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TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 Speakers
New speakers added daily. Check back in for updates.
Partner Index Ventures
General Partner defy.vc
Partner CapitalG
CEO Chess.com
General Partner & Founder GTMfund
Co-founder and President Kindred
CEO Character.AI
Co-Founder and Managing Partner 01 Advisors
Managing Director and Head of Private Equity Makena Capital
CEO & Co-Founder Harness
General Partner SemperVirens Venture Capital
Managing Partner Founders Bay
General Partner NFX
Founder and CEO Chef Robotics
Founder and CEO / Co-Founder and Board Director Aetherflux / Robinhood
CEO Israel Innovation Authority
Founder SISU
Partner NEA
Partner Sequoia Capital
CEO and Co-Founder Chime
Partner Base10 Partners
Founder & CEO Varda Space Industries
Co-Founder, CEO Apptronik
Co-Founder & CEO Artisan
Partner Harlem Capital
Partner, Marketing Kleiner Perkins
Co-Founder and Managing Partner FPV Ventures
Managing Partner Point72 Ventures
General Partner Greylock
CEO EchoHer
Partner Khosla Ventures
CEO & Co-Founder Lago
Founder & Former CEO Discord
Partner Thrive Capital
Venture Partner SignalFire
Co-Founder and Managing Partner 01 Advisors
Co-Founder and CPO Sentry
Chief Technologist Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Founder Darby PR
Co-Founder, President, and Partner Sapphire Ventures
Technology Advisor and Investor
Co-founder Pocket Entertainment
Partner Index Ventures
Vice President and CTO The Aerospace Corporation
Board Member & Head of Business Development Epic Aircraft
General Partner Felicis
Chief Technology Officer US Dept of Navy
Partner NEA
Founder & GP Graham & Walker VC
Co-Founder and President Nuro
General Partner 01 Advisors
Director, Information Innovation Office (I2O) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Data & Impact All Raise
Partner Cendana Capital
CEO Mercor
Managing Director Stella Ventures
CEO Lattice
Executive Venture Partner GV
Founder & Managing Partner XYZ Venture Capital
Co-founder Phia
General Partner Andreessen Horowitz
Research Scientist Kinsey Institute
CEO Gil & Co
CTO Google Cloud
Founding Partner Forerunner
Co-Founder and Managing Partner Greenfield Partners
Director The J. Paul Getty Trust
Head of Model Cyber Safety Anthropic
CEO and Co-Founder Writer
Managing Partner, Revolution/Rise of the Rest Revolution
Founder & CEO Vast Data
CEO Vast
General Partner A*
Executive Director Center for AI Safety
Partner Lexington Partner
Founding Partner, Seven Seven Six
Startups Head of Cloud & Partnerships NVIDIA
Managing Partner Precursor Ventures
Head of Corporate Development and M&A Coinbase
Head of Operations & Talent 645 Ventures
Founder & Managing Partner Kindred Ventures
CEO tkxel
Partner ICONIQ
Chief Product & Design Officer Headspace
Head of Product Tinder
CEO Wayve
CEO & Founder geCKo Materials
CFO Carta
Founder and CEO On Top Strategy
Founder Khosla Ventures
Co-founder Phia
Founder and Partner Cendana Capital
Chief Product Officer Netflix
Chief Executive Officer Epic Aircraft
Founding Partner & CTO SignalFire
Managing Director Prelude Ventures
Managing Director Insight Partners
Lecturer, Investor, and Advisor UC Berkeley
Founder Replika
Co-Founder Premise
Founder & Managing Partner Cowboy Ventures
Co-Founder & Head of GTM TwelveLabs
Fractional General Counsel for Early-Stage Startups Epigram Legal P.C.
CEO Bright Data
Co-Founder & CEO Box
Co-Founder & CEO Thoropass
Founder and Chief Scientist Pinecone
CEO & Founder Warp
Partner, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP)
Chief Technology Officer Pinterest
Vice President Lupoff / Stevens Family Office
Head of Startups OpenAI
Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer Runway
Co-CEO Waymo
CEO and Co-Founder DVx Ventures
Co-Founder & CEO Northwood Space
Product Manager Reddit
Partner Bessemer Venture Partners
Partner Point72 Ventures
Managing Director Tampa Bay Wave
CEO & Co-Founder Maket
Operating Partner (Venture) SignalFire
CTO for Mobility and Delivery Uber
Co-Founder, Managing Partner January Ventures
Co-Founder & Managing General Partner MaC Venture Capital
CEO Plaid Semiconductors
Co-Founder & CEO SirenOpt, Inc.
Co-Founder and Managing Partner 645 Ventures
General Partner Blitzscaling Ventures
Founder and Chancellor Campus
Co-founder and CEO Kindred
General Partner Freestyle Capital
Partner General Catalyst
Director, Meta Superintelligence Labs Meta
Co-Founder and CEO Firecrawl
General Partner ICONIQ
Founder & CEO Flexport
Head of Growth Equity Generation Investment Management
Founder, MIRROR, and CEO Board
CEO & Co-Founder Gruve
Head of Product Management, AI & ML – Amazon Business Amazon
Partner Sequoia Capital
Staff Product Manager, GitHub Copilot GitHub
CEO and Co-Founder True Anomaly
Founder Digg
President TDK Ventures
Founder and Partner Gigascale Capital
Chief Technology Officer Microsoft
Founding Partner Twitter
CEO JetBrains
Co-Founder ElevenLabs
Founder and General Partner Moxxie Ventures
Chief Technology Officer Netflix
General Partner Emergence Capital
Managing Partner Berkeley SkyDeck Fund
Captain of Moonshots X, The Moonshot Factory
CEO & Co-Founder Diligent Robotics
CEO and Founder Mach Industries
CEO T-robotics
Co-Founder Wonder Dynamics, an Autodesk company
Co-Founder & CEO Nextdoor
Founder & CEO Waabi
Co-Founder Composio
Co-Founder and CEO Legion Intelligence
CEO and Founder GXO, Inc.
VP Marketing & Chief Marketing Officer Google Cloud
General Partner Rain Capital
Managing Partner VITALIZE Venture Capital
Co-Founder & Managing Director Renegade Partners
Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer Hugging Face
CEO & Co-Founder Zipline
CEO, Founder Pulley
Partner IVP
Partner Brick & Mortar Ventures
Founder & CEO Zoom Communications Inc.
General Partner GV (Google Ventures)
Founder & CEO Clyx
Nina is a partner at Index Ventures, investing across seed, venture, and growth stages in AI, robotics, enterprise software, and vertical SaaS. She is excited by companies that build solutions to automate “forgotten” functions and industries, replacing pen and paper and siloed tools. Nina is inspired by founders who develop empathy for their customers, have an insatiable curiosity, and operate with a growth mindset. Nina currently serves on the boards or works with companies including SeviceTitan, Gong, Vizcom, Intercom, Persona, Motive, Seso, and Transcend, among others. Prior to Index, Nina worked at Google as an FP&A Lead, where she helped build the GTM infrastructure of the AdSense sales organization. She started her career as a bond trader in New York and London and founded HIVE Ventures, the first seed fund focused on Armenian entrepreneurs. Nina was featured on Forbes’ Midas Brink List in 2022, which recognizes up-and-coming leading investors. She graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in government and is a recipient of the Michael C. Rockefeller Scholarship. Nina currently lives in San Francisco and, in her spare time, can be found watching football and Formula 1.
Nina's Sessions
Where VCs Are Placing Their Bets in 2026
Curious where the smart money is heading next? This panel brings together top VCs to share their 2026 investment priorities, emerging sectors, and what innovations are catching their eye. Early-stage founders, this one is for you, get a rare glimpse into the trends and technologies that could shape your business in the year ahead.
