YOU ARE INVITED!
Twill Presents Threads: Scaling AI from Concept to Production for Operators and Investors
Join us for Light Talks with industry transformers as they share firsthand insights on real-world AI deployments, proven strategies for scaling innovative products, and the challenges of building and maintaining data pipelines for Fortune 100 companies.
This in-person event brings together trailblazers who have done just that. From startup founders to AI executives, you’ll hear their unfiltered stories, lessons learned, and strategies for building AI that truly delivers impact.
⏱️ Tuesday, September 24, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM PDT
📍 SOMA San Francisco, CA
🎙 Lightning Talks with industry transformers:
Tanya Roosta, Ph.D., MFE – Applied Science Manager, Amazon
Bryce Gilleland – General Partner, California Innovation Fund
Arko C. – CEO Pipeshift (YC S24) | Forbes 30U30
Zohaib Ahmed – Founder & CEO @ Resemble AI (California Innovation Fund)
Ronald Ding – Co-Founder & CTO @ Shadeform (YC S23)
Samuel Kahn K. - VP, AI & Data Science TICKR
Raymond Lee – Founder Twill
Last time, our community came together for an unforgettable evening at the Innodata event packed with big ideas, powerful conversations, and meaningful connections. We’re excited to share a quick highlight reel from that night, and trust us this upcoming gathering is sure to be just as special.
🥂 Join Investors and Execs at Meta, Sony, UC Berkeley, Crunchbase, Intuit, and Series A & Beyond Founders for an Exclusive Cocktail Hour & Dinner at a Beautiful Venue Overlooking the SF Waterfront
The Horizon Forum — Powered by Norton Rose Fulbright & Twill
Norton Rose Fulbright, a global law firm with 3,000+ lawyers in 50+ cities worldwide — from London and New York to Hong Kong, Sydney, and Johannesburg — is joining forces with Twill, a Silicon Valley community of 10,000+ founders, investors, and executives at the cutting edge of AI.
Together, we present The Horizon Forum, a global dinner forum designed to unite AI leaders across continents for candid dialogue, powerful connections, and actionable insights.
⏱️ Thursday, September 18, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM PDT
📍 Downtown San Francisco, CA
Code TWILLVIP gets you $10 off!

Founders Highlights
⚾ SF Giants Night at Oracle Park | Private Suite Event with Tech Leaders & Creatives

