Designed for Founders, CEO’s, and CMO’s we invited our community to ditch the standard panel and industry happy hours to instead customize their own pair of Nike Air Force 1’s during TECH WEEK by a16z. The invitation went out to founders and CMOs across the city, and 800 people applied for 20 coveted spots.

In the heart of NYC, we hosted an invite-only afternoon built around a disarmingly simple format: a fresh pair of Nike Air Force 1s, three hours, and a room of fellow marketing leaders who spend their days shaping brand narratives — now living inside one as part of our MTE Experiential wing of the studio.

Every attendee walked out wearing something they built themselves. Not a swag bag. Not a branded tote. Their own shoe — their own vision, their own hands, their own story. That's our thesis and what we bring to clients as a dedicated creative partner. In a world where marketing increasingly looks the same, sounds the same, and feels generated, mte is the antidote.

Taste. Originality. Craft. You can't prompt your way to any of it.

The room delivered. What started as an afternoon turned into new partnerships, collaborations, clients, and friendships that extended well beyond the event.

Special thanks to Virginia Frischkorn of Partytrick, Adam Gilbert of ViewEngine, and Alex Munno of Air for helping bring it to life and to all of our participants in what we hope will become a yearly tradition.

This is what it looks like when creativity is the strategy.