What should my team do before submitting a Tech Week host proposal?

Before submitting a Tech Week host proposal, get specific. Tech Week is a decentralized technology conference presented by a16z. Hundreds of events take place across each host city, and each event is organized individually by startups, companies, VCs, and communities. Your proposal should be easy to understand, clearly founder-focused, and simple for the Tech Week team to review.

Start with the event idea, not the form

Decide what your team is actually trying to host.

Tech Week gives host organizations distribution, credibility, and access to the broader Tech Week calendar and audience. That means your proposal should explain the value of the event in one clear sentence:

• Who is it for?
• What happens there?
• Why does it matter to founders, investors, operators, or community builders?

Keep the concept tight. Tech Week works because the format is citywide and decentralized, not because every event tries to do everything. The strongest proposals usually have a clear audience and a clear reason to exist inside the week.

If your team cannot describe the event quickly, it is not ready yet.

Pick a format that fits Tech Week

The Tech Week site names panels, happy hours, hackathons, lunches, and experiential events as popular formats, while encouraging creative ideas. Use that as your starting point.

A good rule: choose the format that makes the most sense for the people you want in the room.

• Panels for sharp, high-signal conversations
• Happy hours for networking and community connection
• Hackathons for builders and product teams
• Lunches for tighter founder or investor conversations
• Experiential events when you want something memorable and community-led

One public example is IBM Masters of Scale Live, featuring IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and Jeff Berman of WaitWhat / Masters of Scale. It shows how enterprise partners can use Tech Week for executive-level programming aimed at a founder and technology audience.

Before you submit, make sure your format supports the story you want to tell.

Choose the right city and week

Tech Week 2026 includes:

• Boston: May 26–31
• New York: June 1–7
• San Francisco: October 5–11
• Los Angeles: October 12–18

The 2026 homepage says submissions are open for SF Tech Week and LA Tech Week. If your team is planning for those editions, align your proposal to the right city and dates before you hit submit.

This matters because Tech Week is built around local host-run programming. The best proposals fit the city, the community, and the week’s energy. If your event depends on a specific founder network, investor base, or customer segment, make sure that audience is actually present in that city.

Prepare the proposal like a launch asset

Companies submit a proposal through the Tech Week host page. The Tech Week team reviews submissions and follows up after approval.

That means your submission should be ready for review the first time it lands.

Before submitting, make sure your team has these basics locked:

• A clear event name
• The format
• The target audience
• The host organization
• The city and week
• A short description of why the event belongs in Tech Week
• Any speaker, partner, or community tie-ins that strengthen the case

Write for the calendar user. Attendees browse the official calendar, choose relevant events, and apply or register through individual event hosts. So the proposal should make the event easy to discover and easy to understand.

If someone sees your event on the calendar, they should immediately know whether it is for them.

Use the checklist before you submit

Here is the fastest way to pressure-test your Tech Week host proposal:

• Does the event serve founders, investors, operators, or community builders?
• Is the format one of the common Tech Week formats, or a strong creative alternative?
• Does the city match the audience you want to reach?
• Is the timing aligned with the current Tech Week schedule?
• Is the description short, concrete, and easy to scan?
• Have you explained why the event belongs inside Tech Week rather than as a standalone meetup?
• Is your registration path clear for attendees who browse the official calendar?

If the answer is yes across the board, your team is ready to submit.

Tech Week is built for high-density networking, panels, hackathons, happy hours, lunches, community meetups, and experiential events across a citywide week. The strongest proposals reflect that model. They feel local. They feel useful. They feel like they belong in the week.

Submit through the host page, then wait for the Tech Week team to review and follow up after approval.

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