Google, Stanford and Startup Pitches: 2 Weeks at SF and LA Tech Week

This autumn, part of the Chili Labs team traveled from Riga to California for 2 weeks of events, meetings and conferences. The list included GTM Evolution in 2027, an Adobe-hosted event with speakers from OpenAI and Microsoft, a meeting with Google's Flutter team, the Latvian Startup Showcase, events at Alchemist Accelerator and more.

Why we went

The mobile app market is changing fast. AI already affects how companies run their business, and more change is coming.

We build apps every day, so we're always testing new ideas, both in our own team and on client projects. That helps us see what will matter next year and what is noise.

Trips like this let us talk those ideas through with people from Google, OpenAI and Microsoft, with our partners and with friends from the developer community. We then bring what we learn back to client projects, so their apps perform well today and are ready for what comes next.

San Francisco: GTM Evolution in 2027

The week started at GTM Evolution in 2027. Our CEO Vyacheslav Kreidikov and project manager Kristaps Brēmers attended the panel in San Francisco, where speakers from OpenAI and Microsoft discussed the role of AI in mobile app development.

Meeting the Flutter team at Google

Flutter is at the core of what we build, so a meeting with the team behind it was a priority. On day two, Vyacheslav and Kristaps visited Google SF and met Abdallah Shaban, Product Manager, and Justin McCandless, Tech Lead for the Flutter Framework. Great thanks for the fresh perspective from people shaping Flutter's future.

Pitching ToTheRescue at the Latvian Startup Showcase

Day three mattered most to the team. Vyacheslav took the stage at the Latvian Startup Showcase to pitch ToTheRescue, our search and rescue coordination platform, and the audience responded warmly.

Stanford, Alchemist Accelerator and VC conversations

On day four, the team went to Stanford to meet the local startup community and see the campus. They visited Stanford's Makery and AI Thinkery. A proud moment: a book on Flutter design patterns by our former colleague Daria on the library shelves.

At Alchemist Accelerator, Vyacheslav and Kristaps heard from Laurent Rains, Managing Director, and pitched ToTheRescue to him. His feedback gave us clear points to work on.

The same day brought many conversations about venture capital. Davis Auksmuksts from Plug and Play Tech Center explained what VCs look for in startups.

These talks confirmed something we've learned over the years. Chili Labs started with a focus on technical excellence. With time, we saw that good products start with the client's business needs. Conversations like the one with Davis help us keep the client's business and go-to-market strategy first, and choose the technology to support them.

Doing business in the US

Over the weekend, the team attended events on opportunities for Latvian companies in the US. We work with clients and partners on both sides of the Atlantic, so the legal side was especially useful: company registration, patents, copyrights and trademarks under US law.

Kristaps and Vyacheslav:

• attended a lecture by Ivars Slokenbergs on legal and IP matters
• heard Inese Grate from Sapochnick Law Firm on visa options for founders
• spoke with Vaida Brusokaite from TheInflection about standing out and driving sales
• took notes from Nuné Zadoyan from Seed Consult LLC on pitching and raising capital

Thank you to the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) for organising these events and helping Latvian companies grow in the US.

Between the business talks, there was time for basketball. Kristaps joined a Tech Basketball run, which brought a different kind of competition to the weekend. Then the team went to see the Golden State Warriors play the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center, cheering for Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

The team wrapped up the weekend over lunch with Korhan Erçin and Eftal Yurtseven from each::labs. Over lunch, they compared how each team approaches client challenges and helps clients build better products.

Los Angeles: clients, investors and developers

After a week in San Francisco, Vyacheslav and Kristaps continued to Los Angeles to meet partners and friends.

First stop: the West LA studio of our client [solidcore]. From there, they went to the Baltic tech networking event at LouLou Rooftop Bar, hosted by LIAA and Ģirts Graudiņš. It was a good chance to meet angel investors, VCs and local tech operators, make new contacts and exchange ideas.

On the last day, the guys joined Build with Google Developer Experts, hosted by Codelabs, to learn from leaders of the developer community.

What we brought back

The team came home with fresh ideas, a clearer view of where the app market is heading in 2027, and practical lessons on building mobile apps and getting them to market. We're already applying new strategies to our own and client projects. If you'd like to hear how they could apply to your app, get in touch.