DressIt — Events: next 2 weeks (Sep 3–17, 2026)

Selection criterion: quality of the room, not urgency — the Sep 14 deadline is cancelled. Sources: 03-this-week-sf.md + 01-calendar-refresh.md (verified 2026-09-02). Re-check Luma the morning of each event — SF listings move.

GO — worth Sergei's time

1. Tech Weekend — Menlo Park, Thu–Fri Sep 10–11 (TOP PRIORITY)

Allied Arts Guild, 75 Arbor Rd. The only event in the window with scheduled 1:1 VC office hours (~8 meetings, 15–30 min) + pitch-comp eligibility. Cohort pass ~$700–850, refunded if rejected.

Before (by Fri Sep 4): apply for the Cohort pass (luma.com/55ifg8h5 or eventbrite 1992734201640). Rolling review ~1 week — apply now. Request 1:1s with the consumer/generalist names: Christopher Wachuta + Sarah Wang (VU, Consumer), Lauren Roberts (Forum Ventures, Consumer/D2C), Ananya Kapoor (Flex Capital), David Jee (MGV), Ning Sung (Sand Hill Angels — also the SHA off-cycle intro).
During: run the 1:1s; leave dressitnow.com + a one-line $300k SAFE ask in every room; collect cards.
After: same-night email to every investor met; log each as a tracker row (contacted).
If Cohort rejects → refund, and Llama Lounge 26 (below) becomes the Thursday plan.

2. Startup Valley Pitch Night — Palo Alto, TONIGHT Thu Sep 3, 5–8pm

Joe & The Juice, 508 University Ave. 4–6 founders pitch, deck goes to a ~300-investor weekly digest. Pitch slot = paid "Pitch at the event" ticket + form (forms.gle/CuscVQibyXBbi1Fv7). Attend: luma.com/5oyen0sb.

Before (today, morning): try for the pitch ticket; if gone, buy Standard and work the room. Prep a 5-min pitch + Q&A answers.
During: goal is not the stage — it's 5 named angels + their contact info. Demo the app live on your phone.
After: next-morning email to every contact with the $300k SAFE ask. If pitching, confirm your deck made the digest.

3. Ascent Valley Pitch Night — SF, Wed Sep 9, 6:45–10pm

Rick & Roxy's, 2131 Lombard. Free–$29. 5 curated pitches, ConsumerTech explicitly in scope; pitchers go into their private founder DB routed to their investor network.

Before (by Mon Sep 7): register + email deck to events@ascentvalley.club asking for a pitch slot (historic pitch add-on ~$65).
During: pitch or attend; target the organizers — their investor network is the asset.
After: follow up with organizers + any investor contact within 24h.

4. Founders Inc campus — Open Campus Thu Sep 3 (tonight) / Garage Tour Fri Sep 4, 2pm

Fort Mason. Free, approval. Not a check room — it's the support act for the f.inc application (email 08). Consumer is an explicit f.inc thesis.

Decision tonight: Palo Alto pitch slot beats Open Campus. If no pitch slot, come here instead.
During: ask for the investment team, not the program managers. Demo the live product.
After: reference the visit in the f.inc application follow-up.

5. Llama Lounge 26 — Microsoft Mountain View, Thu Sep 10, 5pm (ONLY if Tech Weekend Cohort rejects)

Free, approval + gov ID, sells out. 60+ VC firms historically in the room. DressIt (pure social) is a stretch for the demo floor; attend as a high-signal mixer.

Before: RSVP + optionally apply to demo via luma.com/llamalounge. Conflicts with Tech Weekend Day 1 evening — Cohort 1:1s win.

6. Startup Valley SF — Wed Sep 16, 7–10pm (edge of window)

AI Start Academy, 1769 15th St. Next SF night in the series; same format as Palo Alto.

Before (by Sep 10): apply for the pitch slot early — slots go first (luma.com/0274ctoo + same pitch form). Worth it only if you didn't pitch in Palo Alto.

PROCESS (not events, but same 2 weeks — free, do them all by Mon Sep 7)

What	Why now	Link
Band of Angels Dealum app	Screening last-Wed monthly → Sep 30; miss it and you slip to late Oct	bandangels.com/apply-to-present
Sand Hill Angels Dealum	First pitch Thu Sep 24	sandhillangels.com/apply
Stanford A&E deck email	Joint HBS pitch Wed Sep 16; ask for a 1:1 / off-cycle, not the stage	submission@stanfordaande.com
HBS Alumni Angels Gust	Same Sep 16 joint event; no Harvard needed	gust.com/organizations/hbsaa-nc/apply

SKIP — and why

Smart AI 100 Summit (Thu Sep 3, $1,400) — Series A–D + GP room, wrong stage, wrong price.
Pay-to-pitch bar nights (Hawthorn, Nomad/Astra/"Investor Connect", ~$20–60) — low investor quality; pure reps. No deadline anymore, so reps aren't worth money.
SF Demo Night / Agent-Led Growth / Dev Tools nights (AWS Builder Loft, Hogpatch) — AI/infra rooms; demo slots closed or off-category.
The Junction (Sep 9) & WeShine AI night (Sep 9) — AI-only framing; DressIt would be miscast.
Connected Stack (Sep 10) — invite-only, VCs nominate their own portfolio cos. Not accessible.
YC S26 Demo Day (Sep 10) — not accessible, and you can't pitch.
Demo Night @ WorkOS (Sep 14) — builder crowd, product feedback only, no investors.
Founders Inc Silly Robots / Spatial hackathon — wrong category.

Standing rule for the whole window

Max 2 evenings/week in rooms. Every event must produce either (a) a pitch slot, (b) a named 1:1, or (c) ≥3 new investor contacts logged in the tracker — otherwise it was entertainment, and next week's calendar gets cut harder. Morning-after follow-ups are part of the event, not optional.