Arena Hall × Key and Critical Ventures present

Tech Maxxing

8 companies. 2 unicorns. Running it back.

AUSTIN · OCT 11–21, 2026 · DEMO DAY AS F1 WEEK BEGINS

Tell us what you're building See the 10 days
10days in one house
9companies, picked by hand
24mentors — one coffee, office hours, or dinner each
1demo day, October 21

Why this exists

The 2016 playbook meets a better city

2016 — the proof

One house. Eight companies. Two became Lambda and Luminar.

It wasn't curriculum. It was density — the right people, one roof, a clock, and real stakes.

2026 — the city

The hard-tech wave is landing in Central Texas.

Thousands of engineers who now know how factories get built, one vesting cliff away from founding. Nobody has built the room where they become founders. This is the room.

The daily rhythm · Mon–Sat

Maxxing is a schedule

Same rhythm, every day. Mornings belong to the build — nothing is ever scheduled against them.

TRAINING LOG · CST--:--
06:00Workouttogether, before sunrise
08:15Coffee with Xone mentor · no slides
09:00Buildsacred · six uninterrupted hours
15:00Investor office hoursone investor a day, in the house
18:00Dinner with Xone operator or founder · family style

Oct 11 → Oct 21

The arc

SUN OCT 11

Kickoff dinner — the Lambda / Luminar story, told by someone who lived it.

MON 12 – SAT 17

The rhythm, six days straight. Six coffees, six investors, six dinners.

SUN OCT 18

Off. Explore Austin. Burnout is a design flaw.

MON OCT 19

The rhythm, one last time.

TUE OCT 20

Pitch prep. Full rehearsal, brutal feedback.

WED OCT 21

Demo day — see below.

WED OCT 21 · 2–4 PM + HAPPY HOUR 4–6

Demo day, as race week begins

Nine live demos in front of a room of capital that already met the founders at office hours. Then two hours where the conversations become term sheets — and F1 weekend takes it from there.

The mentor wall

Twenty-four seats, revealed in September

Founders and investors from the funds and companies you already know. One coffee, one office-hours block, or one dinner each — and by demo day, every founder has met eight investors in their sweatpants.

+SEAT 01
+SEAT 02
+SEAT 03
+SEAT 04
+SEAT 05
+SEAT 06
+SEAT 07
+SEAT 08

Nine seats

There's no open application.

The list is built by hand — one form, one call, three references. Offers go out September 15–25. If you're building something that belongs in this house, say so.

Tell us what you're building