Founders Café

​Founders Café, from OpenAI × Dogpatch Labs, is for 30 people considering whether to build a company.

​You might be exploring a problem worth solving, testing an early idea, looking for a co-founder, or deciding whether to leave your current role and start building.

​The afternoon is structured around small-group conversations, co-founder matching, mentoring and office hours. The aim is to help you pressure-test what you are working on, meet people at a similar stage, and get clearer on the next decision you need to make.

​You do not need to have incorporated a company, raised funding, found a co-founder or worked everything out. You do need to be actively considering whether there is something worth pursuing.

​Who is it for
Founders Café is for people who are:

• ​Exploring a problem or early idea

• ​Testing whether an idea is strong enough to pursue

• ​Considering moving from product, engineering, design, research or commercial work into building a company

• ​Already building informally and deciding whether to take it further

​What to expect
This is a working afternoon built around conversation rather than presentations. Bring an idea, a problem, or an assumption you need to test.

​The useful outcome is a clearer view of what you are pursuing, what remains unresolved, and what you should do next.

​Places are limited to 30 so there is enough time for useful conversations, relevant introductions and individual attention.

Continue into the evening
Founders Café is the first part of a wider day for founders at Dogpatch Labs.

​From 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, OpenAI × Dogpatch Labs will host Founder Firesides: Inside the Raise, with Sean Mullaney, CEO of Seapoint, and Ryan Morrissey, CEO of Hoplite.

​The conversation will focus on what fundraising looks like while you are still running the company: how founders manage the process alongside customers, product and hiring, and what changes once a raise is underway.

​Apply separately to attend Founder Firesides:
https://luma.com/ro2t6kh8

​Application required. Places will be confirmed following review.