As a General Partner at Defy, Medha is fortunate to support exceptional entrepreneurs from day zero through hyper-growth. Whether building her own startups or partnering with founders, she has experienced the highs and lows of company-building—sometimes all within the same hour. It’s one of the hardest, loneliest jobs in the world, which is why she believes founders need trusted partners who can be there for anything, big or small. Medha strives to be that person. Before Defy, she spent seven years as a Partner at Redpoint Ventures, focused on early-stage fintech, vertical SaaS, marketplaces, and healthcare. She had the privilege of working with companies like Whatnot, Tend, Proper Finance, LiveKit, and Anvyl—founders who taught her as much as she supported them. Medha began her career at Bain & Company, founded two startups (Skedge.me and Roomidex), and started her investing journey at Bessemer Venture Partners. Born in New York to immigrant parents, she’s the eldest of three and shaped by the values they modeled—grit, humility, and continuous improvement. She studied Social Studies at Harvard College and rowed on the varsity lightweight crew team, where she learned what it means to push past limits for your team. She later attended Harvard Business School and now lives in Marin with her husband and three kids. Most weekends, they’re outdoors exploring, and she still squeezes in a morning workout—old habits die hard. Medha is proud to be part of Defy and to continue backing the next generation of iconic founders.
Medha's Sessions
What VCs Really Want to Hear in Your Pitch
Investors hear hundreds of pitches but only a few stand out. Hear directly from VCs on what they love, what makes them cringe, and the subtle signals founders often miss. This panel reveals insider tips to help you craft a pitch that grabs attention, builds trust, and wins the right checks.
Jane is an investment partner at Alphabet’s independent growth fund, CapitalG, where she focuses on enterprise software. She brings over fifteen years of operating experience and a passion for company building to her role. Jane has spent her career building and scaling go-to-market teams. Before joining CapitalG, Jane was the CMO of Carta where she led marketing, channel sales, and product-led-growth (PLG). Prior to that, she led sales teams at Salesforce and RelateIQ. Jane attended Stanford Business School and Harvard University.
Jane's Sessions
How AI is Forcing Late-stage Startups to Rewire GTM – or Be Left Behind
AI is rewriting the playbook for how startups reach and win customers — and late-stage companies are feeling the pressure to adapt fast. In this panel, two top VCs and a seasoned founder break down how AI is transforming go-to-market strategies, from sales and marketing to customer success. We’ll get into what’s working, what’s hype, and how to build AI into your GTM engine without losing focus. If you’re scaling and wondering how AI fits into your next phase of growth, this is the conversation you don’t want to miss.
Erik Allebest is the CEO and co-founder of Chess.com, the #1 platform for people to play and learn chess. Erik was introduced to chess by his mother when he was eight years old. His passion for the game was reignited in college, where he met Jay Severson, the chess club president, who would later become his co-founder at Chess.com. Together they launched Chess.com in 2005, right as Erik graduated from Stanford Business School. Over the last 18 years, Erik and the team have grown the company to over 700 employees, $100M in revenue, and most importantly, a community of 200 million registered users. Erik lives in Utah with his family, and enjoys a variety of activities including CrossFit, pickleball, and disc golf.
Erik's Sessions
Rethinking Startup Capital Without VCs
VCs aren’t the only game in town. Join us as we explore alternative fundraising paths with an angel investor, a family office vice president, and a founder who bootstrapped to success. Learn how to tap into capital that aligns with your vision, keeps you in control, and gets you to the next stage—on your terms.
Max Altschuler is the General Partner and Founder of the GTMfund, an early-stage fund focused on B2B SaaS and backed by over 300 GTM executives. Prior to the GTMfund, Max started a media company called Sales Hacker, which was acquired by Outreach in 2018. He was the VP of Marketing at Outreach from roughly $25m to over $250m in ARR in 4 years. He started his tech career building out the first sales org as the 8th employee at the recently IPO’d company, Udemy. Max has written multiple business books published by Wiley, including Hacking Sales and Sales Engagement. When he’s not helping companies scale their go-to-market, he’s at home, hiking in Scottsdale with his wife, three kids, and two dogs.
Max's Sessions
Building a GTM Engine that Actually Works
A killer product needs a killer go-to-market strategy. This panel explores best traditional practices in building a GTM function, as well as how early-stage startups can harness AI to build a GTM function that drives growth, wins customers, and scales efficiently. Hear from founders and GTM experts on hiring, messaging, sales tactics, and the key metrics that prove your approach is working.
Tasneem Amina is the Co-Founder and President of Kindred, a global home swapping community she launched in 2021 with co-founder Justine Palefsky. Born in India and raised by a large extended family, Tasneem’s early years were filled with movement between homes and relatives. “Home,” to her, was always about feeling rather than place–a core value that continues to guide Kindred’s mission today. Prior to starting Kindred, Tasneem was on the early teams of the property technology company Opendoor and social media company YikYak. Tasneem immigrated to the United States in high school, where she attended the University of Chicago. She now lives in San Francisco, though she travels frequently and considers many different cities to be home.
Tasneem's Sessions
The Winning Formula: Turning Your Business Into a Trusted, Scalable Community To Drive Growth
Join Kindred Co-founders Justine Palefsky and Tasneem Amina as they share how they turned a high-performing tech platform into a community-led movement that redefined home swapping.They’ll explore the strategic blueprint behind building trust at scale to drive exponential growth to include: Turning members into brand ambassadors through a values-driven approach. Using community as a lever for growth and retention. Building for emotional need, not just technical performance. Justine and Tas didn’t just launch a travel product — they revived an outdated category. This talk is for any founder or operator looking to grow an authentic community with integrity, relevance, and resonance.
The Winning Formula: Turning Your Business Into a Trusted, Scalable Community To Drive Growth [encore]
Join Kindred Co-founders Justine Palefsky and Tasneem Amina as they share how they turned a high-performing tech platform into a community-led movement that redefined home swapping.They’ll explore the strategic blueprint behind building trust at scale to drive exponential growth to include: Turning members into brand ambassadors through a values-driven approach. Using community as a lever for growth and retention. Building for emotional need, not just technical performance. Justine and Tas didn’t just launch a travel product — they revived an outdated category. This talk is for any founder or operator looking to grow an authentic community with integrity, relevance, and resonance.
Karandeep Anand is the Chief Executive Officer of Character.AI, the leading AI entertainment platform with 20 million monthly active users worldwide. A board advisor to the company, Anand was appointed as CEO to guide Character.AI through its next phase of growth. As CEO, Anand is responsible for shaping the company’s long-term strategy, expanding into new modalities such as video generation, identifying monetization opportunities, and forging new business partnerships. Previously, Anand served as the President and Chief Product Officer of Brex, the corporate card and spend management platform for startups and enterprises. During his tenure, he was instrumental in the development and launch of Brex’s flagship AI product, Brex Assistant, as well as the introduction of Empower, Brex’s spend management platform for modern companies from startups to enterprises. Before Brex, Anand held several leadership roles at Meta, ultimately serving as the Vice President and Head of Business Products. During his tenure, Anand led the Business Products Group, serving over 200 million businesses worldwide and connecting with 3 billion people through Ads, Business Messaging, Workplace, and Small Business products across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Before joining Meta, Anand spent 15 years at Microsoft, where he led and expanded the Product Management team and shaped the strategy for Microsoft’s Azure Cloud and Developer platform initiatives.
Karandeep's Sessions
AI That Talks Back: Character.AI in the Spotlight
Character.AI has captured global attention but not without controversy. CEO Karan Anand joins us to discuss the explosive rise of human-like AI companions, the legal battles and recent lawsuits challenging the company’s practices, and the ethical and technical questions behind lifelike dialogue. This fireside chat dives into both the breakthroughs and the pitfalls of conversational AI, exploring how these digital personalities are reshaping human interaction and the scrutiny that comes with pushing the boundaries of AI.
