The Builders Stage is returning to\u00a0TechCrunch Disrupt 2026<\/strong><\/a>, bringing together founders, startup operators, and\u00a0investors for practical conversations on what it takes to build and scale successful companies.<\/p>\n Hear from startup and venture leaders shaping the tech ecosystem, including Grant Lee, CEO and co-founder of Gamma;\u00a0Leah\u00a0Solivan, founder and general partner at Precedent.vc; Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google;\u00a0and more<\/strong><\/a>. Through candid conversations and real-world case studies, speakers will share actionable insights on fundraising, hiring, go-to-market strategy, AI, and the operational decisions that fuel startup growth.<\/p>\n Join\u00a0more than 10,000 founders,\u00a0investors, startup operators, and technology leaders at\u00a0Moscone Center\u00a0in\u00a0San Francisco on October 13-15.\u00a0Register today and save<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0before our next ticket price\u00a0increase.<\/p>\n Building a startup is one thing. Building a company that can scale is another challenge entirely. The Builders Stage is\u00a0one of six\u00a0industry-focused stages at\u00a0Disrupt 2026<\/strong><\/a>, dedicated to helping founders navigate the challenges of growth, from raising capital and hiring top talent to building go-to-market engines and preparing for the jump from seed to Series A.<\/p>\n Every session delivers practical strategies you can put to work\u00a0immediately, plus opportunities to engage directly with speakers during live Q&A.\u00a0Secure your pass to Disrupt\u00a02026\u00a0today<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and save up to $330 before rates\u00a0increase.<\/p>\n Without further ado,\u00a0here\u2019s\u00a0your first look at the Builders Stage agenda, with\u00a0more speakers<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and sessions to be announced as we get closer to the event.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Shan\u00a0Shan<\/em><\/a>, Investment Manager, Baillie\u00a0Gifford; and Yuri Sagalov<\/a>, Managing Director at General Catalyst<\/em><\/p>\n AI may dominate the world of venture, but many enduring companies\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0be those that sell AI\u00a0models or agents. This session is for founders competing for attention\u00a0in\u00a0an AI-obsessed market. Panelists break down what\u00a0actually\u00a0matters\u00a0now: efficient growth, retention, revenue quality, and disciplined execution, and why fundamentals, not\u00a0hype, still build breakout businesses.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Michel Tricot<\/em><\/a>, CEO\u00a0and\u00a0Co-founder,\u00a0Airbyte;\u00a0<\/em>Rob\u00a0Toews<\/em><\/a>, Partner, Radical Ventures;\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Linda\u00a0Tong<\/em><\/a>, CEO,\u00a0Webflo<\/em>w<\/p>\n Nearly all\u00a0AI founders have the same worry these days: What if OpenAI or Anthropic\u00a0launches\u00a0a product that competes with mine? Even strong products are at risk of becoming features of\u00a0the larger\u00a0players. This session explores where defensibility exists and what founders can do if they do face competition from rapidly evolving AI giants.<\/p>\n With Jas Khaira<\/a>, Global Head, Blackstone N1<\/em><\/p>\n AI startups are scaling faster, and demanding more capital, than any generation before them. Jas Khaira, Global Head of Blackstone N1, shares what separates enduring companies from early momentum, how founders should think about capital as they scale, and what Blackstone looks for when backing the next generation of category-defining businesses.<\/p>\n With Matt Birnbaum<\/a>, Founder, Wylder.co, Ioana Hreninciuc<\/a>, Runware, Atli Thorkelsson<\/a>, VP, Talent Network, Redpoint Ventures<\/em><\/p>\n The growth of AI startups has made hiring and retention more difficult for every tech company. From competing for AI talent to navigating secondary sales, founders are rethinking the human infrastructure of their startups. As incentives and employee expectations rapidly evolve, this session explores how companies are adapting compensation, culture, and team-building strategies to attract and retain top talent in a fundamentally changed market.<\/p>\n With Puneet Agarwal<\/a>, Managing Partner, True Ventures;\u00a0<\/em>Austin\u00a0Clements<\/em><\/a>, Managing Partner, Slauson\u00a0and\u00a0Co;\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Sandhya Venkatachalam<\/em><\/a>, Founder\u00a0and\u00a0Managing Partner, Axiom Partners<\/em><\/p>\n Founders are\u00a0increasingly expected to compete for capital before they even have a product. At the pre-seed stage,\u00a0investors are betting on story, conviction, and founder-market fit. This session breaks down how to build credibility before revenue\u00a0exists\u00a0so\u00a0investors will cut that first check.