The Builders Stage brings practical strategies for scaling startups to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

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The Builders Stage brings practical strategies for scaling startups to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 TechCrunch Events Wed, September 2, 2026 at 7:01 PM EDT 11 min read GOOG The Builders Stage is returning to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 , bringing together founders, startup operators, and investors for practical conversations on what it takes to build and scale successful companies. Hear from startup and venture leaders shaping the tech ecosystem, including Grant Lee, CEO and co-founder of Gamma; Leah Solivan, founder and general partner at Precedent.vc; Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google; and more . 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. Join more than 10,000 founders, investors, startup operators, and technology leaders at Moscone Center in San Francisco on October 13-15. Register today and save before our next ticket price increase. Building a startup is one thing. Building a company that can scale is another challenge entirely. The Builders Stage is one of six industry-focused stages at Disrupt 2026 , 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. Every session delivers practical strategies you can put to work immediately, plus opportunities to engage directly with speakers during live Q&A. Secure your pass to Disrupt 2026 today and save up to $330 before rates increase. Without further ado, here's your first look at the Builders Stage agenda, with more speakers and sessions to be announced as we get closer to the event. With Shan Shan , Investment Manager, Baillie Gifford; and Yuri Sagalov , Managing Director at General Catalyst AI may dominate the world of venture, but many enduring companies won't be those that sell AI models or agents. This session is for founders competing for attention in an AI-obsessed market. Panelists break down what actually matters now: efficient growth, retention, revenue quality, and disciplined execution, and why fundamentals, not hype, still build breakout businesses. With Michel Tricot , CEO and Co-founder, Airbyte; Rob Toews , Partner, Radical Ventures; and Linda Tong , CEO, Webflo w Nearly all AI founders have the same worry these days: What if OpenAI or Anthropic launches a product that competes with mine? Even strong products are at risk of becoming features of the larger players. This session explores where defensibility exists and what founders can do if they do face competition from rapidly evolving AI giants. With Jas Khaira , Global Head, Blackstone N1 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. With Matt Birnbaum , Founder, Wylder.co, Ioana Hreninciuc , Runware, Atli Thorkelsson , VP, Talent Network, Redpoint Ventures 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. With Puneet Agarwal , Managing Partner, True Ventures; Austin Clements , Managing Partner, Slauson and Co; and Sandhya Venkatachalam , Founder and Managing Partner, Axiom Partners Founders are increasingly expected to compete for capital before they even have a product. At the pre-seed stage, investors are betting on story, conviction, and founder-market fit. This session breaks down how to build credibility before revenue exists so investors will cut that first check. The instincts that win when building your first minimum viable product can break you at a billion-user scale. In this fireside, Robby Stein shares how product decision-making changes when every update impacts billions of users. Hear how teams balance speed with trust and innovation with reliability at one of the world's largest product organizations. With Josh Reeves , CEO and Co-founder, Gusto; more speakers to be announced Early-stage companies are no longer just building with AI; they're hiring 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. With Maria Angelidou-Smith , CPO, Reddit AI isn't just adding features, it's forcing product teams to rethink how people search, discover, communicate, travel, and make decisions. Leaders from Reddit, Square and Uber discuss how they're redesigning products used by millions, what users actually want from AI, and where product leaders should resist the temptation to automate everything. With Karl Alomar , Managing Partner, M13 and Lindsey Mignano , Founder, Mignano Law Group The smartest founders today aren't just building for IPOs; they're also building with possible acquisitions in mind 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 an option through product strategy and partnerships. It delves into how big-dollar startup outcomes actually happen, even for small companies. Jahanvi Sardana , Partner, Index Ventures; Shailendra Singh , Managing Director, Peak XV; and Janelle Teng Wade , Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners Series A is getting harder, with VCs growing more demanding. For founders planning to raise in the next one to two years, this session breaks down what "fundable" will actually mean in 2027. Hear how top investors are redefining the metrics, teams, and traction that matter now, what outdated fundraising playbooks no longer work, and how companies can separate from the pack in the next funding cycle. With Ryan Meadows , Chief Revenue Officer, Lovable; and Tomasz Tunguz , General Partner and Founder, Theory Ventures; Ben Broca , Founder, Polsia The definition of traction has changed. What once took years is now expected