Adam Bain is the co-founder and managing partner at 01 Advisors, a venture firm targeting companies who have found product-market fit and are looking for operating expertise as they scale. He also serves on the Board of Directors at Opendoor (NASDAQ: OPEN). Adam is the former Chief Operating Officer of Twitter, where he was responsible for the company’s business lines, including the go-to-market, product and operations teams for the advertising and data businesses. Previously, Adam was the President of the Audience Network at News Corp and ran Product teams at Fox Sports and The Los Angeles Times. In 2012, Adam ranked #1 in Ad Week’s annual listing of the top 50 indispensable talent. In 2013, Adam was inducted into The American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement. In 2015, Adam was named one of the 30 United Nations Women “He for She” Impact Champions to help advance gender equality.
Adam's Sessions
Building What’s Next with the Minds Behind Twitter and Meta
Join Adam Bain (former COO, Twitter), Dick Costolo (former CEO, Twitter) and David Fischer (former Chief Revenue Officer, Meta) of 01 Advisors for an insider fireside chat on what it really takes to build, scale, and fund early-stage startups today. From product to growth to fundraising, get candid advice and fresh perspectives from three industry veterans shaping the next wave of tech success.
Lara Banks, a managing director, is head of Makena’s Private Equity team and is responsible for day-to-day portfolio management and manager selection across private equity investments. Prior to joining Makena in 2012, Lara was an associate at GE Energy Financial Services, a financial division investing across the capital structure of energy assets. Before working at GE, Lara was a power markets analyst at DC Energy, a proprietary energy trading firm. Lara earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics and Government, magna cum laude, from Cornell University.
Lara's Sessions
The LP Lens: Liquidity, Selection, and the Future of Venture
Venture capital starts and ends with LPs — but how are they making decisions in today’s market? In this candid conversation, top allocators share how they’re navigating liquidity crunches, rebalancing portfolios, and leveraging secondaries. We’ll also dig into what makes a GP stand out (or stumble) in a crowded fundraising environment. Expect tactical insights, red flags to avoid, and rapid-fire advice for emerging managers — plus a few “what would you do?” hypotheticals to put our panelists on the spot.
***The StrictlyVC program is dedicated to investor pass holders only.***
Jyoti Bansal is a serial entrepreneur who believes passionately in software’s ability to change the world for the better. He co-founded Harness in 2017 to automate and simplify all software delivery processes, and serves as CEO. In 2018, he co-founded Traceable, the leading API security platform, and venture capital firm Unusual Ventures. In 2008, Jyoti founded application intelligence company AppDynamics, which he led to a $3.7B acquisition by Cisco in 2017. The recipient of multiple leadership awards, Jyoti has been named Forbes’ “Best Cloud Computing CEO to Work for,” San Francisco Business Times’ “Best CEO,” Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year™ for Northern California,” and more. Jyoti received his B.S. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Prior to founding AppDynamics, he worked at several Silicon Valley startups as a software engineer and architect. Jyoti is the lead inventor on over 20 U.S. patents.
Jyoti's Sessions
What VCs Really Want to Hear in Your Pitch
Investors hear hundreds of pitches but only a few stand out. Hear directly from VCs on what they love, what makes them cringe, and the subtle signals founders often miss. This panel reveals insider tips to help you craft a pitch that grabs attention, builds trust, and wins the right checks.
Allison is a General Partner at SemperVirens, a venture fund investing in healthcare, fintech and enterprise SaaS. To date, Allison has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from LPs in the US, Europe, and Asia, and she has deployed capital into more than 70 companies, including nine unicorns, 24 exits and 10 board positions. She has been featured in major publications such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Techcrunch, taught hundreds of business school students. She is a Lecturer in Management at Stanford GSB, and is the author of Breaking into Venture (McGraw-Hill, 2023), a comprehensive guide for navigating the VC industry her second book “Beyond the Pitch: The Psychology of Raising VC Funding” will be released next year. She holds a B.A. in Economics with Honors from Harvard University and is fluent(ish) in three languages.
Allison's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 1
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Mariane is a tech executive with over a decade of experience in building high-performing engineering teams. She is currently the Managing Partner at Founders Bay, where she connects 80,000 founders and VCs with events, virtual workshops, and fundraising resources. She also runs Women Founders Bay, one of the largest communities of female tech entrepreneurs in the Bay Area, providing vital resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities to empower women founders.
Mariane's Sessions
Inside the Family Office Playbook: How the Wealthiest Invest in Startups and Venture Funds
Family offices — the private investment arms of the world’s wealthiest families — now control an estimated $6+ trillion in assets, and their influence on the startup and venture ecosystem is growing fast. In this exclusive fireside discussion with two leading family office principals, we’ll go behind the scenes of how these investors source deals, decide between backing founders directly or investing as LPs in venture funds, and build multi-generational investment strategies. Attendees will learn what makes a pitch stand out, how to structure partnerships that last, and the trends shaping where private capital flows next. Whether you’re a founder looking to unlock new sources of funding or a VC seeking to attract family office LPs, this is your insider’s guide to one of the most powerful — and least understood — forces in venture capital today.
Morgan is a General Partner at NFX, a seed-stage venture capital fund. Most recently, Morgan was at Facebook where she originally joined as part of the Corporate Development team in May 2017. Her main project was trying to answer the question “how should Facebook be thinking about blockchain?” This evolved into the creation of the dedicated blockchain team which later became Diem and Novi. Morgan was Head of Strategy for Facebook’s Novi. Prior to Facebook, Morgan ran Corporate Development at Medium where she led the Embedly acquisition and helped develop the subscription strategy. Before that, Morgan was on the Deal Team at Andreessen Horowitz. For the latter half of her time there, she was solely focused on the early stage ecosystem.
Morgan's Sessions
Investing at the Edge of Space
As space becomes a bigger focus for both governments and private markets, investors are navigating new opportunities and new risks. Join these top investors to break down where capital is flowing, what startups need to show to stand out, and how the funding landscape for space is evolving.
Rajat Bhageria is the Founder and CEO of Chef Robotics, a company based in San Francisco that designs and deploys AI-enabled robotics that help food companies flexibly automate their production, thereby helping them overcome the labor shortage, increase production volume, and keep production on-shore. He’s also the Founder and Managing Partner at Prototype Capital.
Rajat's Sessions
How to Nail Product Market Fit
Building a product is hard. Building one that has customers chomping at the bit to get it, is priced well and can deliver on its promises is far harder, and always messy. But once you achieve the holy grail of product market/fit, your startup will rocket to growth, funding and success. Hear from a founder who’s lived it and two investors who have helped many others achieve it. This panel breaks down how to test smarter, iterate with intention so you can stop guessing and start growing.
Baiju Bhatt is the Founder and CEO of Aetherflux, a U.S. aerospace company delivering energy to planet Earth with space solar power. He is a Co-Founder, Board Director, and former Co-CEO of Robinhood. Today, Robinhood is a publicly traded company with more than 20 million customers. Mr. Bhatt holds a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Mathematics from Stanford University.
Baiju's Sessions
From Robinhood to Aetherflux: Baiju Bhatt’s Next Frontier
As the co-founder of Robinhood, Baiju Bhatt helped redefine access to investing for an entire generation. Now he’s back with Aetherflux, a company operating at the cutting edge of aerospace and deep tech. In this fireside chat, Bhatt will share why he’s diving into space, what he’s learned about building in radically different industries, and how founder experience translates when the stakes are literally orbital.
