TechCrunch Disrupt, our annual flagship startup event in San Francisco, returns October 28-30—you can expect bustling crowds of thousands of startup enthusiasts.
Exciting news! We are pleased to announce the nearly complete agenda for the Builders Phase, which is the culmination of many months of hard work. This is just one of six stages of this year’s event, with more announcements to come.
PS early bird ticket sales end on May 31st.
About the builder phase
The Builder Stage is the hub for dozens of panels and interviews dedicated to the essentials of building and financing tech startups. This year, we’re doubling down on our commitment to delivering top-notch programming that innovates at every stage of a new startup’s journey. Expect deep dives into operations, talent acquisition, fundraising and other key topics tailored for this new wave of entrepreneurial pioneers. Plus, don’t miss sessions like “How to find and maintain product-market fit,” “What it takes to raise a Series A today,” and “When to cash in and when to keep fighting.”
First look at the Builders Phase Agenda
How smokers bring value beyond their celebrity status
While many celebrities invest in new startups, the Chainsmokers are different. Instead of setting up an angel investment, Drew Taggart and Alex Pall launched a formal fund, Mantis Venture Capital; invested from a formal closed-end fund; and backed those celebrities Companies in industries where muscle can’t always help, such as security startups and analytics platforms. In this session, Taggart and Pall will join Chainguard founder Dan Lorenc to discuss how they can be assets to B2B startups.
- Alex Pall, General Partner, Mantis VC
- Drew Taggart, General Partner, Mantis VC
- Dan Lorenc, Co-Founder and CEO, Chainguard
How to find and maintain product-market fit
Every new startup knows they need to find product market fit. But once they do find real resonance between what they offer and need, how should startups ensure they don’t lose the product-market fit they’ve achieved? Finding the PMF is one thing; Maintaining it is another story.
- Spenser Skates, Co-Founder and CEO, Amplitude
- Tamar Yehoshua, President of Products and Technology at Glean
How to build a company while protecting your mental health
Everyone knows that starting a company is stressful. It’s no secret that endless hours of work can lead to burnout. So why don’t we talk more about founder mental health? Now that our culture is more willing to discuss mental health issues in general, it’s time we brought the subject to Disrupt for a thorough interrogation.
- Andy Dunn, Co-Founder, Bonobos; CEO, Pie
What it takes to raise Series A funding today
If you’re not building the next basic model AI company, raising a Series A round may be more difficult today than it has been in some time. So, to help seed-stage founders prepare for their first round of funding, we asked investors to explain what they and their companies are looking for in their next Series A deal.
- Renata Quintini, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Renegade Partners
- Elizabeth Yin, General Partner, Hustle Fund
When to cash in and when to keep fighting
Startup founders often have the opportunity to sell their companies before they are fully mature. In a world where initial public offerings (IPOs) are often delayed until the historical norm, founders may be tempted to find a parent company for their new startup. But when does it make sense to sell?
- Naveen Rao, VP of Generative AI at Databricks
How startups can save the world
Startups and venture capital are often judged by financial performance. The larger a startup is, the more valuable it is. But some emerging technology companies are also making money while working to make the world a better place. So we wanted to know how far we could go “doing good” without giving up the key “making money” aspect of building a tech company.
- Rebecca Hu, co-founder of Glacier
- Alison Wolfe, Chief Executive Officer, Living Planet
Don’t be a lemming: the anti-hype team
What’s the difference between a real opportunity and hype? Answering this question correctly can be the difference between success and failure in the tech industry. This is a much more difficult question than it seems. When everyone is convinced that a particular technology is the future, founders—even venture capitalists—tend to pursue it en masse. But anyone who has lived through Silicon Valley’s boom and bust cycles knows that collective excitement — hype — isn’t the best indicator.
- Matt Rogers, Nest co-founder; Mill co-founder and CEO
- Natalie Sportelli, Bullish Director
- Hoolie Tejwani, Director of Corporate Development and Risk, Coinbase Ventures
The next billion-dollar tech company
You might think that when former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, former Twitter COO Adam Bain and former Facebook chief revenue officer David Fischer join forces When a venture capital firm is established, they will focus on the next generation of the Internet. Or fix social media. But you are wrong. They’re looking for companies that are ready to raise Series B funding and help them achieve hyperscale without taking a board seat.
- Adam Bain, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, 01 Advisors
- Dick Costolo, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, 01 Advisors
- David Fisher, 01 Consultant
Family offices want exposure to startups, but what are they looking for?
Family offices are increasingly active in investing in startups, either directly or through venture capital. But what are they looking for? While no two family offices are the same, this session will provide an in-depth look at family office investment trends and the time they spend in the startup ecosystem. We’ll also dive into what kind of risk these investors want to take on, and what makes startups a good fit for this type of investor.
Can startups reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing?
Not every startup only develops software. Many people are also manufacturing hardware these days, which raises the question of where their devices will be designed and manufactured. Some choose to invest in domestic manufacturing capabilities, often under the banner of “American vitality.” This panel will dive into how much and how quickly America’s reindustrialization is likely to happen, and how we might get there.
- Rebecca Gevalt, Managing Partner, Dcode Capital
- Topher Haddad, Co-Founder and CEO of Albedo
- Kai Kloepfer, founder and CEO of Biofire
Free but not cheap, the dilemma of open source
Open source software is everywhere and everywhere. Many startups are pursuing clear open source business models. But every company that builds software relies on open source code at least to some extent. However, recent security issues have shown that open source software is a target of nation-state hackers. So how do we continue to build and use publicly built code without the risk of backdoors and other security vulnerabilities?
- Aeva Black, Director of Open Source Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
- Luis VIlla, Co-Founder and General Counsel, Tidelift
How to Recruit in 2025
Gone are the days when there were more recruits than leaves in the wind. As a result, nearly every startup employee faces a more conservative labor market. How can founders leverage the increased purchasing power of labor while respecting employees and retaining key talent? Founders, please take note, this is for you.
- Heather Doshay, Partner, People & Talent, SignalFire
- Lauren Illovsky, Talent Partner, Capital G
- Roger Lee, CEO of comprehensive.io
How to raise your bet in 2025 if you already have a draw, bet or extended round
Old ideas like you need $100 million worth of trailing revenue to go public, and $1 million worth of annual recurring revenue to raise a Series A, are so old that they’ve actually appeared high on Abel Lincoln’s head. In today’s market, the amount of money a startup needs to raise depends on its industry, the founder’s profile and, of course, motivation. So what do you need to raise Series A funding?
- Nikhil Basu Trivedi, co-founder and general partner, Footwork
- Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and General Partner, Construct Capital
- Elliott Robinson, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners
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