If you don’t know me, I’m Mira. I’m originally from New Jersey, and now live in NYC. I studied chem engineering at Johns Hopkins, and I am a software investor at Bessemer Venture Partners.

Here’s the part that really matters:

I really love to cook (you can check out my IG at coffeebymira). You can find me baking and recipe testing on weekends, cooking at 9 pm after a long day, and re-reading Anthony Bourdain’s memoirs or Justine Doiron’s cookbook from front to back. I even contemplated part-time culinary school, and then promptly realized that there’s not enough hours in the day to manage being a full time investor and a part-time budding chef.

Here’s an apartment cafe I hosted in Feb 2025!

So bring in, Ate with Eight, or 8w8 for short, a supper club I’m starting for NYC builders and founders.

Here’s the selfish part first. This is scratching THE itch for me. The one where I spend hours in the kitchen, the race against the clock to make sure everything is ready before guests arrive, the smiles and laughs, and the biggest piece of validation — people helping themselves to seconds. Home cooked meals bring people together! It’s intimate, cozy dare I say, and a place to organically meet somebody new.

I have to credit inspiration for this from a south asian inspired supper club called Bazaar I’ve been following for months. The founder, Nirupa, also works a day job, and the way that she describes why she wanted to start a supper club, resonated with me. Not to be cliche, but for me, it’s about building community as someone still new to NYC, staying authentic, pursuing what excites you -- and maybe being lucky enough to sit at the table (or at least be a fly on the wall) among people who inspire you.

The second part is that I get the privilege to meet really cool founders and builders in New York City. As I was ideating on this, I had to ask myself why exactly a founder or builder would take time out of their insane schedule to go to a random VC’s apartment in Manhattan.

My answer is that this is an opportunity to bring all the cool and brilliant people I’ve met (and would like to meet) together, in a chill, casual setting. And I mean, you also just gotta eat…. I figured sometimes we all just crave a no frills home cooked meal. The tldr is community… friends…. and a free meal at home!

Key Philosophies:

1. I am in no way trying to triangulate your ARR. I promise. VCs get a bad rap for this, and I’m not hosting this as a VC. I’m hosting this as me. This isn’t going to be a formal networking setting at all.

2. This is an 8 person dinner party (including myself, so really 7). Why just 8 you might ask? Because I live in a 500 sq ft studio.. It’s going to be a bit of a squeeze, and that’s okay. I’ll make up for it by serving good food.

3. It’s not just for founders, but anyone working at a startup! It’s a cool way to introduce and bring the broader NYC tech community together :)

4. This will eventually grow into themed dinners for particular communities, affiliations, or interests! For example, people working at industrial AI companies, the Hopkins NYC tech community, women in tech etc.

This post is my first attempt to put these thoughts into writing. In many ways I’m using it to open source my thinking as I prepare for the beta version/trial of my first 8w8 supper club. If you are interested in joining a dinner or have any feedback, email me! mamin@bvp.com

Let’s get cooking!!