Join a curated group of founders, operators, and investors for a private dinner exploring how AI is transforming operationally complex businesses - from investment strategy and value creation to execution across day-to-day operations.
Speakers
Evening Agenda:
6:30–7:00pm | Welcome Reception
7:00pm onward | Seated dinner with perspectives from industry leaders, followed by curated small-group discussions
Vijen Patel (The 81 Collection) – Where AI is creating the greatest opportunities across the “real world” economy, and what investors look for in founders modernizing foundational industries.
Grant Hensel (Entrepreneurial Capital) – How AI is changing the way entrepreneurs acquire, operate, and scale small businesses, and where the biggest opportunities lie in search and ETA.
Mathew D. Focht (EMERGING) - How portfolio companies like Puttshack are leveraging modern technology to innovate and evolve.
Luke Saunders (Farmer's Fridge) - Where AI is impacting consumer businesses most, from automated food production to personalization at scale.
John Hayes (Happy Dad) - How Happy Dad uses AI across the finance function
Max Brenner (WithCoverage) – Practical lessons from building an AI-native company in a traditional, services-heavy industry.
Attendees: 100+ senior investors, founders, and operators across leading firms and companies. Full RSVP list will be shared in advance to help finalize seating.
Space is limited. RSVP required.
Vijen Patel
Founding Partner @ The 81 Collection
Vijen is a Founding Partner at The 81 Collection, an investment firm backing founders modernizing the 81% of the economy historically overlooked by venture capital. He previously co-founded Pressbox, an on-demand laundry and dry cleaning company acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2018 and rebranded as Tide Cleaners. Vijen holds bachelor's degrees in finance and mathematics from the University of Notre Dame.
Grant Hensel
Founder & General Partner @ Entrepreneurial Capital
Grant is the Founder & General Partner of Entrepreneurial Capital, where he backs entrepreneurs acquiring and operating profitable small businesses. A serial entrepreneur and investor, Grant has built, acquired, and invested in businesses across multiple industries, bringing a practical operator’s perspective to entrepreneurship through acquisition.
Mathew D. Focht
Mathew D. Focht
Mathew is the founder of EMERGING, a growth equity platform investing in restaurant-entertainment and hospitality technology. A 25+ year hospitality veteran, he co-founded Consolidated Concepts - now part of Buyers Edge Platform, serving roughly one-third of U.S. restaurants - and has helped scale leading experiential brands including Puttshack and F1 Arcade. Today, he invests alongside a network of 120+ hospitality leaders, bringing capital, industry relationships, and operating expertise to the next generation of hospitality companies.
Max Brenner
Co-Founder & CEO @ WithCoverage
Max is the Co-founder & CEO of WithCoverage, a modern insurance and risk platform backed by Sequoia and Khosla Ventures ($42M+ raised). Previously he disrupted the financial advisory industry and built Compound into a $3B+ AUM digital family office platform.
Luke Saunders
CEO @ Farmer's Fridge
Founder & CEO of Farmer's Fridge, where he's building a network of automated smart fridges delivering fresh, healthy meals to thousands of locations nationwide.
John Hayes
SVP of Finance @ Happy Dad
John is the SVP of Finance at Happy Dad Hard Seltzer & Tea, one of the fastest-growing beverage brands in the country. He leads the finance function for the company, where he's focused on building AI-driven processes that have dramatically cut the time it takes to run month-end close.
75+ founders, senior operators, and experienced PE/growth investors, all actively thinking about how AI impacts their businesses and portfolios
Brief, practical insights from founders currently deploying AI—focused on where they’re seeing real impact, what’s working, and where they’re investing
Attendees will receive the RSVP list ahead of the event and can indicate who they’d like to meet. Dinner tables are intentionally curated to facilitate relevant, peer-level conversations
Discussion centered on how AI is being applied across operationally complex, asset-heavy businesses—not abstract use cases or early-stage experimentation