Okay, picture this: you walk into a private suite at Oracle Park, the Giants are warming up, and the Bay lights are just starting to glow. The energy? Unreal. Instead of the usual networking scene, this felt like hanging out with friends—except those friends just happen to be some of the brightest tech leaders and creatives in San Francisco, including investors with $10B+ AUM and founders with $10M+ raised.
We had food, drinks, the crack of the bat, and a room buzzing with conversations that flipped from baseball to AI to wild startup stories. You didn’t just “meet people”—you actually connected, laughed, and left with names you’ll want to remember.
Huge thanks to all the investors, founders, and executives who came out and made the night one to remember. This is what happens when community, creativity, and a little baseball magic collide.
At twill, we believe networking shouldn’t feel stiff or transactional. That’s why we design gatherings that spark genuine interactions, mixing professionals, builders, and creatives in environments that are as fun as they are meaningful. Think less “conference room small talk” and more “effortless conversations under the stars.”
Sunset Singles Jacuzzi Recap — A Rooftop Night to Remember
Last weekend, AI innovators, creatives, and visionaries gathered atop a breathtaking Mid-Market rooftop in San Francisco for the Sunset Singles Jacuzzi hosted by Raymond Lee and Jessica Abea, and presented by TWILL. With golden sunset views, gourmet food, drinks, and a relaxed Jacuzzi vibe, guests connected in an elevated setting designed for real conversations and effortless chemistry.
For those curious about what's next, keep an eye on upcoming twill events. More curated opportunities for the AI and creative communities to connect
SIGN UP for the next event as we have exclusive super early bird access!
Thanks to PLAY/CHROMA for capturing the experience!
Meet PLAY/CHROMA—where we turn your company's story into video content that gets you recognized. Every business has a powerful story, but most don't know where to start telling it through video. We handle everything from cost-efficient short-form content to comprehensive long-form narratives, helping companies of all sizes inform their audience about who they are and the value they bring. Ready to tell your story through video that connects?
Upcoming Events
Don’t miss out! Several exciting events are coming up:
Stay tuned here’s where you can connect with us next. SIGN UP TODAY
Job Board
Looking to make your next career move in tech? We have some exciting roles currently available from within the community!
Join a small fast-growing team building AI-driven workflows:
Cloud Engineer and AI Operations - We are a small team building a core AI-driven workflow to accelerate human processing of a high volume of non-structured data. The system is built and operational, and we are adding an additional full-stack developer to extend and improve it. We are seeking a skilled engineer to design, build, and secure AI/ML systems at scale. The ideal candidate combines strong software engineering, ML pipeline experience, and cloud infrastructure expertise with a security-first mindset.
Qualifications: Proficiency in Python, JavaScript, node.js, and SQL.
Join a seed-stage company as a Founding Engineer and work directly with the founder to shape the future of the company. Backed by Y Combinator, Initialized Capital, and other leading investors, this is a unique opportunity to have a front-row seat in building and scaling a high-growth startup:
Founding Engineer - Own major features end-to-end: API design, backend logic, frontend UI, and everything in between. We’re building the control center for U.S. duty drawback—a $10B/year opportunity hiding in plain sight. We use AI and automation to recover tariffs paid by importers when goods are later exported, returned, or destroyed. Most companies don’t even realize they’re eligible. We make sure no dollar is left behind.
For the below roles, you’ll work with a founding team that has scaled and led engineering teams through multiple successful acquisitions, including one valued at over $350M:
LLM EVALUATION ENGINEER - you’ll build the evaluation layer in a—the part of the system that decides whether an LLM prompt, response, tool call, or agent behavior is acceptable. This includes designing and tuning guardrails, classifiers, and semantic judgment systems that operate in real-time.
FOUNDING SOFTWARE ENGINEER - you won’t just be piping logs or tuning models—you’ll architect systems that reconcile latency, correctness, and observability across distributed pipelines. You’ll be designing the nervous system of a new class of software—where AI Agents reason, act, and fail in unpredictable ways. If you're excited by AI and want to shape its safe deployment—not just watch from the sidelines—this is your opportunity.
BACKEND / PLATFORM ENGINEER, AI ANALYTIC ENGINES - Design and optimize streaming data pipelines using Kafka, Redpanda, or similar technologies to support high-throughput, low-latency processing of LLM interactions.
Social/Wellness Events
Our social and wellness events are designed to bring people together in a supportive, uplifting space where connection meets self-care. Whether it’s a mindful workshop, community gathering, or wellness-inspired celebration, each event blends relaxation, learning, and fun. Expect engaging activities, empowering conversations, and opportunities to recharge your mind, body, and spirit while building meaningful relationships.
Spotlight
172 Startups to Watch: YC Summer 2025
To celebrate YC Demo Day, the S25 batch is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting yet. Here are a few standouts:
💸 Shor (YC S25) (https://lnkd.in/grgpnFZ7)
The fastest, most affordable payroll for global teams.
Hiring and paying global teams has traditionally been slow, expensive, and complex. Shor makes it fast, simple, and affordable by combining AI agents with stablecoin settlement. From one Slack or WhatsApp thread, you can instantly generate contracts, onboard hires, run payroll, and have payments land in minutes — all while staying fully compliant.
👉 Hire and pay international contractors for $20/month with near-instant settlement.
👥 Full-time employees (EOR) are coming soon at $99/month.
🔗 Interested? Learn more and request beta access at tryshor.com.
🛁 Don’t want to read? Here’s Max Zavidow explaining it all: https://lnkd.in/gcqyMufX
📙 Knowlify (YC S25) (https://lnkd.in/giRyQhpd)
Everyone loves how 3Blue1Brown explains complex ideas. Knowlify lets you do that for any topic, instantly. With AI, they convert text into beautiful explainer videos in <15 seconds. From researchers to publishers to enterprises, this is a game-changer for making knowledge actually stick.
🗣️ Pingo AI (https://lnkd.in/gFBGFCjn)
Most language apps focus on memorization. Pingo is different: it helps you speak confidently by practicing real-life conversations with an AI tutor that feels like a native speaker. They’ve already grown to 300k users and $200k MRR in just months.
🔥 We’ve also collected a full list of 172 YC S25 startups, complete with descriptions, launch info, and founder details—all in one place.
Want it for free? Write a post tagging @Raymond Lee, @twill, @Y Combinator and we’ll send it to you!
🤝 Interested in Partnering or Investing?
We’re opening a channel for those who want to connect with the incredible founders from Y Combinator. If you’re an investor, advisor, or potential partner looking to explore opportunities, submit your details below and we’ll make sure you’re on the radar.
Looking for unbiased, fact-based news? Join 1440 today.
Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.
Behind Twill is Raymond Lee, a visionary leader committed to building meaningful ecosystems for innovators.
His mission is simple yet powerful: connect people shaping the future of AI, technology, and business in ways that spark collaboration and lasting impact.

Thanks for reading! Stay plugged into the latest founder news, events, and opportunities:
📩 Join our newsletter for weekly updates
📅 Subscribe to our events calendar so you never miss what’s next
Let’s keep building the future, together. 🚀
