Where innovation knows no boundaries

Hello 24six9-ers!

Big month. Genuinely. We launched a Chapter on the other side of the world, watched Riyadh founders level up in real time, spent a night working on the founder, not the funding, and hit LEAP for good measure.

Somewhere in there we also published three blogs and drank an unreasonable amount of café coffee in Dubai. Buckle up, here's the recap.

Riyadh Chapter, Founders Workshop, Build the Founder Before the Company, August 11, 2026

Adel Mazi asked a room full of Riyadh founders to picture themselves at 82. On a random Tuesday, decades from now. Everyone walks around with a business plan, and almost nobody has a life plan.

So instead of building companies, we spent the night building the one thing that outlives every startup: YOU! As it turns out, picking only five priorities is harder than it sounds. Then came the gut punch: does your calendar actually back them up? Does your bank statement?

Everyone left with something real to think about, and what stuck:

"A company can change, pivot, grow, or disappear. The founder stays."

Dubai Chapter, Idea Lab, Old School Edition, August 21, 2026

A café, some coffee, and a room full of founders bringing their ideas to the table. We took it back to where 24six9 started, and the café setup still hits different.

Five pitchers, five completely unrelated corners of the world. Aakansha Damani 's taking on food labels, because most of us have no idea what we're actually eating. Dragos Balhui is building LLM Shield to catch AI attacks that hide inside conversations. Aysha's SpaceShare rents out the spare seats in people's homes as co-working spots. Daniel Serrano brought We•R2Chain 's blockchain infrastructure, and Fabrice brought Banti. No two problems alike, one room helping with all of them.

The room was full, the energy was easy, and the conversations spilled way past the pitches

Riyadh Chapter, Pitch Roast LEAP Edition, August 25, 2026

No panel of polite nods. No "love the energy, good luck." Room full of founders and operators tearing into gaps and telling people what was actually wrong with their pitch.

It wasn't comfortable. It was never meant to be. But comfortable doesn't get you funded, nor interviewed. *wink*

Standout Pitchers earned an exclusive 24six9 community interview at LEAP 2026, one of the biggest tech stages on the planet.

Getting roasted has its rewards!

24six9 Dubai Chapter with PlanX Conference, August 27, 2026

We joined our partners at PlanX for their Founder Series: Authority (Digital Edition) at TheBlock FZCO, where Shreya Pattar, better known as The LinkedIn Girl, took a room of founders through the thing most of us keep putting off: actually building a reputation online.

The premise is simple. Before anyone takes a meeting, funds a round, or signs a deal, they look you up. And what they find is usually a half finished profile and a repost from 2023. Shreya's whole approach is about fixing that without the cringe, the burnout, or spending your life posting into the void.

Practical, direct, and a solid reminder that your founder brand is working whether you're managing it or not.

LEAP 2026, Riyadh, August 31, 2026

We spent LEAP doing what we do best: talking to potential partners and a whole bunch of founders – coming back with a very full notebook!

Some serious partnerships are brewing out of Riyadh. We sat down with accelerators and incubators, sketched out youth programs for founders who are just getting started (and by young, we mean YOUNG, the future's showing up early these days), and met international entities who fell hard for the idea of 24six9 Riyadh being plugged into a global founder community. Hard to blame them 😌

We also filmed interviews with the founders who pitched at our Riyadh Chapter’s Pitch Roast. They survived the roast, so a camera was nothing. Their videos drop this month, so keep your eyes open.

Founders Brain Fuel Series, August 2026

Three new pieces went up this month, all for founders who'd rather learn it now than the expensive way later:

Intellectual Property Right from Day One, Written by Suraya Turk, Community Contributor. Quick question: that freelancer who built your MVP, do they still own a slice of it? Possibly. This is how to make sure your startup is actually, legally yours.

Building Media Presence: A Founder's Playbook, Written by Vlada Lomova, Community Contributor. Nobody's writing about your product. They might write about your story. Here's the difference, and how to use it.

Corporate Restructuring: Setting Up a Holding Company, Written by Suraya Turk Community Contributor. The least exciting sentence in startup life, and quietly one of the most important. Sort it early or pay for it later.

Got something worth sharing? The next one could be yours. Reach out at hello@24six9.org

We'd say we're taking a breather but September's already causing trouble.

Auckland Chapter Founders Unfiltered, September 4, 2026

24six9 has dropped anchor in the City of Sails. Our newest chapter kicked off with Founders Unfiltered at The Banker, Highbrook Crossing, because every founder's chasing backing and where better to start.

Auckland founders getting honest about what building actually takes. More on this in Septembers newsletter. Kia Ora, Auckland. Let's keep it going.

Berlin Chapter Launch, September 24, 2026

Berlin's next. Our Berlin Chapter launches on Thursday, September 24! If you're in the city or know founders who are, this one's worth watching.

September's filling up fast. A lot more meet-ups rolling out across our Chapters. Keep an eye out.

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We look forward to bringing you the most exciting and meaningful, opportunities, and connections, designed to help you thrive.

Have an excellent rest of the month!

All our Love,

Team 24six9