Dror Bin is the CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority, an independent public entity that operates for the benefit of the Israeli innovation ecosystem and Israeli economy as a whole. Its role is to nurture and develop Israeli innovation resources, while creating and strengthening the infrastructure and framework needed to support the entire knowledge industry. Prior to his role at the Authority, Dror served as President and CEO of RAD Data Communications, a leading global telecom network solutions company with hundreds of employees at the company’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, a manufacturing center in Jerusalem and development center in Beer Sheva as well as dozens of corporate branches around the world. Dror also served in a series of positions for close to a decade at Comverse Technology, the last one as a member of the management team and VP of Global Sales. Following this, Dror served as a venture partner at Carmel Ventures and a chairman at several of its portfolio companies. In addition, Dror served as a partner at Shaldor, a leading management consulting firm in Israel, where he led the development and implementation of business and marketing strategies for major organizations in the financial, consumer, retail, high-tech, banking and other industries.
Dror's Sessions
Global High-Tech at a Crossroads: Trends, Emerging Technologies, and the Role of Deep-Tech
The global high-tech economy is navigating a complex landscape characterized by rapid technological advancements, evolving investment trends, increasing risks, and emerging opportunities. In this shifting environment, venture capitalists face tighter markets and shifting priorities due to global geopolitical headwinds. In this interview, the CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority will discuss global trends and outline how Israel, one of the world’s most dynamic and resilient innovation hubs, balances resilience and excellence with both local and global challenges. The discussion will also highlight how the country is doubling down on supporting bold deep-tech founders and investors, even in the toughest
***The StrictlyVC program is dedicated to investor pass holders only.***
Jenna Birch is the Founder of SISU, a creative communications consultancy for VCs and startups. She has a long track record of working in venture capital comms, as both the VP of Narrative and Communications at NFX and the Head of Content and Communications at Forerunner. In these roles, she worked as an advisor and tactician to portfolio companies while building the profiles of well-known venture capitalists. Jenna has worked to increase brand awareness for firms across consumer, enterprise, sports, AI, healthcare, fintech, e-commerce, deep tech, and more. She draws on her background as a longtime freelance journalist and published author in developing and pitching client stories. Jenna is also a Venture Partner at Kaya Ventures and co-founder of VC Brand Leaders, a community of platform, marketing, and comms professionals in venture capital. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Jenna splits her time between San Francisco and Ann Arbor.
Jenna's Sessions
Startups, Stories, and the Fight for Attention
In a fractured media landscape of challenger brands competing with legacy players, learn how to win attention and influence your audience from three VC communications veterans. This session will give founders clear, no-BS guidance on when they actually need PR and what comms strategies they should be fine-tuning (earlier than they realize). Learn how to build authentic, lasting relationships with journalists, podcasters, and independent creators that cut through today’s AI-driven noise. Get practical strategies for navigating a shifting media landscape where niche voices can be more impactful than legacy outlets. Hear how to avoid exploitative PR tactics, spot when media attention could hurt more than help your startup, and master the art of when to speak and when to stay quiet. Walk away with a new playbook for storytelling that drives real business results, not vanity headlines.
Ann is a partner at NEA focused on early-stage investing in AI category creators, consumer and prosumer applications that shape our daily lives and user-centric business software. She loves working with visionary, technical founders who want to build iconic products and generational companies. Ann’s experience prior to NEA spans 5 pioneering tech companies, including 2 startup exits and business leadership roles at Uber and Twitter during their hyper-growth phase. She holds an MBA from Stanford and a B.S. from UC Berkeley.
Ann's Sessions
How to Nail Product Market Fit
Building a product is hard. Building one that has customers chomping at the bit to get it, is priced well and can deliver on its promises is far harder, and always messy. But once you achieve the holy grail of product market/fit, your startup will rocket to growth, funding and success. Hear from a founder who’s lived it and two investors who have helped many others achieve it. This panel breaks down how to test smarter, iterate with intention so you can stop guessing and start growing.
I’ve always thought, “What can I do that opens up possibilities?” I grew up in South Africa and went to an Afrikaans high school, and we didn’t speak English at home. But I pushed myself to go to an English-speaking university, and that opened up a door. Then I chose to work for McKinsey, because I thought it would open another door and maybe I’d get a chance to work overseas. I was reading about what was happening in Silicon Valley in the mid 90s, before I came to the U.S. Already, I’m starting to see the beginnings of the internet. Did I fathom how big it would be? Absolutely not. I didn’t know what venture capital was. I didn’t know that I would join a startup. I just had an intuition that I needed to be here. A friend of mine introduced me to Elon in 1999 and I joined PayPal. Then when Mike Moritz asked me to come interview at Sequoia, that was just another door opening. Where might this one lead? Whenever I interview people, I ask about those key moments in somebody’s life where they’ve made career decisions. And I think about companies in the same way—there are these crucible moments that have an enormous bearing on ultimate outcomes.
Roelof's Sessions
What Sequoia Sees Coming Next
As one of the most influential VCs of the modern era, Roelof Botha has seen it all; booms, busts, and billion-dollar breakout bets. In this fireside chat, the Sequoia Capital managing partner opens up about how today’s most ambitious founders are navigating AI, geopolitics, and a shifting capital landscape.
Chris Britt is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chime, a financial technology company founded on the premise that basic banking services should be helpful, easy, and free. Chime builds products that help everyday Americans achieve financial progress by addressing their most important financial needs: avoiding fees, accessing short term liquidity, building credit and establishing savings. Previously, Chris served in multiple roles at Green Dot, including Chief Product Officer and SVP of Corporate Development. Chris also held senior positions at Visa and ComScore. In 2024, Britt received the Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Award. A Tulane graduate with a bachelor’s degree in history, he is a member of the Tulane Board of Directors. Britt also serves as a board member of CoachArt, a non-profit that connects chronically ill children with free lessons in the arts and athletics. At Chime, he founded and serves on the Board of Chime Scholars Foundation, pledging 1% of Chime Financial equity to fund college and other post secondary education for aspiring students.
Chris's Sessions
Building a Company That Lasts
Chris Britt knows how to build a company that withstands headwinds and seizes rare opportunities. As co-founder and CEO of Chime, he’s led the fintech from scrappy challenger to one of the few to go public in today’s tough market. In this conversation, Britt will share what it takes to scale with discipline, stay resilient through market shifts, and make the leap from private to public when so few manage it.
Caroline is a Partner at Base10 focused on Seed & Series A investments. Caroline is passionate about investing in software for underserved markets, and spends much of her time investing in multi-product vertical software platforms and related industries. Prior to joining Base10, Caroline spent four years at Crosslink Capital, an early stage fund based in the Bay Area. At Crosslink, she invested within enterprise and vertical software businesses, fintech, and logistics. Prior to her career in venture, Caroline worked in private equity consulting at Parthenon-EY and in data analytics within Lyft’s fleet business. She graduated from Amherst College with a BA in Psychology, where she was a member of the women’s soccer program. When she’s not in the office, you can probably find Caroline on a bike or on skis.
Caroline's Sessions
Real Economy Automation: Vertical Software and Vertical AI
The next frontier of automation is here—and it’s not generic. It’s vertical software and vertical AI: purpose-built technologies transforming real industries like logistics, construction, and healthcare. In this session, we’ll explore how automation is shifting from horizontal platforms to deeply integrated, vertical solutions that directly impact the real economy—the businesses that move people, build infrastructure, and keep society running. Attendees will leave with an understanding of why this shift matters, where the biggest opportunities lie, and how founders, operators, and investors can help shape an automated future that drives both profit and progress.
William Bruey
Founder & CEO, Varda Space IndustriesWill is CEO and Co-Founder of Varda Space Industries, a microgravity-enabled life sciences company whose hypersonic reentry capsules leverage the unique environment of microgravity in low-Earth orbit. Prior to Varda, Will served as Director of Global Equities Technology at Bank of America. He was the lead avionics engineer at SpaceX and flew Dragon on eight missions to the International Space Station. Will holds a B.S. in Applied Physics from Cornell and a master’s in Systems Engineering. He was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his hobbies include flying and maintaining his Cozy MK4 aircraft.
