/ About this event
Founders don’t have three hours for generic Tech Week networking, so we’re skipping the usual small talk and putting 40 Seed–Series A startups and VCs into the same challenge.
Every founder has wondered: what if someone in this room steals my idea? On October 8, our attendees in the room will be trying to do exactly that! Across three rapid rounds of the Startup Mafia, players get their roles: founders pitch, idea stealers bluff, VCs back the ones they trust with investments, analysts run due diligence on the players, and everyone tries to read the person across the table.
You can register in one of two ways: - As a player, taking an active role in the game - As an observer, networking and watching how founders and investors question, persuade, and read one another
The game will run across three fast-paced 15-minute rounds. Afterward, we'll continue with networking and curated introductions. Even if games aren’t your thing, watching offers an unusually revealing introduction to the attendees: who asks the sharpest questions, who can defend an idea under pressure, who spots inconsistencies, and who you want to meet.
Schedule 3:00–3:20 PM — Welcome drinks and role assignment 3:20–3:30 PM — A-Players, Geek Ventures introduction and game rules 3:30–4:30 PM — Startup Mafia: three rounds 4:30–4:40 PM — Final vote and awards 4:40–6:00 PM — Open bar and curated introductions
Dress code: Come as you are, or lean into the theme - mafia style encouraged, not required.
Who’s in the room: this is a private, application-based event for Seed–Series A startups and VCs who are building and backing companies with billion-dollar potential. Attendance is limited to 40 people.
About the organizers: A-Players has built a community of 900+ impact-driven founders and investors across the US and Europe. They've hosted 20+ private events, from 100+ person founder and investor panels to curated breakfasts, founder walks, tea and cacao ceremonies, and ski trips. Along the way they've partnered with VCs like Geek Ventures, One Way Ventures, and Resilience VC. A-Players events are intentionally kept private and highly curated, so every founder, VC, and partner in the room is exceptional and aligned.
Geek Ventures, a NY-based early-stage VC firm investing in immigrant founders building in the US across Vertical AI, Deep Tech and Robotics.
LatentWorlds AI is building the data infrastructure for physical AI and robotics. Its platform captures and organizes multimodal data from deployed robots, turning raw sensor recordings into searchable, replayable, training-ready datasets.
This event is part of #SFTechWeek, a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at tech-week.com.