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Robby Stein<\/em><\/a>, VP, Product, Google<\/em><\/p>\n The instincts that win when building your first\u00a0minimum\u00a0viable\u00a0product can break you at a billion-user scale. In this fireside,\u00a0Robby Stein\u00a0shares how product decision-making changes when every update\u00a0impacts\u00a0billions of users. Hear how teams balance speed with trust and innovation with reliability at one of the world\u2019s largest product organizations.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Josh\u00a0Reeves<\/em><\/a>, CEO and Co-founder,\u00a0Gusto;\u00a0more speakers to be announced<\/em><\/p>\n Early-stage companies are no longer just building with\u00a0AI;\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0hiring it. As AI agents take on engineering, support, and operations, the definition of an early team is being rewritten. This session explores how founders decide what humans should own versus what gets delegated to AI, and how high-growth startups are building hybrid teams without losing speed, accountability, or culture.<\/p>\n With Maria Angelidou-Smith<\/a>, CPO, Reddit<\/em><\/p>\n AI isn\u2019t just adding features, it\u2019s forcing product teams to rethink how people search, discover, communicate, travel, and make decisions. Leaders from Reddit, Square and Uber discuss how they\u2019re redesigning products used by millions, what users actually want from AI, and where product leaders should resist the temptation to automate everything.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Karl\u00a0Alomar<\/em><\/a>, Managing Partner, M13<\/em> and\u00a0<\/em>Lindsey Mignano<\/em><\/a>, Founder, Mignano Law Group<\/em><\/p>\n The smartest founders today\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0just building for\u00a0IPOs;\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0also building with\u00a0possible acquisitions\u00a0in\u00a0mind from day one. As exits shift and capital tightens, understanding M&A early has become a competitive advantage. This session breaks down how founders can create the possibility of such\u00a0an option\u00a0through product strategy and partnerships.\u00a0It delves\u00a0into how big-dollar startup outcomes actually happen, even for small companies.<\/p>\n Jahanvi Sardana<\/em><\/a>, Partner,\u00a0Index Ventures;\u00a0<\/em>Shailendra\u00a0Singh<\/em><\/a>, Managing Director, Peak XV;\u00a0and Janelle Teng Wade<\/a>, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners<\/em><\/p>\n Series A is getting harder, with VCs growing\u00a0more demanding.\u00a0For founders planning to raise\u00a0in\u00a0the next one to two years, this session breaks down what \u201cfundable\u201d will actually mean\u00a0in\u00a02027.\u00a0Hear how top\u00a0investors are redefining the metrics, teams, and traction that\u00a0matter now, what outdated fundraising playbooks no longer work, and how companies can separate from the pack\u00a0in\u00a0the next funding cycle.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Ryan\u00a0Meadows<\/em><\/a>, Chief Revenue Officer, Lovable; and\u00a0Tomasz\u00a0Tunguz<\/a>, General Partner and Founder, Theory Ventures;\u00a0Ben Broca<\/a>, Founder, Polsia<\/em><\/p>\n The definition of traction has changed. What once took years is now expected\u00a0in\u00a0months, and $0 to $10 million ARR is\u00a0increasingly becoming the new\u00a0early-stage\u00a0baseline. This session breaks down how AI-enabled execution, faster distribution, and shifting\u00a0investor expectations are compressing GTM timelines, and the tactical levers founders need\u00a0in\u00a0the first\u00a090 days\u00a0to accelerate revenue and stand out fast.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Mo Jomaa<\/em><\/a>, Partner, Capital G;\u00a0and <\/em>Zuzanna\u00a0Stamirowska<\/em><\/a>, CEO\u00a0and\u00a0Co-founder,\u00a0Pathway;\u00a0more speakers to be announced<\/em><\/p>\n The frontier is\u00a0moving faster than any\u00a0single\u00a0model can keep up with, and the teams building the\u00a0most successful AI products are\u00a0increasingly orchestrating across many\u00a0models rather than\u00a0betting on\u00a0just one. This panel brings together founders and operators at the center of that shift to discuss how they evaluate new\u00a0models, manage cost and reliability at scale, and architect products that can evolve as quickly as the underlying technology.