William's Sessions
Dual-use and the Rise of Private Investment
The lines between commercial and defense technology have never been thinner and private capital is racing to fund the next generation of dual-use companies. Startup leaders join us to explore how startups are navigating this complex landscape, the opportunities (and responsibilities) that come with building dual-use tech, and what it means for the future of the aerospace industry.
Jeff Cardenas is the co-founder and CEO of Apptronik, a human-centered robotics company building AI-powered humanoid robots to transform industries. A serial entrepreneur, he is dedicated to commercializing cutting-edge robotics and bringing humanoid technology into the real world. Jeff specializes in technology commercialization and product development. Before co-founding Apptronik in 2016 with Dr. Nick Paine and Dr. Luis Sentis, he worked at the Global Commercialization Group at UT Austin’s IC² Institute, where he helped innovators worldwide transition breakthrough research into market-ready solutions. Under Jeff’s leadership, Apptronik is creating the world’s most advanced and capable humanoid robots, designed to work alongside humans in meaningful and transformative ways. The company collaborates with global innovators like Google DeepMind, NVIDIA and Mercedes-Benz to advance humanoid robotics from research settings to practical, real-world applications. Jeff holds a BS in Business and an MS in Technology Commercialization from UT Austin. Passionate about entrepreneurship and tech-driven social impact, he believes robotics can address global challenges and improve lives.
Jeff's Sessions
Intelligence in Motion and the Future of Physical AI
AI in the physical world hasn’t had its ChatGPT moment…yet.. Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun and Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas join us to explore what it takes to bring intelligence into motion, whether it’s behind the wheel or on two legs. From simulation to sensors to scaling safely, this panel explores the breakthroughs driving the next generation of physical machines.
Jaspar is the founder and CEO of Artisan, a Y Combinator-backed startup that has raised over $35M to create AI employees, called Artisans, starting with outbound sales. Before Artisan, he founded a marketing agency, where he gained deep insights into go-to-market processes and recognized the potential to scale them through software. His GTM strategies at Artisan, including their recent “Stop Hiring Humans” campaign have led to over 1 billion online impressions.
Jaspar's Sessions
The Pros and Cons of Hiring AI Agents as Early Employees
Most startups today are using AI in some capacities: vibe coding prototypes or new features, deep research via their favorite chat before sales calls. Many are also building AI products, or at least including AI options and features. So should you embed AI at the root operations of your businesses like hiring AI agents instead of humans for sales? For customer support? To automate your billing? Learn how to pick the right use cases, build smarter workflows, and get the biggest impact with limited resources.
Gabby Cazeau is a Partner at Harlem Capital – where All Winners are Welcome. At the firm she invests in pre-seed and seed startups, primarily in Enterprise and Vertical software and Applied AI. Gabby sits on the VC Council of Startup:NYC. She has been featured in Business Insider, CNBC, and named to Crain’s NYC 40 Under 40. Gabby received her MBA from the Yale School of Management and holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis
Gabby's Sessions
Seed Money Secrets Every Founder Should Know
Raising your first round is tough—but far from impossible. This panel brings together experienced investors to break down what it really takes to close a seed round. From crafting the right pitch to ensuring you are greenlighting the right partners, get actionable advice to turn investor interest into capital.
Allie Cefalo joined Kleiner Perkins in 2019, where she leads marketing and communications for the firm. With a background in helping founders and public company CEOs navigate storytelling and brand, she also serves as a trusted partner to the firm’s portfolio. Prior to Kleiner Perkins, Allie was vice president at Teneo where she led executive reputation strategies for some of the world’s largest technology companies. Allie previously served as head of communications at several startups, including Campaign Monitor, Puppet, and Appirio. She also managed partnership and customer communications during her time at Salesforce. Allie graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism.
Allie's Sessions
Startups, Stories, and the Fight for Attention
In a fractured media landscape of challenger brands competing with legacy players, learn how to win attention and influence your audience from three VC communications veterans. This session will give founders clear, no-BS guidance on when they actually need PR and what comms strategies they should be fine-tuning (earlier than they realize). Learn how to build authentic, lasting relationships with journalists, podcasters, and independent creators that cut through today’s AI-driven noise. Get practical strategies for navigating a shifting media landscape where niche voices can be more impactful than legacy outlets. Hear how to avoid exploitative PR tactics, spot when media attention could hurt more than help your startup, and master the art of when to speak and when to stay quiet. Walk away with a new playbook for storytelling that drives real business results, not vanity headlines.
Wesley Chan is an early investor in five $10B+ Decacorns and 20+ $1B+ Unicorns, including Canva, Guild, Dialpad, & AngelList. He was first check into Flexport, Robinhood, Plaid, & Gusto. Founders want to work with Wesley given his product-led growth expertise that he developed when he founded Google Analytics and Google Voice during his 14 year career at Google. He also holds 17 patents for his work on building Google’s early Ads system.
Wesley's Sessions
How to Pitch When You're at the Inception Stage
Raising pre-seed and seed-stage capital at the inception stage means pitching without a product, users, or traction—just a vision and a founder story. In this panel, Wesley Chan of FPV Ventures and Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures share what they look for in the earliest-stage founders and how to stand out when you have little more than an idea. Learn how to build trust, tell a compelling story, and avoid the most common mistakes founders make when trying to land that critical first check.
Sri Chandrasekar is the Managing Partner of Point72 Private Investments, the private investing business of Point72 Asset Management. Sri joined Point72 from In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the CIA and the U.S. Intelligence Community. At In-Q-Tel, Sri led investments and built research teams to solve some of the intelligence community’s toughest problems. Prior to In-Q-Tel, Sri spent nearly a decade designing and building systems for the military at BAE Systems.
Sri's Sessions
AI and National Security in the High-Stakes Race to Innovate
From defense labs to Wall Street and naval operations, AI is reshaping how countries protect themselves and project power. DARPA’s Kathleen Fisher, Point72’s Sri Chandrasekar, and Navy CTO Justin Fanelli dive into the cutting-edge AI breakthroughs driving security innovation. They’ll discuss what it means for entrepreneurs, investors, and the future of global stability.
Jerry joined Greylock in 2013, and backs founders with a strong product and operational sense across a range of sectors including AI, data, business applications, cloud infrastructure, and open source technologies. His current investments at Greylock include Cato Networks, Chronosphere, Docker, Gladly, Instabase, Onehouse, Notable, and others in stealth. Before Greylock, Jerry spent a decade at VMware as a product leader and executive. As an early hire, he watched the company grow from 250 to more than 15,000 employees.
Jerry's Sessions
Where VCs Are Placing Their Bets in 2026
Curious where the smart money is heading next? This panel brings together top VCs to share their 2026 investment priorities, emerging sectors, and what innovations are catching their eye. Early-stage founders, this one is for you, get a rare glimpse into the trends and technologies that could shape your business in the year ahead.
Qianwen (Q) Chen is the Founder & CEO of EchoHer, a global community dedicated to empowering women and non-binary founders through events, workshops, and curated networking. EchoHer has become a platform recognized for convening high-impact conversations and connections, from founder–investor dinners to large-scale showcases, amplifying underrepresented voices and building bridges across the startup ecosystem. Qianwen is also Lead Developer at Owls Head, where she drives AI enablement and digital transformation for enterprises on Salesforce’s Communications Cloud and Agentforce. Earlier, she was a founding engineer at Vlocity (acquired by Salesforce), where she developed no-code/low-code enterprise mobile platforms that accelerated cloud adoption across various industries, including insurance, healthcare, the public sector, and telecommunications. Her work supported top enterprise customers such as Verizon and New York Life, and she partnered with consultancies like Accenture, training global teams—including consultants in India—to deliver industry solutions at scale. A Master of Computer Science graduate from Carnegie Mellon University, Qianwen has been building startups since her student days, including ZyperShop and Cims.ai. She is an active advisor and advocate in the women in tech community, focused on bringing more women into technology and entrepreneurship. Beyond her technical career, she has cultivated a global following as a fashion and lifestyle influencer, blending creative storytelling, brand partnerships, and audience engagement. Her journey bridges engineering, entrepreneurship, and culture — with a mission to champion diverse founders worldwide and help more scale into global leaders and unicorns.
