Startup and Tech Mixer is not your typical, boring, grab-a-bunch-of-business-cards and make small talk networking function.
Held on three floors at San Francisco's W Hotel, the barely year-old event is part conference with a dash of networking, an exhibition for new startups, with lots of alcohol thrown in. And, it's also a lot of fun.
"It's important to create an all-inclusive vibe," said Ari Kalfayan, who helped start the mixer a year ago with a few friends, having just 75 people showing up to the first event.
Now the event has certainly grown up, with Kalfayan telling Business Insider that the mixer on Friday hosted roughly 4,500 attendees, all mingling between speakers, bars, games, and yes, even a bounce house.
Just a short walk from Business Insider's West Coast offices is the W Hotel in the South of Market (SoMa) area.
It's in a pretty nice spot, right across the street from the Museum of Modern Art.
After a quick check-in and ticket scan — no paper here, it's EventBrite QR codes — we're in. Here's what people could expect.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
