Stack 0 - Startup+: From "I Need a Real Event" to NYC’s Biggest Startup Community
I am talking about the origin story of Startup+. Looking back, it feels like nothing short of a miraculous startup story!
In the middle of the pandemic, I had a problem. I needed to go to a startup event—but there weren’t any good ones. At least, not the kind I wanted.
Everything was on Zoom. Virtual networking, virtual happy hours, virtual pitch nights—it was all painfully awkward and borderline useless. I wanted real conversations, not weird silences on a laggy video call.
At the time, I was building Remitto (remittoapp.com) with two friends, trying to figure out go-to-market strategies, fundraising, and growth tactics. I needed to pick the brains of investors, founders, and marketers—but where?
So, like any frustrated entrepreneur, I stopped complaining and started doing. If I couldn’t find a good in-person startup event, I’d make one.
The First Event: Six Strangers in a Basement
I picked a random bar—The Scratcher in NYC—and invited a few people. No panelists, no speeches, no agenda. Just founders talking about their struggles over drinks.
Six or seven of us showed up that first night. That’s it. But something clicked. Conversations flowed, people stayed late, and everyone said the same thing: "This is exactly what I needed."
So, I did it again the next week. And the next. And the next.
This is ‘the scratcher’. The pic is from one of my early events once it started taking momentum.
The Growing Pains: Chaos, Venues, and Near-Disasters
Running a startup event every week? Brutal.
Some nights, only five people showed up.
Venues kept falling through. I hopped from The Scratcher to Rooftop 93, Bowery Beer Garden, Churchill Tavern, Citizens Market Bar, Slattery’s, and finally Sour Mouse. Not in that order
One time, a rooftop venue double-booked the space. I found out 20 minutes before the event—with attendees already on the way. I had to scramble to find another location in real time.
Despite the chaos, word started spreading. More people showed up. 10 turned into 20. 20 turned into 50. Eventually, I was bringing in 60+ attendees per event.
Rooftop 93
Bowery Beer Garden
The Breakout Moment: Startup+ Goes Big
By mid-2022, something wild happened. Every event was selling out.
At one point, we were hitting 100-120 attendees per event—without even posting on LinkedIn anymore. I had to scale back to bi-weekly, then monthly, just to keep up.
And it wasn’t just networking anymore. Startup+ evolved into a full-blown startup ecosystem.
Churchill Tavern
Bowery Beer Garden
Citizens Market Bar
The Pitch & Networking Nights
One of the biggest shifts was introducing Pitch Nights. We brought together early-stage founders and investors, creating real fundraising opportunities.
🚀 In just 12+ Pitch & Networking events, we’ve seen:
120+ founders pitch their startups
400+ investors evaluate those pitches
100+ general attendees per event
5,000+ total in-person attendees across all events
Sour Mouse
Today: One of NYC’s Largest Startup Communities
Startup+ is now a full-scale startup hub—not just an event series. We:
✅ Host networking nights, pitch events, and more
✅ Run a Founder Stories blog series featuring real founder journeys
✅ Run a How to Network blog series to help our community to make most out of these events.
✅ Are launching a Startup+ podcast
✅ Have grown to 75+ in-person events, 15,000 members on meetup.com alone, 6000+ folks walked in through our doors, 6100+ substack followers, 1200+ subscribers on Luma. All in all 25,000 members across Luma, Substack, Meetup, Eventbrite, and Discord
Crazy fact: The last Startup+ event was sold out with 260 attendees (on Luma alone), and the waitlist was 170+.
Our next event? March 6 at Sour Mouse—93 spots SOLD OUT as of this writing, which is crazy because the event is one month away. Not bad for something that started as me just trying to find a good event.
The Future: Going National & Launching a Podcast
This is just the beginning. Here’s what’s next:
🎙 A Startup+ Podcast – More founders, investors, and actionable insights.
🌎 Expanding beyond NYC – We’ve built the playbook. Now it’s time to bring Startup+ to new cities.
Huge Thanks to the Community
None of this would have happened without an incredible team and community. Massive shoutout to:
Philip, Frankie, Bryan, Jaynish, and a long list of volunteers, venue partners, and repeat attendees who made Startup+ what it is today.
Every founder, investor, and startup builder who showed up, pitched in, and made this movement possible.
Final Thought
This all started because I needed a good in-person event. What I didn’t expect? Building one of NYC’s largest startup communities from scratch.
No big sponsors. No corporate backers. Just real founders helping each other.
Here’s to the next chapter. 🚀
Aneesh Lal | Founder | Startup+ | LinkedIn
www.startupplus.club