Qianwen's Sessions
Being Heard in the Age of AI
In a world saturated with AI-generated content, the challenge isn’t speaking—it’s being heard. The Age of AI has made it effortless to create but harder than ever to cut through the noise. For founders and builders, the ability to cut through the noise is no longer optional—it’s survival. This breakout panel explores what it really takes to stand out when AI can mimic anyone and algorithms dictate who gets noticed. We’ll examine the evolving role of personal brand, the shifting dynamics of narrative and design, and how credibility is built when trust is fragile and attention is scarce. Attendees can expect an honest conversation about the intersection of AI, branding, and influence, with insights into how today’s leaders navigate visibility, build trust, and make their voices resonate in an increasingly noisy digital landscape.
Jon is a Partner at Khosla Ventures passionate about machine learning and its impact on enterprise infrastructure, applications, and developer tools. Prior to KV, Jon built a career in technology as a founder, early employee, and organizational leader across a variety of engineering and product roles. He began his career as an early engineer at Palantir (PLTR), helping scale it from 200 to 1800 employees and founded and sold KoalityCode to Docker, where he created and led Docker’s enterprise division. At Opendoor (OPEN), Jon held roles as both Head of Product for Growth and Head of Engineering for Core Machine Learning helping scale the company to IPO. Most recently, Jon spent time at Facebook leading international engineering organizations in both VR & ML. Jon holds a B.S. in Computer Science with University Honors from Carnegie Mellon University.
Jon's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 3
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Anh-Tho Chuong is the co-founder of Lago, the open-source billing platform loved by developers. Frustrated by the limitations of traditional billing systems during her experience scaling SaaS companies, she co-created Lago to provide flexible, developer-centric solutions. Lago is now trusted by notable clients like Mistral.ai and Together.ai and has secured $22 million in funding from investors including FirstMark, SignalFire, and Y Combinator. Prior to Lago, Anh-Tho served as VP of Growth at the $5B fintech firm Qonto, guiding its go-to-market strategy from pre-launch through Series C. Her career also includes key growth and strategic roles at Weebly (acquired by Square), Mailjet (acquired by Mailgun), startup studio Hexa, and McKinsey & Company.
Anh-Tho's Sessions
Do Startups Still Need Silicon Valley?
While Silicon Valley is still the startup capital, how important is access to it anymore? This panel debates whether founders must plant roots in the Valley to succeed or if opportunity is so strong elsewhere that they don’t need it. Hear perspectives from investors and founders redefining what it means to build, scale, and fund a company in today’s decentralized tech world. While Silicon Valley is still the startup capital, how important is access to it anymore? This panel debates whether founders must plant roots in the Valley to succeed or if opportunity is so strong elsewhere that they don’t need it. Hear perspectives from investors and founders redefining what it means to build, scale, and fund a company in today’s decentralized tech world.
Jason is the founder and former CEO of Discord, a voice, video and text platform that makes it easier and more fun for friends to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games. Prior to starting Discord, Jason founded and served as CEO of OpenFeint, the biggest 1st generation mobile social gaming platform. He serves on the boards of Discord and Campus.edu.
Jason's Sessions
Creating Communities and Companies That Last
What happens when you design around people, not institutions? Jason Citron, founder and former CEO of Discord, and Tade Oyerinde, founder and chancellor of Campus, will discuss how they built companies that tapped into community to break through the noise. From Discord’s rise as a global hub for millions to Campus’s ambitious mission to reinvent college, they’ll explore product design, lessons in scaling amidst competition, and how founders can balance vision with adaptability.
Philip Clark is an investor at Thrive Capital, where he has partnered with leading software and hardware companies that are engineering breakthrough advancements in AI and robotics, including Anduril, Cursor, Neuralink, Physical Intelligence, and Wiz. He previously invested at Bridgewater. Philip graduated from Stanford with degrees in Computer Science and Management Science & Engineering. He continues to advise the Hoover Institution on various topics in emerging technologies.
Philip's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 4
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Josh Constine is a Venture Partner at ~$3 billion AUM early-stage VC fund SignalFire where he invests in pre-seed startups with a focus on consumer. He teaches startup pitch writing and fundraising strategy as a recurring lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School Of Business, and with accelerators like Z Fellows, Inception Studios, and Stanford ASES. Previously, Constine was Editor-At-Large for TechCrunch where he wrote 4000 articles and was ranked the #1 most cited tech journalist in the world from 2016-2020 by Techmeme. Constine has led 300+ on-stage interviews and keynotes in 18 countries with luminaries including Mark Zuckerberg and the CEOs of Shopify, DoorDash, Snapchat, Instagram, and more. Constine graduated from Stanford University with a Master’s degree he designed in Cybersociology, and wrote his thesis in 2008 on why remixable memes would be the future of marketing. He has been quoted in the NYT and WSJ, is regularly featured on CNN for his thoughts on AI and Silicon Valley, and advises startups on PR, fundraising, and organic growth.
Josh's Sessions
Fundraising Process Workshop with TC editor turned VC Josh Constine
The deck was the easy part. How do you get hundreds of investor meetings, answer their questions successfully, follow up without sounding desperate, and get competing term sheets on the table? Josh Constine has advised dozens of companies on their raises as a Venture Partner at $3B AI-powered VC firm SignalFire, and knows how to make your pitch compelling from his 9 years at TechCrunch where he was ranked the world’s #1 most cited tech journalist. Josh will share what he teaches at top accelerators and the Stanford Graduate School Of Business so you can get the capital you deserve. You’ll leave knowing how to build a fundraise CRM, get the best intros, present effectively, and generate investor FOMO so your round closes fast!
Dick Costolo is a co-founder and managing partner at 01 Advisors, an early growth venture firm leveraging our operating experience to help companies scale. Prior to co-founding 01 Advisors, he was CEO of Twitter from 2010 to 2015 and has been Founder and CEO of multiple startups, including FeedBurner, which was acquired by Google in 2007. The former improv comedian has been a consultant on HBO’s “Silicon Valley” and holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.
Dick's Sessions
Building What’s Next with the Minds Behind Twitter and Meta
Join Adam Bain (former COO, Twitter), Dick Costolo (former CEO, Twitter) and David Fischer (former Chief Revenue Officer, Meta) of 01 Advisors for an insider fireside chat on what it really takes to build, scale, and fund early-stage startups today. From product to growth to fundraising, get candid advice and fresh perspectives from three industry veterans shaping the next wave of tech success.
David Cramer is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Sentry, which helps developers find and fix bugs faster so they can get back to the fun parts of building. David started Sentry as an Open Source side project in 2012; today it’s used by over four million developers at over 100,000 organizations, including companies like Anthropic, Disney, Instacart, Duolingo, Slack, and Cursor. In his spare time, he builds projects to dogfood Sentry on and is an angel investor in Vercel, Laravel, Dandelion Chocolate, and dozens of other companies.
David's Sessions
With Vibe Coding, Do Early Stage Startups Still Need to Hire 10x Engineers?
Vibe coding products have completely changed the speed, cost and technical skill needed to build products, from prototypes to shipping. This is especially true for early stage startups. Some makers of these products have even declared that no one needs to learn to code anymore. If so, that means startups don’t need to fill their early rosters with the famed 10x coders. But how much of that is hype and how much is reality? Our panelists will dive into how the developer tool world is changing and what comes next.
