Live Events Calendar

How this calendar works

The embed below is a Luma calendar that follows ~30 curated hosts. When any of them publishes an event, it appears here automatically — no one at TFF has to update anything. This matters because most SF events never show up on Luma’s public discover page; they’re only visible on the host’s own calendar. Following the right hosts is the discovery strategy.

The promise: land Thursday, be at an event Friday. There is a founder event in SF virtually every day of the week. Your first week here should include at least one.

Jargon: Luma — the event platform SF runs on. “Subscribing” to a calendar means new events land in your feed and email automatically.

The seed host list

These are the hosts the TFF calendar follows. Subscribe to any of them directly on Luma too.

AI & builder scene

Host / series	Focus	Cadence
Cerebral Valley	AI events, hackathons, conferences; the central AI-scene aggregator	Weekly newsletter + frequent events
AI Tinkerers SF	Demo-first builder meetups — working prototypes, no slide decks	Roughly monthly + hackathons
GenAI Collective (SF)	Large grassroots AI community (25k+); demo nights, salons	Multiple events/month — [link to verify current Luma handle]
AI-SF calendar	Aggregated AI events across the city	Continuous

Founder & startup scene

Host / series	Focus	Cadence
SF Founders & Investors Parties (by Pilot)	Casual, explicitly pitch-free founder/investor socials	Recurring
Bay Area Founders Club	Large founder/VC network events, Stanford-alumni-driven	Recurring
Founders You Should Know	Startup showcase — founders pitch their teams to candidates; community application required	Recurring series
South Park Commons	Talks and community events from the -1 to 0 community	Frequent; many member-only, some public
Frontier Tower	16-floor deep-tech hub on Market St; hackathons, demo nights, community dinners	Multiple events/day across floors
SF Tech Week (a16z)	The annual everything-week — hundreds of events across the city	Annual (Oct 12–18, 2026)
Brex event series	Supper clubs and founder dinners, often co-hosted with VCs	Recurring, application-gated

Desi organizers

Host / series	Focus	Cadence
eChai SF	Open startup mixers and demo days, India-US bridge	Recurring
SaaSBoomi US	India SaaS/AI founder programs, Caravan events, retreats	Program-based through the year
TiE Silicon Valley	Member events, mentoring sessions, TiEcon	Frequent; TiEcon annual
FUNDA Club	Curated Indian-origin founder get-togethers	Seasonal (Summer/Winter) + smaller events
The Founder Folks (TFF)	Our own SF meetups and dinners	Recurring — you’re already here

How to use this calendar

RSVP early. Good SF events routinely sell out or close waitlists days ahead. When something looks right, RSVP the moment you see it — you can always cancel (and should, rather than no-show).

Know the two event types. Open events: RSVP and go. Application-gated events: the host reviews your LinkedIn or a short form before approving. Gated events are usually better rooms — complete your Luma and LinkedIn profiles before applying, and answer the form questions specifically, not generically.

Waitlists move. SF has heavy RSVP flake rates, so hosts overbook and waitlists often clear the day of the event. Join waitlists freely.

Showing up alone (everyone does)

Going solo is the norm here, not the exception — half the room arrived alone. Three moves that work:

1. Arrive in the first 20 minutes. Small groups haven’t formed yet; conversations are easy to start.
2. Use the standard opener. “What are you building?” or “What brought you to this one?” — nobody thinks it’s awkward; it’s the local handshake.
3. Join the group of three. Two people might be in a private conversation; three people is an open circle. Stand adjacent, get eye contact, you’re in.

Exit conversations honestly: “I’m going to make another loop — great to meet you, I’ll follow up tomorrow.” Then actually follow up (24-hour rule, see Networking page).

Do this now

• ☐ Subscribe to the TFF Luma calendar (embed above)
• ☐ Follow 5 hosts from the seed list directly on Luma
• ☐ RSVP to one event happening within the next 7 days
• ☐ Join the waitlist for one application-gated event
• ☐ Put SF Tech Week (Oct 12–18, 2026) on your calendar now
• ☐ Complete your Luma profile — name, photo, one-line bio, LinkedIn

Nobody tells you

• The best SF events are effectively invisible: hidden from Luma discover and only findable via host calendars — which is why a followed-hosts calendar beats any amount of browsing.
• Waitlist conversion is high because RSVP flaking is high; the waitlist is often just a slow-motion yes.
• Hosts remember no-shows. Luma shows them exactly who RSVP’d and didn’t come, and repeat no-shows quietly stop getting approved for gated events.

Sources & further reading

• Luma Discover — SF — baseline public event feed.
• Hidden Events SF explorer — why followed calendars beat discover: most events are unlisted.
• Cerebral Valley events — AI events and hackathon hub.
• AI Tinkerers SF — demo-first meetup series.
• AI Events — San Francisco calendar — aggregated AI calendar on Luma.
• SF Founder & Investor Parties by Pilot — pitch-free founder socials.
• Founders You Should Know showcase — example of the application-gated format.
• Frontier Tower calendar — deep-tech hub with daily events.
• eChai SF events — desi-organizer anchor.