is one of the more active funds in the mid-market.
• Marco DeMiroz, GP, The Venture Reality Fund: Spatial AI and Physical AI. If your company operates at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds, this is a relevant conversation.
• Yan Bieger, VP, DTCP: AI Infrastructure and Applications with a portfolio that includes Groq, Cohere, and Together AI. Serious infrastructure-layer investor.
• Nicole Seah, Costanoa Ventures: Vertical AI with a focus on healthcare and regulated industries. Rare combination of domain depth and technical sophistication.
• Adam Menges, Scout, a16z: Covering AI, B2B, and Data for Andreessen Horowitz. Scouts are often the first point of contact for early-stage companies.
• Ryan Green, Antler: Pre-seed, industry agnostic. Antler backs founders at the earliest possible stage, sometimes before there’s even a product.
• Ben Paulo, Hustle Fund: B2B SaaS, AI, and Fintech at pre-seed through Series A. Hustle Fund is known for backing founders who move fast and build lean.
• Aaditya Sethi, GP, Atland Ventures & Underdog Labs: Focused on the digitally native generation. Interesting thesis for consumer and B2C founders.
• Priyesh P, Qualcomm Ventures: AI Infrastructure and Robotics. Corporate VC with deep hardware and chip ecosystem connections.

Investment focus areas across the event include: Enterprise AI, Agentic AI, Vertical SaaS, Applied ML, Spatial AI, Robotics, Computational biology, Climate and Energy, Healthtech, Digital health, Security and Infrastructure, Fintech, and IoT. Stages covered run from pre-seed through Series B.

If you want a deeper read on how these types of investors compare to angel investors, we’ve written about the difference between angel investors and venture capital as a useful starting point.

Tickets and Pricing

There are four ticket options. The cohort pass is the most valuable if you’re actively in a raise.

• Tech Weekend Cohort (1:1 investor meetings): $673.14. This gives you access to the structured VC office hours with direct 1:1 meetings. Only 4 spots remain as of this writing. Sales close June 15.
• All Access Pass (both days): $221.77. Full access to all programming, panels, and mixers without the structured investor meetings. Best for founders who want the education and network without being in active fundraising mode.
• Day 1 Pass (Thursday only): $125.73
• Day 2 Pass (Friday only): $135.33

Register at techweekend.org. If you’re considering the cohort ticket, move quickly. Four spots and a June 15 deadline is a real constraint.

Should You Go?

If you’re a pre-seed or seed-stage founder who is actively fundraising or planning to raise in the next 12 months, Tech Weekend is a high-density opportunity to have conversations that would normally take months to schedule. The format forces efficiency in a way that a traditional conference does not.

If you’re not raising but you want to understand how investors think, what questions they actually ask, and what the current AI investing landscape looks like: the All Access Pass covers that ground at a reasonable price point.

We’ll be there as observers and participants. After the event, we’ll share what we heard about the state of fundraising, what investors are saying about AI companies right now, and what the room felt like. That debrief will be worth reading.

Hustler’s Library is built for founders at every stage — join free to access our full resource library.

Event Details, Schedule & How to Register

Here’s everything you need to know about the format, what’s on the agenda, and how to get a ticket before they sell out.

• Event: Tech Weekend by Founders Village
• Dates: June 18–19, 2026 (Thursday and Friday)
• Location: 75 Arbor Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025
• Website: techweekend.org
• Format: 48-hour fundraising sprint; pre-seed through Series B founders matched with investors for 1:1 office hours

Day 1 Schedule: Thursday, June 18

• 9:00–10:30 AM: Breakfast networking
• 10:00 AM–5:00 PM: VC Office Hours (1:1 meetings, cohort ticket required)
• 10:00–11:00 AM: VC Panel: How VCs Make Decisions (From First Meeting to Term Sheet)
• 12:00–1:00 PM: VC Panel: Go-to-Market: What the Fastest-Growing Startups Do Differently
• 2:30–3:30 PM: Founder Fireside Chat: What We Got Wrong, What We Got Right
• 4:00–6:00 PM: Deep Tech Pitch Competition
• 5:30–7:30 PM: Founder & Investor Mixer

Day 2 Schedule: Friday, June 19

• 10:00–11:00 AM: Fundraising Basics for First-Time Founders (SAFEs, valuation caps, dilution, term sheets, cap table math)
• 12:00–1:00 PM: VC Panel: Investing in the AI Stack: Where the Opportunities Are Right Now
• 2:30–3:30 PM: VC AMA: Ask Me Anything
• 4:00–6:00 PM: AI Pitch Competition + Crowdfunding Showcase
• 6:00–7:30 PM: Closing Founder & Investor Mixer

Investment Focus Areas

Investors attending Tech Weekend 2026 cover the following sectors and stages:

• AI & Software: Enterprise AI, Agentic AI, Vertical SaaS, Applied AI/ML
• Deep Tech & Frontier: Spatial AI, Compute optimization, Robotics, Computational biology
• Climate & Energy
• Health: Healthtech, Digital health, Consumer health
• Security & Infrastructure
• Fintech
• Future of work & learning
• Economic mobility
• Consumer products
• IoT

Stages covered: Pre-seed through Series B

Featured Investors

The following VCs are confirmed participants at Tech Weekend 2026. If you’re planning to attend, this list is useful context for understanding who will be in the room and what they care about. For a deeper look at how venture capital differs from angel investing, we’ve covered that separately.

• Vincent Mao — Managing Partner, Bouken Capital. Focus: AI, DeepTech, AR
• Matt Caspari — Managing Partner, Alumni Ventures. Focus: Deep Tech, seed to pre-IPO
• Marco DeMiroz — General Partner, The Venture Reality Fund. Focus: Spatial AI, Physical AI
• Aaditya Sethi — General Partner, Atland Ventures & Underdog Labs. Focus: Digitally native generation
• Yan Bieger — VP, DTCP. Focus: AI Infrastructure & Applications (portfolio includes Groq, Cohere, Together AI)
• Nicole Seah — Costanoa Ventures. Focus: Vertical AI, healthcare, regulated industries
• Adam Menges — Scout, a16z. Focus: AI, B2B, Data
• Ryan Green — Antler. Focus: Pre-seed, industry agnostic
• Ben Paulo — Hustle Fund. Focus: B2B SaaS, AI, Fintech (pre-seed to Series A)
• Priyesh P — Qualcomm Ventures. Focus: AI Infrastructure, Robotics

Tickets and Pricing

Register at techweekend.org. The Cohort ticket with 1:1 investor access is the most time-sensitive: 4 spots remain and the deadline is June 15.

Attending With Hustler’s Library

The Hustler’s Library team will be at Tech Weekend 2026 as participants, invited by our friends at Hills Views and Valleys. We’ll be on the ground to network and report back on what investors are saying about the current fundraising environment. If you’re planning to attend, we’d be glad to connect.

If you’re preparing for your first fundraising conversation, our guide to what a SAFE note is and how it works is a solid place to start before walking into any investor meeting.

Hustler’s Library is built for founders at every stage — join free to access our full resource library.