San Diego Startup Week 2026
Five days, five venues, 5,000 founders and operators, and startups that are actually hiring.
Multiple venues, San Diego County, CA
What this event is
San Diego Startup Week runs November 2 to 6, 2026 across five venues from Carlsbad to SDSU, targeting 5,000-plus founders, talent, investors and operators. Programming includes keynotes, mixers, workshops, pitch competitions and a startup expo. Day tickets are $99 and week passes $229.
Roles you will actually see
Who should go
Engineers who want early-stage startup roles and are willing to hunt for them through conversations rather than booths.
This is not a job fair, it is a room full of founders who need engineers, and that is a better hiring channel if you can hold a conversation. Buy a day ticket for the UCSD or Cooley day, walk the expo, and ask every founder what they are building and who they are hiring. Early-stage startups rarely sponsor visas, so if you need H-1B support, focus on the later-stage companies and the keynote sponsors. Follow up on LinkedIn the same night while the conversation is fresh.
Show up prepared
- 1Buy a ticket for the day whose venue and schedule best match software talks.
- 2Build a target list of San Diego startups from the expo list and check their careers pages.
- 3Prepare a two-line intro that says what you build and what you want next.
Sponsorship reality
Sponsorship varies by employer. No organizer publishes sponsorship. Check each employer you plan to meet against H-1B disclosure data before you go, and ask in the first two minutes so neither side wastes the conversation.
Showing up is half of it.
The other half is being first to the roles these employers post, and having something real to show when you get there.
See roles the minute they go live, tailor one resume per employer, and reach the hiring manager directly. Walk into the event as a follow-up, not a stranger.
Start free13 weeks of building real AI agents and automations, so the answer to "what have you built" is a link, not a story.
Explore the program