Meet the people who move your ideas forward

What people are asking for this week, a paid AI pilot, and three rooms in November.

October 26, 2026

I’ve spent a few years building community here in NY and Globally. But I’ve also spent a lot of time coding over the last 6 months. More on that in the next edition. For now, check out some asks from the network, a couple of spotlights (Ilona Koti and Erin Treacy), upcoming events happening and more!

Short on time? Here is the whole issue

Need an introduction? Reply and tell me who you are looking for and what you are trying to get done. I route it myself.
Want to be in a room? Five below, 27 October through 19 November.

Spotlight: Ilona Koti is looking for pilot partners

Dr. Ilona Koti is looking for pilot partners for Azariel AI / EchoVault, a governed document intelligence layer. She is seeking pilot partners with a $10,000 partner budget, with scope, fee and timing agreed with Ilona. She also provides AI governance and general AI development services. HypaReel, her screenwriting app, is on hold while she focuses on EchoVault. If you have a business problem a focused pilot could help address, tell her what a useful outcome would look like. Agree scope, timing, commercial terms and any case study permissions before starting.

I’m super impressed with Ilona for building her own private AI that has gotten her meetings with Palantir, OpenAI, and hopefully one of you community members who can utilize her creation to transform your business.


Founder Pitch Clinic, this Tuesday

Anthony Rose launched BBC iPlayer, then co-founded SeedLegals, the largest legal platform for startups in the UK. He has seen more term sheets than almost anyone and he will tell you why investors pass. Dave Wolovsky is a cognitive performance coach and StartX mentor whose session is called Don't Calm Down, on using pressure instead of fighting it. Two thirty minute workshops, free. Go if you have a raise, a demo day or an investor meeting in the next quarter.
Tue Oct 27, 6 to 8:30pm ET, Brooklyn.


Halloween at Petite, Friday night

Night two of three at Petite, Chelsea's disco with the lights turned red. Friday night into Saturday, 161 W 23rd St. General admission from $60, tables by DM.

Three rooms in November

The Innovation in Public cohort presents what they have built. Up to six companies, a 75 minute showcase of pitches and questions, a room favourite voted live, then an open floor with the investors who came. You say at registration what you are building and who you need to meet, and you get at least one named introduction before doors open. Go if you invest, hire technical people, or want to see what is actually getting built in New York right now.
Wed Nov 4, noon to 3pm ET, The Wilson, 132 W 27th St, NYC. Free to attend.


Family Office Room dinner

The last one of these put thirty family offices in a room on 43rd Street, self-reporting $37B and more in combined assets. That was October. November is the dinner version of it, smaller and seated, and the guest list is still being built, so I am telling you what this series pulls rather than who is confirmed. You say what you are building, over a meal. Dinner includes the Nov 19 mixer. Speaker $550; family offices apply for $150.
Nov 12, 6 to 9pm ET, Fushimi Times Square.


Meet builders and backers

Same room, lower stakes and lower price. Founders and the people who back them, standing up, no seating plan. The cheaper way in if $350 is not this month. Choose mixer admission or the $50 panel.
Nov 19, 6 to 8pm ET, Fushimi Times Square.


Spotlight: Erin Treacy on Gen Z at work

If you manage anyone under thirty, or you are under thirty and your manager does not get you, this one is worth twenty minutes. Erin Treacy is an executive coach who works on exactly that gap, and she is on Nik Michael's Pivot Point this week.


Keep the founding rate

Three introductions a month, made by me by hand, to someone who can pay you, hire you, or move your company forward. You name the person or the shape of the person. I come back with names, or I tell you I cannot route it and I do not take the money. It rises to $250 a month on Nov 1.

See you there,

Stephen Michael

Propel Earth

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