The honest read of the room: this is an AI and enterprise tech investor crowd (a16z, Khosla, ICONIQ, Bain Capital Ventures, Mayfield, Fusion Fund). Nobody on the 2026 speaker list is verifiably in employee ownership. The value is (a) the approval-gated Investor Pass matchmaking, where you state your thesis and they curate 5 to 10 one-on-ones, and (b) the Aug 25 Future of Work Pitch Night side event, the one on-theme room of the week. Plan for arranged conversations through those two channels plus the advance notes below.
| # | Who | Role | Why they multiply | Path | Suggested ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ray Dargham | Co-founder and CEO, Step | Controls investor matchmaking; can seat you with any funder there | Cold (sf@stepconference.com; active on LinkedIn) | Investor lounge access with an employee-ownership thesis; a short speaking or roundtable slot |
| 2 | Adeo Ressi | CEO Decile Group / VC Lab; founded Founder Institute (a Step partner) | Trains hundreds of emerging fund managers, some with impact or ownership theses; fireside Aug 27, 11:15 | Warm-ish: in our CRM. Aaron Eden (Intuit, in CRM, 73-email Founder Institute thread) can bridge | 15 min at the event; intros to VC Lab fund managers with impact or future-of-work theses |
| 3 | Natalia Bielczyk | Ontology of Value; co-host, Future of Work Pitch Night (Aug 25, Tesla Showroom) | Her room IS the future-of-work crowd; also a Step ecosystem partner | Cold | Judge or a 15-min slot at the Aug 25 night; co-promotion |
| 4 | Charles Hudson | Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures | Most approachable top-tier name; writes on venture economics and who gets upside; huge pre-seed network | Cold | 15 min; intros to impact-leaning pre-seed peers and LPs |
| 5 | Jeremiah Owyang | GP Blitzscaling Ventures; keynote | Built his name on the collaborative economy thesis; broad reach | Cold | 15 min post-keynote; ownership-economy angel intros |
| 6 | Ash Kumra | The AI Collective, Inc.com columnist, Luma co-host | Community and media connector across the whole event | Cold | Walk-the-room intros; possible column mention |
| 7 | Grace Gong | Smart Venture Media (SmartVenture podcast) | Podcast reaches VCs directly; her guest list is the funder list | Cold | Record an episode on the accelerator |
| 8 | Jeff Abbott | GP Blitzscaling; moderates the fundraising roundtable | The roundtable puts funders at one table | Cold | A seat at the fundraising roundtable |
| 9 | Steven Hoffman | CEO Founders Space | Accelerator head, global angel network, prolific connector | Cold | 15 min; cross-accelerator collaboration and angel intros |
| 10 | Geraldine Woloch-Addamine | Good4work; co-host, Future of Work Pitch Night | Second key to the Aug 25 room | Cold | Same as Bielczyk; ask whom to meet on the 27th |
| 11 | Mariane Bekker | Head of DevRel, You.com; Luma co-host | Co-host access (we are daily you.com API users, mild hook) | Cold | Intro to the co-host circle |
| 12 | Kayvan Baroumand | SignalRank / Thinktank.vc; pitch judge | Investor-data operator, knows which funds are actually writing checks | Cold | 15 min; which funds fit an ownership thesis |
| 13 | Scott Kelly | Black Dog Venture Partners; media partner and Day 1 judge | PR plus investor network, judges the kick-off pitch | Cold | Kick-off night intro; coverage |
| 14 | Aaron Eden | Intuit (not confirmed attending) | Not a Step name, but our live bridge into Founder Institute and Ressi | Warm: 73 emails, in CRM | Pre-event: ask him for the Ressi intro and who from Founder Institute is going |
| 15 | Endeavor Catalyst / 500 Global / Alumni Ventures reps | On the investor-page logos | The most access and impact oriented funds listed | Cold | Request them by name in Investor Pass matchmaking |
ALL AI-DRAFTED from the writing-voice profile; for Golda to edit and send 1 to 2 weeks out (around Aug 12-13). None of these words are sourced quotes.
FLAG, not solved: the cohort launches Aug 24; Step SF puts Golda out of pocket on days 3 and 4 of launch week. Launch-week coverage needs a named owner.