Jon Staenberg's Founders and Investors Dinners · with Funding Breakthrough Lab
Dinners at Poesia
In a city full of events, people are still hungry for real connection. Jon's answer is the oldest one there is: good food, good wine, and an evening where everyone actually meets everyone.
Poesia Café, downtown San Francisco · Usually the first week of the month · 6 to 9 PM
- dinners hosted
- 500+
- of bringing founders and investors together
- 20 years
- hand picked guests per dinner
- 25 to 35
- qualified invitees see every invitation
- 1,000+
Who's at the table
Two dinners a month, two distinct rooms
Founders and CEOs
Operators building companies, meeting the people who can help them grow.
Investors
Angels and fund partners strengthening the network a healthy ecosystem runs on.
Custom dinners
Built around your audience: CFOs, CTOs or another circle you want to reach.
Every dinner is invite only.
The evening
Three unhurried hours
6:00 PM
Wine, bites and mingling
Italian wine and appetizers while guests and sponsors meet over an easy first hour.
7:00 PM
Dinner is served
Pasta and Italian courses with wine pairings, seated in small groups of tables designed so everyone gets to know each other.
Dessert
Switch seats
Guests move for dessert, so a second round of conversations begins.
9:00 PM
Arrivederci
Guests head home with new friends, and sponsors with warm introductions.
The format
Built so everyone hears from everyone
Stand up intros
Every guest stands, says who they are and shares one memorable thing about themselves.
A second table
Seats switch for dessert, doubling the people each guest really gets to know.
Laughter on the menu
No panels, no pitches. Jon keeps it casual, playful and relaxed, so people open up.
The venue
Poesia Café
A true Italian café in the heart of downtown, from pastry maestro Giovanni Liguoro of Torre del Greco and his partner Francesco D'Ippolito. Pasta and Italian classics made with imported ingredients, in a warm, casual room made for lingering.
One Post Street, San Francisco · steps from Montgomery BART and Muni
Request an invitation
Save your seat at the table
Dinners are invite only, with 25 to 35 hand picked guests. Tell us a little about yourself and which room fits you best. Your request goes to Jon Staenberg and Natalie Pan.
Sponsor a dinner
Your brand at the table, three times over
Not a sales event: a branding, networking and relationship building evening. Just two sponsors underwrite each dinner, so you share the room with only one other brand.
Before
- Featured in the invitation to 1,000+ qualified founders or investors
- Credited with making the evening affordable for every guest
At dinner
- Two seats for your team
- Bring friendly customers who champion you
- Swag, collateral or your branded name tags
After
- Featured in the follow up email to every guest
- The full participant list, to keep conversations going
Tell us about your team
Your note goes to Jon Staenberg and Natalie Pan. We'll reply with dates, pricing and the full sponsorship deck.
Previous Partners and Supporters
- SVB
- Wilson Sonsini
- Goodwin
- Cushman & Wakefield
- CBRE
- Goldman Sachs
- J.P. Morgan
- First Republic
- Carta
- Jazz Venture Partners
- Akkadian Ventures
- WTI
- Square One
- Silicon Legal
- NowCFO
- Pac West Bank
“I have been to hundreds of those kind of dinners over the years and I have to say yours was one of the best!”
“I consistently make deeper connections at your events than any other I go to.”