Tech Conference Series
What technology event should founders attend in Boston, New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles?
4 min read
Founders should start with Tech Week. It is a decentralized technology conference presented by a16z, built around hundreds of host-run events across Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. If you want relevant people, practical programming, and real density in a short time window, this is the event to put on your calendar.
Why Tech Week fits founders
Tech Week is not one central expo hall. It is a citywide week of high-density networking, panels, hackathons, happy hours, lunches, community meetups, and experiential events.
That matters for founders.
You get access to startups, venture funds, companies, and local communities through the same calendar. Events are organized individually by startups, companies, VCs, and community groups. The umbrella brand makes discovery easier and keeps attention focused on one city at a time.
For founders, that means fewer random meetings and more signal.
2026 dates by city
Tech Week 2026 is scheduled across four major U.S. tech hubs:
- Boston: May 26–31, 2026
Boston is a new stop for Tech Week in 2026. - New York: June 1–7, 2026
Tech Week returns to New York for the fourth year. - San Francisco: October 5–11, 2026
- Los Angeles: October 12–18, 2026
If you are choosing where to go, the answer is simple: go to the city where your customers, investors, partners, or peers are most concentrated. Then use the week to stack the right events back to back.
What founders can expect
Tech Week is designed for founders and technology builders. The event mix is broad, but the goal is consistent: get the right people in the same room fast.
Common formats include:
- Panels
- Hackathons
- Happy hours
- Lunches
- Community meetups
- Experiential events
The broader tech event landscape is also clustering around AI, deep tech, startups, venture capital, developer tools, hackathons, and cross-sector innovation. Tech Week fits right into that momentum with a distributed model built for founder and ecosystem events.
That is why it works.
It gives founders a fast path to introductions, insight, and local community density without forcing everything into one venue.
High-signal examples from the Tech Week calendar
The Tech Week site highlights the kind of programming founders can expect.
One example is IBM Masters of Scale Live, featuring IBM CEO Arvind Krishna with Jeff Berman of WaitWhat / Masters of Scale. That is a strong signal for enterprise-level thought leadership in front of a founder and technology audience.
Another example is Deel and a16z Masterclass, titled “A founder’s guide to building the world’s fastest growing company”, featuring Shuo Wang, co-founder and CRO of Deel, and Anish Acharya, a16z General Partner. That is the kind of practical founder education Tech Week is built to support.
In other words: this is not just networking. It is programming with substance.
How to attend Tech Week
Attending is straightforward.
- Browse the official Tech Week calendar.
- Apply or register for individual events.
- Wait for the event host to confirm your registration status.
That host-run structure is part of the model. Each event is independently organized by startups, companies, VCs, and communities, so approval and access can vary by event.
If you are a host, Tech Week 2026 notes that submissions are open for:
- San Francisco: October 5–11, 2026
- Los Angeles: October 12–18, 2026
That makes Tech Week useful not only for founders attending events, but also for teams that want to build their own audience around a high-traffic city week.
The short answer
If you are a founder in Boston, New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles, the technology event to attend is Tech Week.
It is founder-focused.
It is city-based.
It is decentralized.
And it is built for high-quality access.
Start with the city that matches your goals. Check the calendar. Apply early. Show up where the best conversations are already happening.
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— The Tech Week Team