Dr. Tom Cwik is Chief Technologist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In this role, he provides strategic leadership for research in advanced technology and serves as the focal point for technology interactions with NASA, companies, universities, and the external research community. This includes being responsible for the management and development of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate work at JPL and directing internal investments across the Lab. He is responsible for guiding the infusion of new technology into the Laboratory mission portfolio. Tom has been at JPL for over 30 years working as Associate Chief Technologist, managing the Space Technology Office, working in technology development in a number of areas, developing flight systems for a number of missions, and leading formulation of the NASA Aquarius mission. He works with start-up companies and accelerators in the new-space sector. Tom’s technical interests include areas of computational electromagnetics using high-performance parallel architectures and the system design of mobile bots that will one day explore ocean worlds. Tom received his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He has been a co-founder of a start-up company, consults, and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Washington. He was named a distinguished alum at the University of Illinois, ECE Department, and is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and a Fellow of the IEEE.
Tom's Sessions
Aerospace Startup Showcase: Solving the Hardest Problems in Space
AI is transforming countless industries, and space is no exception. The Aerospace Corporation is hosting a pitch-off at TechCrunch Disrupt to showcase startups working on innovative AI solutions to the hardest problems in space exploration, orbital intelligence, and infrastructure.
Chantelle Darby is the founder of Darby PR, a strategic communications consultancy trusted by top venture capital firms and high-growth startups. With over 20 years of experience leading PR, brand, and storytelling efforts for some of the tech industry’s most influential names, Chantelle empowers founders to break through the noise and build credibility with the audiences who matter. Previously, she spent nearly a decade as VP of Communications at Accel, shaping the narratives of category-defining companies from seed to scale. As an operator and advisor, she has partnered with iconic leaders and organizations, including helping to launch Sheryl Sandberg’s global “Lean In” campaign, steering product and IPO communications at Yelp, and advising VC firms like Greylock Partners. Her hands-on approach blends deep startup grit with a nuanced understanding of the storytelling opportunities—and challenges—founders face.
Chantelle's Sessions
Startups, Stories, and the Fight for Attention
In a fractured media landscape of challenger brands competing with legacy players, learn how to win attention and influence your audience from three VC communications veterans. This session will give founders clear, no-BS guidance on when they actually need PR and what comms strategies they should be fine-tuning (earlier than they realize). Learn how to build authentic, lasting relationships with journalists, podcasters, and independent creators that cut through today’s AI-driven noise. Get practical strategies for navigating a shifting media landscape where niche voices can be more impactful than legacy outlets. Hear how to avoid exploitative PR tactics, spot when media attention could hurt more than help your startup, and master the art of when to speak and when to stay quiet. Walk away with a new playbook for storytelling that drives real business results, not vanity headlines.
Jai is President, Partner and Co-Founder at Sapphire Ventures. He invests in startups that he believes are developing ground-breaking products and are on their way to becoming Companies of Consequence. He has more than 15 years of investment experience and has helped multiple companies innovate their product and marketing strategies in order to become market leaders. Jai’s current investments include Glean, Netskope, Cohesity, Huntress, ThoughtSpot, Defense Unicorns, Clari, CircleCI, DataRobot, JumpCloud, Simpplr, Blockdaemon, and UJET. Fifteen of his investments have IPO’ed, including MuleSoft, Jfrog, Five9, Nutanix, Alteryx, Square, ExactTarget, Apigee, Box, and SumoLogic, while twenty-four of his investments have been acquired.
Jai's Sessions
Everything You Need to Know Before an Exit
Go public, get acquired, or double down and stay private? In today’s unpredictable market, founders need to think about exit strategy earlier — and more strategically — than ever. This panel brings together two top VCs and a seasoned CEO to unpack how to set your company up for every option. We’ll talk timing, metrics that matter, investor expectations, and what it really takes to navigate M&A, IPO prep, or just keep building through the storm. Whether you’re 12 months out or just starting to scale, this conversation is all about making smart moves now for whatever comes next.
Meghana Dhar is a technology executive who advises and speaks on the future of consumer tech and AI. She built her career at the intersection of technology and culture, serving as Head of Partnerships for Instagram Shopping and Global Head of Partnerships at Snap. Today, she works with startups and investors on go-to-market strategy, innovation, and growth, while serving as an advisor to Stanford GSB’s Botha-Chan Innovation Program. She is also the Founder of Tea in Tech, a fast-growing media brand that delivers insider takes on AI and technology. Reaching more than 5 million monthly impressions, Tea in Tech has become a go-to voice for founders, executives, and investors navigating the future of Tech & AI. Check out the series on Linkedin. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and LinkedIn Top Voice, Meghana holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is passionate about democratizing access to technology.
Meghana's Sessions
Embracing AI for a Better Digital Future
We’re at a crossroads for AI, where the norms and innovations we cement now could define whether AI is additive instead of addictive, inclusive instead of harmful. As AI reshapes digital experiences, leaders must pioneer a new path. Matt can explore how AI works “under the hood” at Pinterest-powering its positivity, personalization for users, and advertiser performance and internal productivity, and how Pinterest charts a different course from other platforms through its vision for tuning AI for good. In a landscape often dominated by “engagement by enragement” models, Pinterest proves that AI can be both powerful and responsible, drive innovation and keep users’ well-being at the forefront.
Prateek Dixit
Co-founder, Pocket EntertainmentPrateek Dixit is the co-founder and AI evangelist at Pocket Entertainment, the parent behind world’s leading audio series platform, Pocket FM, and webcomics platform Pocket Toons. Since launching the company in 2018 with co-founders Rohan Nayak and Nishanth KS, Prateek has been the driving force behind Pocket FM’s AI-first technology vision – blending deep technical expertise with a bold vision for transforming how audio entertainment is created, distributed and consumed. At the helm of Pocket FM’s AI and engineering strategy, Prateek leads the architecture and deployment of Pocket FM’s full-stack technology and AI roadmap – including the development of groundbreaking tools like ATLAS CoPilot and AI Voice, which enable writers to generate long-form content with unprecedented speed, scale and quality. Under his leadership, over 60,000 AI-enhanced series have launched, positioning Pocket FM as a global pioneer in AI-driven entertainment. With a background in software development and data science, Prateek previously held key engineering roles at Flipkart, Grofers, and Hike, where he developed a strong foundation in scaling products for millions of users. Today, he channels that experience into building a tech ecosystem where human imagination and machine intelligence work hand in hand, helping Pocket FM reach over 200 million listeners worldwide.
Prateek's Sessions
Creative Machines and Where AI Meets Imagination
AI is no longer just optimizing workflows; it’s co-creating art, media, and experiences in ways we’re only beginning to understand. Wonder Dynamics CEO Nikola Todorovic, Twelve Labs Co-founder Soyoung Lee and Co-founder of Pocket Prateek Dixit are creative technologists who explore how AI is reshaping the creative process, blurring the lines between artist and algorithm, and opening up new frontiers for storytellers, designers, and dreamers alike.
Eryk is a partner at Index Ventures investing from inception to the growth stages in artificial intelligence, infrastructure, and robotics. He is drawn to curious and relentless founders who share his passion for tackling the world’s toughest problems. Prior to Index, Eryk spent several years at Databricks where he partnered closely with Ali Ghodsi as his Chief of Staff. During his tenure, Eryk had a front-row seat to one of the fastest-growing enterprise software companies in history, working across every aspect of the business – from product and engineering to sales and operations. Eryk started his career at The Boston Consulting Group, where he focused primarily on enterprise software and digital health. He holds a B.A. in Applied Math and Economics from Harvard University. Based in San Francisco, Eryk is an avid weightlifter, ski enthusiast, and voracious reader.