<\/p>\n With Shay Grinfield<\/a>, Greenfield Partners<\/em><\/p>\n The AI conversation is shifting from what models can say to what they can actually do. Agents are navigating the open web and completing work, AI systems are taking on increasingly ambitious research, intelligent machines are beginning to operate beyond the screen, and a new infrastructure layer is emerging to make all of this possible at scale. <\/p>\n Greenfield Partners\u2019 Shay Grinfeld sits down with founders building across these emerging areas to separate what\u2019s real today from what\u2019s coming next, and explore where the biggest new opportunities are taking shape. The conversation will culminate in the reveal of Greenfield Partners\u2019 2026 AI Disruptors 60, spotlighting the companies Greenfield and TechCrunch believe are pushing AI into new territory.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Rajeev Dham<\/em><\/a>, Managing Director, Sapphire Ventures;\u00a0and <\/em>Rahul Vohra<\/em><\/a>, Founder and Head of Superhuman Mail;\u00a0more speakers to be announced<\/em><\/p>\n In\u00a0an AI hype cycle, product-market fit signals are easier to fake and harder to trust. Founders are mistaking early excitement,\u00a0usage\u00a0spikes, and pilot wins for durable traction. This session breaks down what false PMF\u00a0actually looks\u00a0like, how\u00a0investors and operators separate real retention from\u00a0hype-driven\u00a0adoption, and the signals that\u00a0indicate\u00a0whether a company has true pull or just temporary\u00a0momentum.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Grant Lee<\/em><\/a>, CEO\u00a0and\u00a0Co-founder, Gamma;\u00a0Leah\u00a0Solivan<\/a>, Founder and General Partner, Precedent.vc<\/em>; and<\/em> Elia Wallen<\/a>, Founder and CEO, Engine<\/em><\/p>\n Early customer acquisition is not about marketing\u00a0spend;\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0about founder-led distribution and relentless execution.\u00a0Most startups at zero to one do not have budget, brand, or scale, only urgency and creativity. This session breaks down how founders are landing their first customers through community building, product-led growth, founder-led sales, strategic outbound, and word-of-mouth\u00a0momentum.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Nell\u00a0Daly<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Co-founder\u00a0and\u00a0Managing Partner, Revenge Capital;\u00a0<\/em>David\u00a0H. Rosmarin<\/em><\/a>, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School;\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Jack\u00a0Withinshaw<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer,\u00a0Airspeeder<\/em><\/p>\n Company building is as psychologically demanding as it is strategic, and\u00a0most founder narratives understate that reality.\u00a0In\u00a0this candid conversation, founders and mental performance experts unpack the hidden costs of high-growth environments, from burnout and decision fatigue to the identity strain\u00a0of sustained pressure, and share the systems, habits, and mental frameworks that help leaders endure and perform at a high level.<\/p>\n With\u00a0Filip\u00a0Kaliszan<\/a>, CEO and Co-founder,\u00a0Verkada; and\u00a0Aaron Jacobson<\/a>, Partner, New Enterprise Associates; Maddi Holman<\/a>, General Partner, Daring Ventures\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Most startups stall out because they build a\u00a0single\u00a0great product\u00a0instead of a repeatable multi-product engine. Join\u00a0a venture capitalist and two founders as they reveal the precise operational playbook for capital allocation, systemizing\u00a0internal\u00a0innovation, and engineering a compounding \u201cSecond Act\u201d before the core product\u2019s growth curve flattens.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Matt Birnbaum<\/em><\/a>, Founder, Wylder.co; and\u00a0<\/em>Atli Thorkelsson<\/em><\/a>, VP, Talent Network, Redpoint\u00a0Ventures;\u00a0more speakers to be announced<\/em><\/p>\n No question about it, the growth of AI startups has made hiring and retention for all tech companies\u00a0more difficult. From competing for AI talent to secondary sales, founders are rethinking the human\u00a0infrastructure of their startups. As hiring,\u00a0incentives, and employee expectations rapidly evolve, this session explores how companies are adapting compensation, culture, and team-building strategies to attract and\u00a0retain\u00a0top talent\u00a0in\u00a0a fundamentally changed startup environment.