SF Legacy Lounge Dinner: Moats & Markets-Building Defensible Companies in the Intelligence Era
Technology is becoming abundant. Durable advantage is not.
Legacy Lounge brings together a curated room of founders, investors, and senior operators to explore where defensibility still compounds—from proprietary data and intellectual property to workflow ownership, distribution, trust, and market access.
ONLY 50 approved guests. No walk-ins.
Featured Panelists
Past LEGACY LOUNGE speakers, attendees, and collaborators have included leaders affiliated with NVIDIA, Stanford, Genentech, Fenwick & West, Antler, NFX, Cathay Innovation, and other venture-backed and unicorn investors.
Benjamin Stein
Founder & General Partner, Cartography Capital
Benjamin Stein is the Founder and General Partner of Cartography Capital, backing founders at the intersection of deep tech, infrastructure, and sustainability. Before venture, he helped scale Square through its IPO and expanded Opendoor from three to more than 20 markets. An active angel investor since 2017 and an early backer of Teamshares, Ben brings an operator-investor perspective on turning foundational technologies into durable, category-defining companies.
Brian Sohmers
Senior Director, Product Management, Veeva Systems | Co-Founder, Propel Software
Brian Sohmers leads product management for Veeva Batch Release and co-founded Propel Software, which raised $28 million from Norwest, Salesforce Ventures, SignalFire, and others after achieving 500% annual revenue growth. Previously a product leader at Oracle and Apeel Sciences, Brian brings deep expertise in life-sciences infrastructure and enterprise software.
Joshua Bloom
General Partner, 49 Palms Ventures
Joshua is a General Partner at 49 Palms Ventures, an early-stage venture firm investing in AI founders and helping them build durable monetization and growth engines. Over more than two decades, he has advised 250+ technology companies on pricing, go-to-market strategy, and business-model transformation, contributing to billions in enterprise value. Previously a senior partner at Simon-Kucher, Joshua brings a distinctive lens on turning technical innovation into scalable, defensible companies.
Andrew Sparks
Partner, Goodwin | Co-Chair, Technology Practice
Andrew Sparks is a Partner in Goodwin’s Technology practice and Co-Chair of its Climate Technology practice. He advises founders, executives, and investors across AI, deep tech, digital health, robotics, SaaS, and emerging technologies on company formation, venture financings, governance, strategic transactions, and M&A. A frequent speaker and guest lecturer, Andrew brings a practical perspective on how legal structure, capitalization, and strategic decisions shape defensibility and long-term enterprise value.
The conversation will prioritize substance, independent thinking, and practical experience over prepared presentations.
Who Should Attend
This gathering is designed for:
Founders building AI-native, data-driven, health, technology, or infrastructure companies
Venture investors, angels, family offices, and private-market allocators
Exited founders exploring their next company, board role, or investment chapter
Senior operators responsible for product, commercialization, partnerships, or growth
Corporate innovation and strategic investment leaders
Legal, banking, intellectual-property, and market-access professionals
Selected ecosystem partners whose expertise contributes meaningfully to the room
Evening Program
5:00 PM · Doors Open & Welcome
5:30–7:00 PM · Featured Panel — begins promptly
7:00–8:30 PM · Family-Style Dinner & Curated Networking
Past Legacy Lounge Speakers
Rio Hodges — Associate Partner, Antler US
Backs founders at day zero and leads Antler's Boulder residency → pre-seed + team formation
Omri Amirav-Drory, PhD — General Partner, NFX Bio
Founded Genome Compiler (acquired by Twist Bioscience) → scientist-CEOs + bio × AI
Brett Horton — Chief Investment Officer, Paris-Roubaix Group
Runs investment strategy for a private investment group → allocation + the LP lens
Arnaud Auger — Director & Deputy Head of C.Lab, Cathay Innovation
Ex-Deputy Head of BNP Paribas' SF Innovation Lab → corporate partnerships + enterprise distribution
Kayvan Baroumand — Founder, SignalRank
Built GSV Labs, founding COO of Plug and Play → data-driven investing + ecosystem building
Ray Wu — Managing Partner, AI Fund, Alumni Ventures
20+ years investing, prior corporate venture roles at HP and Cisco → AI thesis + scaled deployment
Partnership & Sponsorship Inquiries
Legacy Lounge works selectively with brands and firms that add meaningful value to the room. Request here.
HOST
Succedia Ventures
Succedia Ventures is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm backing the infrastructure that will define the next generation of healthspan innovation.
Teresa Ge
Teresa Ge is the Founder and Managing Partner of Succedia Ventures and the creator of Legacy Lounge, where visionary founders and investors build what’s next.
COMMUNITY PARTNER
Newmark
Newmark is the world’s leading commercial real estate advisor, connecting visionary companies with the spaces that shape innovation.
Funding Breakthrough Lab is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pre-accelerator with a mission of creating a supportive community (25,000+ subscribers) to build a better tomorrow. We support founder success not just startup success by ensuring founders have access to education, networks, and resources to unlock their potential.
Apply for the next cohort here https://fundingbreakthroughlab.org.
Subscribe to our events here https://luma.com/fbl