Ignite SF #18

Get ready for a night of ideas, insight, and pure adrenaline. In true Ignite fashion, each speaker will have just 5 minutes and 20 auto-advancing slides to enlighten you — fast.

This edition’s lineup is stacked with brilliant minds and bold voices:

🔥 Daisy Linden on Instagram and Food
🔥 Joey Chang AKA Cello Joe on The Joy of the Cello
🔥 David Hornick on Mistakes I've Made
🔥 Cecily Mak on a Life-Saving PSA
🔥 Bryan Bischof on Finding Art
🔥 Stephanie Lepp on a New Type of Debate
🔥 Thao Ha on Teens and Sex and How AI is Changing it All
🔥 Amanda Freise on The Science of Parties
🔥 Charley Hasenbeck on SF as Art Culture Incubator
🔥 Chuck McGee III on Breathwork and Your Body
🔥 Lexi Novitske on Resilience while Kite-Boarding Across Greenland
🔥 Allison Duettmann on the Foresight and the Future
🔥 Steven Kan on the Expanding Entropy of our Society
🔥 Noa Elan on AI and Friendship
🔥 Misha Bonaventura on Near-Death and Friendship
🔥 Vivek VenugopaI on How to Improv
🔥 Lexie Ierace on Tasting Color

Doors open at 6 pm (come early — the bar will be open!), and the first round of talks kicks off at 7 pm.

Ignite Talks began in 2006, founded by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis, and has since ignited stages in more than 350 cities worldwide, from Helsinki to Tunis to New York City.

Our mission is simple but powerful: Everybody Speaks. Because when people share their ideas, they don’t just build confidence — they build community.

Daisy Linden

Daisy argues that the food world's obsession with beauty is actively damaging taste, urging a new appreciation for less aesthetically perfect items like all-brown plates and russet apples. Expect a fresh perspective on how we evaluate what we eat and why embracing "ugly" food could unlock a richer culinary experience.

Joey Chang AKA Cello Joe

Joey will reveal the hidden secrets and struggles of becoming a professional cellist, offering an insightful look at the commitment required to master a bowed string instrument. This energetic talk will explore what it truly takes to move past the "dying cat" phase and achieve cello performance finesse.

David Hornik

David challenges the current narrative surrounding artificial intelligence, revealing unexpected insights into its actual limitations. Prepare for a fast-paced argument from David that offers a surprising perspective on technology's future impact.

Cecily Mak

Cecily reveals the startling terms of a deal she made with the universe after a serious illness, leading to a fresh perspective on living with clarity. Her talk offers surprising insight into seeking a "dimmer-free" life, challenging common assumptions about personal health and well-being.

Stephanie Lepp

Stephanie presents the Anti-Debate, a format that turns disagreement into a pathway for deeper understanding. Instead of producing winners and losers, participants build on each other’s perspectives through steel-manning and self-reflection. Her talk shows how this approach can elevate discussions in classrooms, boardrooms, podcasts, and beyond.

Thao Ha

Dr. Thao Ha is a developmental psychologist, director of the @HEART Lab, and co-founder of the Modern Love Collective at ASU. She studies how technologies like AI, social media, and VR impact adolescent love and mental health, offering insights that guide policies and innovations to help young people form healthy relationships that flourish in both digital and physical spaces.

Amanda Freise

Amanda Freise reveals how event design moves beyond art and into science, applying the scientific method to craft successful parties. Discover the hidden formula used in public art and science programs to foster curiosity and connection, ensuring every gathering is a compelling experiment.

Chuck McGee III

Chuck reveals his surprising introduction to breathwork and how simple changes to breath biomechanics can be the most powerful medicine. Discover how to take control and truly pilot your body, not just be its passenger.

Charley Hasenbeck

Charley will take us through a history of the San Francisco culture art scene and demonstrate how collective play and collaborative creation as forces for resilience and renewal.

Misha Bonaventura

This intimate talk traces how death's wisdom led Misha from thinking she just wasn't smart enough to do the things she dreamed of and hiding in the shadows of self-doubt to becoming a community leader at the edge of culture change.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR:

GenLab Venture Studio has an expertise that spans diverse areas, including AI, Data, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, Energy, Government, Commercialization, and Go To Market. Our partners and advisors have decades of experience and a proven track record in venture, venture studios, startups, enterprise and have had many successful exits, from open-source software and critical infrastructure, to consumer and enterprise applications our team is dedicated to creating incredible outcomes for our LPs.