<\/p>\n With\u00a0<\/em>Zach\u00a0Yadegari,<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Founder, Cal AI<\/em><\/p>\n Startups can go from zero to viral\u00a0overnight, but\u00a0sustaining that\u00a0momentum is a completely different challenge.\u00a0In\u00a0this fireside,\u00a0Zach\u00a0Yadegari shares how Cal AI navigated rapid growth, product pressure, and the realities of building\u00a0in\u00a0a distribution-driven market. Hear the lessons behind turning breakout attention\u00a0into durable retention and\u00a0long-term\u00a0company building.<\/p>\n With <\/i>Alexa von Tobel<\/a>,\u00a0Inspired\u00a0Capital; and <\/i>Chi-Hua Chien<\/a>, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Goodwater Capital; <\/em>more speakers to be announced<\/i><\/p>\n What separates the breakout companies from the rest at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026?\u00a0In\u00a0this candid debrief, Startup Battlefield judges unpack the trends and founder qualities that stood out\u00a0in\u00a0real time, from shifting\u00a0investor expectations to the narratives that resonated\u00a0most this year. The conversation will also explore how startup storytelling is evolving and what happens after the spotlight,\u00a0including the realities of\u00a0maintaining\u00a0momentum and surviving the critical 12\u00a0months after a major launch, funding round, or Startup Battlefield appearance.<\/p>\n With Stacy Brown-Philpot<\/a>, Founder & Managing Partner at Cherryrock Capital; Chi-Hua Chien<\/a>, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Goodwater Capital; Dayna Grayson<\/a>, Construct Capital; Carter Reum<\/a>, Co-founder and Managing Partner, M13; Alexa Von Tobel<\/a>, Inspired Capital<\/em><\/p>\n What makes an investor say yes? In this audience-led Q&A, the Startup Battlefield finals judges take your toughest questions on what separates a fundable startup from the rest: team, traction, market opportunity, pitch delivery, red flags, and more. Come ready to ask and get candid answers straight from the investors making the decisions.<\/p>\n If\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0ready to build smarter, scale faster, and learn from the leaders shaping the future of startups,\u00a0secure your pass to TechCrunch Disrupt\u00a02026\u00a0today<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\nBuilt for founders who are ready to scale<\/h2>\n
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Builders Stage agenda<\/h2>\n
How to Win When You\u2019re Not Building AI<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What Happens When OpenAI Ships Your Roadmap<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Building the Next Generation of AI Giants<\/h3>\n
Competing for AI Talent: Pay, Equity, and Retention<\/h3>\n
Winning Pre-Seed Without a Product<\/strong><\/h3>\n
From MVP to Billions of Users: How Product Decisions Must Change at Scale<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Hiring When AI Is a Co-Founder<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Rebuilding Consumer Products for the AI Era<\/h3>\n
M&A Is Now an Early-Stage Strategy<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Series A\u00a0in\u00a02027<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The 90-Day GTM: Why $0\u2013$10M ARR Is the New Baseline (and How to Actually Get There)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Real\u00a0Tokenmaxxing: How the Best AI Companies Navigate a Multi-Model World<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Revealing AI Disruptors 60: What Can AI Do Next?<\/h3>\n
PMF Red Flags: How to Tell If You Really Have It<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Zero-to-1K Playbook: How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers Without a Marketing Budget<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Yes,\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0Hard to Be a Founder:\u00a0An\u00a0Honest Conversation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
So\u00a0You\u2019ve Got a Hit Product. How Does Your Company Do It Again?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Hiring, Compensation and Culture\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0Most Competitive Market Ever<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How to Create Viral Growth and Capitalize\u00a0on\u00a0It<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The High-Conviction Filter: What We Learned From the Battlefield<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Ask the Investors<\/h3>\n
Join\u00a0the conversations and make the connections at Disrupt<\/h2>\n
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