TechCrunch Disrupt, our flagship startup event held annually in San Francisco, returns October 28-30 – and you can expect a lively crowd of thousands of startup enthusiasts.
Exciting news! We are delighted to reveal the almost complete Builders Stage programme, the culmination of months of hard work. This is just one of six stages featured at this year’s event, with many more announcements on the horizon.
PS Early bird ticket sales end May 31. Reserve your pass today to save up to $800!
About the constructors stage
The Builders Stage serves as a hub for dozens of panels and interviews dedicated to the essential elements of building and financing tech startups. This year, we are redoubling our commitment to offering high-level programming highlighting innovation at all stages of a startup’s journey. Expect deep dives into operations, talent acquisition, fundraising, and other crucial topics tailored to the new wave of startup pioneers. Plus, don’t miss sessions like “How to Find and Maintain Product-Market Fit,” “What You Need to Launch a Series A Today,” and “When to Cash in, When to Keep Fighting.”
First look at the Builders Stage program
How The Chainsmokers Provide Value Beyond Their Celebrity Status
While many celebrities invest in startups, the Chainsmokers are different. Instead of angel investors investing, Drew Taggart and Alex Pall launched a formal fund, Mantis Venture Capital; invest from a formal closed-end fund; and support businesses in industries where their celebrity prowess can’t always help, like security startups and analytics platforms. In this session, Taggart and Pall will be joined by Dan Lorenc, the founder of Chainguard, to explain how they are an asset to their 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 startup knows they need to find product-market fit. But once it finds true resonance between what it offers and what there is demand for, how should a startup ensure it doesn’t lose the product-market fit it acquired? Finding PMF is one thing; maintaining it is another.
- Spenser Skates, Co-Founder and CEO, Amplitude
- Tamar Yehoshua, President of Product and Technology, Glean
How to start a business while protecting your mental health
Everyone knows that starting a business is stressful. And it is equally well known that chronic, endless work can lead to burnout. So why not talk more about the mental health of founders? Now that our culture is more comfortable discussing mental health in general, it’s time to bring the topic to Disrupt for some in-depth interrogation.
- Andy Dunn, co-founder of Bonobos; CEO, Pie
What you need to raise a Series A today
If you’re not building the next model AI company, it’s probably harder to raise a Series A today than it has been in some time. So, to help founders building at the seed stage prepare for their first round, we’re asking investors to explain what they – and their companies – are looking for in their next Series A deals.
- Renata Quintini, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Renegade Partners
- Elizabeth Yin, General Partner, Hustle Fund
When to cash in, when to keep fighting
Startup founders often have the opportunity to sell their company before it reaches full maturity. In today’s world, where IPOs are often delayed by historical standards, it can be tempting for founders to seek out a parent company for their startup. But when does it make sense to sell, and when should a founder continue to chart their own course?
- Naveen Rao, VP of Generative AI, Databricks
How startups can save the world
Startup work and venture capital investing are typically judged by their financial results. The bigger a startup grows, the more it is worth. But some emerging tech companies are also working to make the world a better place, all while making money. So we want to know how far “doing good” can go without abandoning the critical “making money” aspect of building tech companies.
- Rebecca Hu, co-founder, Glacier
- Allison Wolff, CEO, Vibrant Planet
Don’t be a lemming: the anti-exaggeration panel
What is the difference between a real opportunity and hype? Answering this question correctly is the difference between success and failure in the tech industry. And this is a much more difficult question than it seems. When everyone is convinced that a specific technology is the future, founders – and even venture capitalists – tend to pursue that technology en masse. But as anyone who has been through a boom-and-bust cycle in the Valley knows, collective enthusiasm – hype – is not the best indicator.
- Matt Rogers, co-founder of Nest; Co-founder and CEO, Mill
- Natalie Sportelli, Director, Bullish
- Hoolie Tejwani, Director, Corporate Development and Ventures, Coinbase Ventures
The next multi-billion dollar tech companies
You would think that when former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, former Twitter COO Adam Bain, and former Facebook Chief Revenue Officer David Fischer joined forces to create a venture capital firm, they would focus on a new generation Internet. Or fix social media. But you would be wrong. They look for companies ready to launch a Series B round and help them scale to scale, without having to sit on the board of directors.
- Adam Bain, co-founder and managing partner, 01 Advisors
- Dick Costolo, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, 01 Advisors
- David Fischer, 01 Advisors
Family Offices want exposure to startups, but what are they looking for?
Family offices are increasingly actively investing in startups, both directly and through their venture capitalists. But what are they looking for? While no two family offices are the same, this session will examine family office investment trends and where they have spent time in the startup ecosystem. We’ll also look at the type of risk these investors are looking to take and what makes a startup a good fit for this category of backers.
Can startups revive American manufacturing?
Not all startups create simple software. Today, a large number of people also manufacture equipment, which raises the question of where their equipment will be designed and built. Some choose to invest in domestic manufacturing capacity, often under the rubric of “American dynamism.” This panel will examine the extent to which – and how quickly – reindustrialization of the United States can happen, and how we will get there.
- Rebecca Gevalt, Managing Partner, Dcode Capital
- Topher Haddad, co-founder and CEO, Albedo
- Kai Kloepfer, Founder and CEO, Biofire
Free but not cheap, the Open Source dilemma
Open source software is everywhere and in everything. Many startups are pursuing explicitly open source business models. But every company that creates software depends at least to some extent on open source code. However, recent security issues have made it clear that open source software is a target for state-level hackers. So how can we continue to create and use co-built code, but without the risk of backdoors and other security vulnerabilities?
- Aeva Black, Open Source Security Manager, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
- Luis VIlla, co-founder and general counsel, Tidelift
How to hire in 2025
Gone are the days when recruiters seemed to outnumber leaves in the wind; employees in almost all startup functions face a more conservative job market as a result. How can founders capitalize on their increased spending power, while treating their staff with respect and retaining key talent? Founders take note, this one is for you.
- Heather Doshay, Associate, People and Talent, SignalFire
- Lauren Illovsky, Talent Partner, Capital G
- Roger Lee, CEO, Comprehensive.io
How to Reraise in 2025 if You Have Made a Flat, Bear or Extension Round
Old ideas such as those requiring $100 million in current revenue to go public, and $1 million in annual recurring revenue to raise a Series A, are so old that they’re practically perched on top of everyone’s heads. ‘Abe Lincoln. In today’s market, what a startup needs to raise depends on its sector, the profile of its founder and, of course, its dynamics. So what do you need to raise that Series A?
- Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Co-Founder and General Partner, Footwork
- Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and General Partner, Construct Capital
- Elliott Robinson, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
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