Founder Friends DC took place on October 19, 2026 in Northwest Washington, DC. Hustle Fund hosted the free evening gathering, and the event page showed it as full, with a waitlist open for people hoping a spot would free up.
What the event covered
Hustle Fund described Founder Friends as a chance for founders to meet each other and hear one founder tell the story of a hard journey. The published agenda ran as follows:
- 6:00 to 7:00 PM: arrival, pizza and networking
- 7:00 to 7:30 PM: fireside chat
- 7:30 to 8:00 PM: audience Q&A
- 8:00 to 8:30 PM: more pizza and networking
Speakers and partners
Haley Bryant, a partner at Hustle Fund, led the fireside chat with Dhruva Rajendra, CEO and co-founder of the defense technology company Deterrence. The event page notes that he was previously co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Latch and CEO of Fast Rope Labs. Pilot was listed as a partner, and the Singapore Global Network, a division of Singapore's Economic Development Board, was listed as a supporter.
Who it was for
The event was aimed at founders who wanted to meet peers in a relaxed setting and hear a candid account of building a company. It suited DMV founders working in or near defense and dual-use technology, as well as early-stage founders curious about how a pre-seed investor thinks.
Venue
The event was in Northwest Washington, DC. The exact address was shared only with registered guests.
About the organizer and how to find future events
Hustle Fund is a pre-seed venture capital firm that says it invests in very early software startups and has backed more than 600 companies. It also runs the Angel Squad investor community and the Hustle Commons community. Future Founder Friends gatherings and other Hustle Fund events appear on the Hustle Fund Events calendar on Luma, linked from the past event page. More about the firm is on the Hustle Fund website, and its community is at Hustle Commons.