The Art of Alchemy and Silicon Foundry Experiences

As part of our standing “14 Others” dinner series, Silicon Foundry recently convened a group of leading beauty entrepreneurs, corporate executives, industry experts and cultural influencers within the NYC beauty space at The Freehand’s Simon + The Whale.

With attendees ranging from Estee Lauder’s SVP of IT Jay Anderson, to renowned makeup artist Troy Surratt, Allure Editor in Chief Michelle Lee, and JWT Intelligence Global Director Lucie Green, the unique voices around the table dissected many of the forces that are shaping the business of beauty today.

From the trend toward radical transparency to hyper-personalization, the “fast beauty” revolution and the new wave of digitally native Insta-beauty brands, we discussed how the combination of new technologies, business models and shifts in both consumer sentiment and behavior are driving transformative change across the beauty landscape.

What’s more, is that we developed a sense of community and commitment to helping one another in our various endeavors in just one night.

One of the many extensions of Silicon Foundry’s slate of experiences, 14 Others is a global rotating dinner series in an intentionally un-programmed setting with the goal of deepening existing or developing new relationships throughout the distinct layers of the innovation ecosystem.

With zero agenda or pre-planned discussion points, 14 Others is a relaxed and social soiree convening leading peers who may not have crossed paths otherwise to learn something new, debate provocative ideas and form solid connections (friendships) that can pave the way for actionable business opportunities.

Alchemy /ˈalkəmē/ is defined as a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation or combination.

Over the years, our team has attended thousands of events and conferences, big and small. We’ve recognized the fundamental fatigue around many of these occasions, and in thinking through our own slate of events, we knew we had to do something special to break through the noise.

Through unique formats, unexpected venues, and thought-provoking conversations, Silicon Foundry designs and hosts a unique slate of experiences throughout the year that drive meaningful dialogue and discovery.

SiF experiences range from intimate dinners and bespoke forums, to thesis-driven salons and exclusive annual summits — each designed to inspire broad, critical thinking regarding revolutionary technologies, major trends and associated societal shifts.

Unexpected, intimate, intriguing, thoughtful, kinetic, fresh and dimensional — each experience provides our Members with engineered connectivity and targeted visibility by bringing them face-to-face with a wide array of founders, investors, academics, influencers, policy makers and industry thought leaders.

With alchemy as our guiding principle, we architect our slate of experiences with specific factors in mind.

We believe in engineered serendipity — we create space where serendipity can occur through meaningful dialogue and discovery around the people, companies and phenomena influencing the future.

Power of the network — we bring together top founders, cultural power brokers, titans of the tech industry and venture capital visionaries to join in dialogue about the tectonic shifts across the landscape and the people, ideas, and models that are transforming business today. We accomplish this by leveraging our authentic and expansive ties and decades of collective startup, corporate, investment and advisory experience.

Uncompromising curation — scale and meaningful conversation are often in direct opposition. We believe there is power in convening small groups of the right people.

Unexpected by design — we believe a healthy dose of surprise sparks curiosity that fuels interesting conversation. People often forget things that they simply read or hear, but it is rare that they will forget time spent in a space that makes them feel.

Unique settings — an environment can directly impact the tenor and content of any event. We look for spaces that will provide contextual backdrops.

Most importantly, we’ve learned from our network of relationships that visionaries and doers want to connect with powerful ideas and equally passionate people. They want to be part of that process of invention and evolution — to push the boundaries of what we think is possible.

These are the kinds of experiences we seek to create every day.