San Francisco — four days inside the AI build-out.
Thirteen Dutch founders & CEOs in the rooms doing the work — Salesforce, OpenAI, Anthropic, General Catalyst, Contextual AI, HackerOne. Pricing in the age of AI with Madhavan Ramanujam. Legal with Wilson Sonsini. Dreamforce week, no Dreamforce stage.
By the numbers
In pictures
A walk through the week — the Consulate garden, the YC table, the Anthropic working session, a founder AMA, and a dinner that ran long.
The week, session by session
An Amsterdam pre-brief, then four days on the ground in the Bay. The agenda was the cohort's actual questions — pricing, legal, GTM, fundraising — answered by the operators who run them.
Kick off · Amsterdam
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Challenges on the table
Google · AmsterdamEach founder put the real US blocker on the table before the plane took off. The agenda for the week was the cohort's actual questions — not a curated panel.
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Expanding & raising in the US — AMA
Google · Amsterdam · Wilson SonsiniThe firm in the room for more US tech IPOs than you can count. A working pre-brief on the legal and capital realities of US expansion.
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Dinner
The guest list started becoming a cohort.
Welcome to San Francisco
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Arrivals & check-in
CitizenM Union SquareCohort lands. Dreamforce is the same week — the city is at capacity. Hotel as base, not as a venue.
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Orange Heart Reception
Consulate General's Residence · Hosted with the Consulate General of the NetherlandsFounders, investors and operators with a strong NL connection — pooled with the parallel Future of Compute cohort. The relaxed opener that sets the tone for the week.
Effectively leveraging the AI transition moment
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Pricing in the age of AI — deep dive
Palo Alto · Madhavan Ramanujam · General Partner, 49 Palms VenturesThe author of Monetizing Innovation on how AI is rewriting B2B pricing. A working session, not a keynote.
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Navigating AI from a legal perspective
Palo Alto · Wilson SonsiniModel risk, IP, customer contracts, regulation. The questions you don't want to discover the answer to in a deal.
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YC founders · lunch
San FranciscoLunch with a working group of YC founders. Peer-to-peer, no pitches.
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AMA with Parker Harris
Salesforce · Parker Harris · Co-founder, SalesforceJoined the parallel CEO group inside Salesforce HQ. The unfiltered version of building a category-defining platform — from one of the two people who did it.
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AMA with Jason Kwon
Jason Kwon · Chief Strategy Officer, OpenAIStrategy at the company shaping the AI market. Off the record.
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Dinner with the CEO group
The University Club · Central SF · In partnership with DeloitteFifty around the table — Dutch CEOs from NS, Gasunie, Alliander, APG, Rabobank, NN, KLM, KPN alongside SF founders and CEOs. An intimate dinner across two ecosystems.
Scaling, sales & connections — navigating the US market
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AMA with General Catalyst
General CatalystOne of the most active growth-stage investors in the US, on what they're funding in this moment and what they're not.
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Lunch at Anthropic
Anthropic HQInside the building. The conversation founders most wanted.
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OpenAI visit
OpenAIRound two for the cohort — this time inside OpenAI's own walls.
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Founder AMA with Michiel Prins
The Battery · Michiel Prins · Co-founder Product, HackerOneA Dutch founder who built a category-defining security business from the US. Unscripted.
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Investor Reception
The Battery · San Francisco · Hosted with AWSSixty investors, founders and operators across the Bay. The room you can't book yourself into — and the point of the trip.
A finale at the Consulate
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Checkout & walk to the Consulate
CitizenM Union Square → Consulate GeneralA short walk with luggage. The trip closes where it opened.
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AMA with Douwe Kiela
Consulate General · San Francisco · Douwe Kiela · Co-founder & CEO, Contextual AIA Dutch ML researcher turned Stanford lecturer turned AI founder. The technical, the unglamorous, and the long view — to close the week.
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Wrap-up & feedback
Consulate General · San FranciscoA short debrief. Group photo. Cohort heads to SFO.
Who was in the room
Thirteen Dutch founders & CEOs. One shared week, one shared question.
What founders walked away with
- A working framework for pricing AI products — directly from Madhavan Ramanujam, not a podcast clip.
- An honest read on AI legal exposure from Wilson Sonsini, the firm running it for the companies in the headlines.
- Time inside Salesforce, OpenAI and Anthropic — the buildings, not just the brands.
- A live AMA with a Dutch founder who already built a category-defining US business (HackerOne).
- A peer group of twelve other Dutch founders on the same scaling questions, now on a first-name basis.
- Room access — the Consulate Residence, The University Club, The Battery — that opens doors long after the flight home.
Who we sat down with
Want a seat on the next one?
The next Cities trip is already being shaped. Spots are limited and the bar is high — we bring founders of scaling businesses ready to take the US seriously. Every trip ends with a private recap like this one.