in months, and $0 to $10 million ARR is increasingly becoming the new early-stage baseline. This session breaks down how AI-enabled execution, faster distribution, and shifting investor expectations are compressing GTM timelines, and the tactical levers founders need in the first 90 days to accelerate revenue and stand out fast. With Mo Jomaa , Partner, Capital G; and Zuzanna Stamirowska , CEO and Co-founder, Pathway; more speakers to be announced The frontier is moving faster than any single model can keep up with, and the teams building the most successful AI products are increasingly orchestrating across many models rather than betting on just one. This panel brings together founders and operators at the center of that shift to discuss how they evaluate new models, manage cost and reliability at scale, and architect products that can evolve as quickly as the underlying technology. With Shay Grinfield , Greenfield Partners 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. Greenfield Partners' Shay Grinfeld sits down with founders building across these emerging areas to separate what's real today from what's coming next, and explore where the biggest new opportunities are taking shape. The conversation will culminate in the reveal of Greenfield Partners' 2026 AI Disruptors 60, spotlighting the companies Greenfield and TechCrunch believe are pushing AI into new territory. With Rajeev Dham , Managing Director, Sapphire Ventures; and Rahul Vohra , Founder and Head of Superhuman Mail; more speakers to be announced In an AI hype cycle, product-market fit signals are easier to fake and harder to trust. Founders are mistaking early excitement, usage spikes, and pilot wins for durable traction. This session breaks down what false PMF actually looks like, how investors and operators separate real retention from hype-driven adoption, and the signals that indicate whether a company has true pull or just temporary momentum. With Grant Lee , CEO and Co-founder, Gamma; Leah Solivan , Founder and General Partner, Precedent.vc ; and Elia Wallen , Founder and CEO, Engine Early customer acquisition is not about marketing spend; it's about founder-led distribution and relentless execution. Most 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 momentum. With Nell Daly , Co-founder and Managing Partner, Revenge Capital; David H. Rosmarin , Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School; and Jack Withinshaw , Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Airspeeder Company building is as psychologically demanding as it is strategic, and most founder narratives understate that reality. In this candid conversation, founders and mental performance experts unpack the hidden costs of high-growth environments, from burnout and decision fatigue to the identity strain of sustained pressure, and share the systems, habits, and mental frameworks that help leaders endure and perform at a high level. With Filip Kaliszan , CEO and Co-founder, Verkada; and Aaron Jacobson , Partner, New Enterprise Associates; Maddi Holman , General Partner, Daring Ventures Most startups stall out because they build a single great product instead of a repeatable multi-product engine. Join a venture capitalist and two founders as they reveal the precise operational playbook for capital allocation, systemizing internal innovation, and engineering a compounding "Second Act" before the core product's growth curve flattens. With Matt Birnbaum , Founder, Wylder.co; and Atli Thorkelsson , VP, Talent Network, Redpoint Ventures; more speakers to be announced No question about it, the growth of AI startups has made hiring and retention for all tech companies more difficult. From competing for AI talent to secondary sales, founders are rethinking the human infrastructure of their startups. As hiring, 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 startup environment. Startups can go from zero to viral overnight, but sustaining that momentum is a completely different challenge. In this fireside, Zach Yadegari shares how Cal AI navigated rapid growth, product pressure, and the realities of building in a distribution-driven market. Hear the lessons behind turning breakout attention into durable retention and long-term company building. With Alexa von Tobel , Inspired Capital; and Chi-Hua Chien , Co-founder and Managing Partner, Goodwater Capital; more speakers to be announced What separates the breakout companies from the rest at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026? In this candid debrief, Startup Battlefield judges unpack the trends and founder qualities that stood out in real time, from shifting investor expectations to the narratives that resonated most this year. The conversation will also explore how startup storytelling is evolving and what happens after the spotlight, including the realities of maintaining momentum and surviving the critical 12 months after a major launch, funding round, or Startup Battlefield appearance. With Stacy Brown-Philpot , Founder & Managing Partner at Cherryrock Capital; Chi-Hua Chien , Co-founder & Managing Partner, Goodwater Capital; Dayna Grayson , Construct Capital; Carter Reum , Co-founder and Managing Partner, M13; Alexa Von Tobel , Inspired Capital 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. If you're ready to build smarter, scale faster, and learn from the leaders shaping the future of startups, secure your pass to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 today .

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