Eryk's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 2
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Dr. Debra L. Emmons is vice president and chief technology officer (CTO) at The Aerospace Corporation. In this role, she is responsible for providing vital leadership for determining and executing the company’s technology strategy and investments. Emmons leads four offices: eLab, responsible for setting the technical investment strategy and priorities; xLab, responsible for developing, building, and operating prototypes; Commercial Space Futures (CSF) office, responsible for driving the harnessing of commercial solutions for government missions to advance U.S. space; and the new Solution Accelerator, responsible for delivering independent and innovative solutions with speed and national impact. She also manages the company’s $60M+ internal research and development program and the Aerospace Technical Fellows program, with the company’s top engineers and scientists. Emmons most recently served as chairperson of the CTO Roundtable with federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) and university affiliated research centers (UARCs) to develop and maintain relationships with government and other defense-related research laboratories to identify technology priorities, future requirements, and emerging opportunities.
Debra's Sessions
Aerospace Startup Showcase: Solving the Hardest Problems in Space
AI is transforming countless industries, and space is no exception. The Aerospace Corporation is hosting a pitch-off at TechCrunch Disrupt to showcase startups working on innovative AI solutions to the hardest problems in space exploration, orbital intelligence, and infrastructure.
Tanya Eves is owner and head of business development at Epic Aircraft, where she has helped position the Bend, Oregon–based manufacturer as a leader in certified single-engine turboprops. A former CEO of one of the largest aviation groups in the CIS – and the youngest to lead a top-500 company in the region – Tanya has built a career at the intersection of aerospace, innovation, and investment. A licensed airplane and helicopter pilot, she has flown her Epic around the world, bringing both entrepreneurial and hands-on aviation experience to every venture she leads. In 2019, she co-founded Decart Ventures, a venture capital firm backing early-stage technology companies, and in 2025, she founded FlyEpic, a platform making private aviation more accessible through shared ownership of personal aircraft.
Tanya's Sessions
Flying into the Future: AI Is Fueling Aviation
The aviation industry has long been slowed by legacy systems and lengthy certification processes — but Epic Aircraft is proving change is possible. The Oregon-based disruptor earned FAA type certification for its E1000 AX in July 2025 and is now pioneering the use of artificial intelligence across design, testing, certification workflows, and customer support. By embracing smart automation, Epic is scaling faster and more efficiently than traditional manufacturers. In this session, attendees will get an inside look at how AI is reshaping the future of flight, what aerospace can learn from startup culture, and how innovation is accelerating speed, safety, and performance. Discover what happens when Silicon Valley thinking meets aviation’s next frontier.
Viviana is a General Partner at Felicis, bringing over 20 years of experience designing and building brand categories for successful cloud/SaaS and enterprise social companies. Her expertise includes scaling go-to-market SaaS teams, messaging and positioning, category creation, freemium product strategy, and sales enablement. An experienced angel investor, Viviana previously served as an operating partner and advisor at Emergence Capital. She held leadership positions in marketing at Yammer, Salesforce, Platfora, and Zenefits. After Yammer’s $1.2B acquisition by Microsoft, she became its head of marketing for enterprise social, which included Office 365, Skype, and Lync. She has a BS in Operations Management & Information Systems from Santa Clara University and enjoys spending time with her family and traveling internationally.
Viviana's Sessions
Where VCs Are Placing Their Bets in 2026
Curious where the smart money is heading next? This panel brings together top VCs to share their 2026 investment priorities, emerging sectors, and what innovations are catching their eye. Early-stage founders, this one is for you, get a rare glimpse into the trends and technologies that could shape your business in the year ahead.
Justin Fanelli is the Chief Technology Officer for the Department of the Navy and Technical Director of PEO Digital, driving measurable technology improvements and secure, high-performance digital transformation. He champions private-public collaboration to deliver innovation with unprecedented value. Fanelli advises numerous national science and technology boards and has held key roles including Chief Architect for Defense Health, DARPA Service Chiefs Fellow, and Chief Systems Engineer for Joint Command and Control. He teaches at Georgetown and has lectured all over the country at CMU, MIT, Stanford and others. He recently gave a TED Talk on innovation adoption and the Innovation Adoption Kit covered by TechCrunch, Forbes, CSIS and others. Fanelli holds engineering degrees from Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania and is a Senior Executive Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. He’s been an angel investor, VC and has been privileged to serve on public and private boards. His work has earned national awards including the Etter Award, Fed100, Defense50, and CMMI Project of the Year. He lives in Arlington, VA and enjoys book recommendations.
Justin's Sessions
AI and National Security in the High-Stakes Race to Innovate
From defense labs to Wall Street and naval operations, AI is reshaping how countries protect themselves and project power. DARPA’s Kathleen Fisher, Point72’s Sri Chandrasekar, and Navy CTO Justin Fanelli dive into the cutting-edge AI breakthroughs driving security innovation. They’ll discuss what it means for entrepreneurs, investors, and the future of global stability.
Madison is a Partner at NEA investing in early-stage data, infrastructure, developer tools, data science, and AI and she also leads the data and AI platform internally for improved investment decision-making. Across her investing career, she has worked with startups including World Labs, Factory, Ceramic, Metabase, Datafold, Delphina, Mindtrip, Fixify, and others. Prior to investing, Madison was Head of Data Science and Machine Learning at growth startup Thrasio, Head of Data Science at Greycroft, and led a data science team at Facebook focused on the ad auction and deep learning with FAIR. Madison received a BS in Engineering from Stanford and grew up in Colorado performing in rodeos. She spends free time advising entrepreneurship organizations at Columbia, UW and Stanford and working towards a pilot’s license.
Madison's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 3
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Leslie Feinzaig is the Founder and General Partner at Graham & Walker, an early stage venture fund backing extraordinary founders and ideas that break the mold, whose mission is to change the face of public markets by backing a new guard of founders and CEOs. Prior to launching the fund, Ms. Feinzaig was a 2x startup exec with 8- and 10- figure exits who started her career under the tutelage of HBS Professor Clayton Christensen, author of the seminal theory of disruptive innovation. In 2017 Ms. Feinzaig founded the Female Founders Alliance, the largest community of its kind in America, which serves as Graham & Walker’s proprietary deal flow machine. In 2024, she launched VCs for Harris, the viral pledge that united 850 VCs, including a who’s who of Silicon Valley according to NPR. Ms. Feinzaig is also a regular contributor at Fortune Magazine and Fast Company, and publishes the popular Substack, “Blindspots”. Born and raised in Costa Rica, Ms. Feinzaig moved to America with a full scholarship to Harvard Business School. She has been since named one of Forbes Magazine’s Most Powerful Women from Central America, Worth Magazine’s Worthy 100, Puget Sound Business Journal 40 Under 40 and Women of Influence Awards, and Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two young daughters.
Leslie's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 4
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Dave Ferguson is the Co-Founder and President of Nuro, a self-driving technology company bringing scalable autonomy to robotaxis, commercial fleets, and personally owned vehicles. Nuro’s mission is to make autonomy accessible to all. Before starting Nuro in 2016, Dave was a principal engineer on Google’s self-driving program (now Waymo), where he led the computer vision, machine learning, behavior prediction, and scene understanding teams. He also led the planning group for Carnegie Mellon University’s winning team in the 2007 DARPA Urban Grand Challenge, a competition that helped launch the modern AV industry. Dave holds more than 100 patents and has published over 60 papers on robotics and machine learning. He earned his MS and PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Dave's Sessions
Smarter Streets: How AI Is Driving the Future of Transportation
From ride-hailing at massive global scale to autonomous delivery bots on neighborhood streets, AI is reinventing how people and goods move. Uber CTO Praveen Naga and Nuro Co-Founder Dave Ferguson take the stage to discuss the breakthroughs shaping mobility, the challenges of deploying AI in unpredictable real-world environments, and what the next decade of transportation will look like.
David Fischer is a General Partner at 01 Advisors, a venture firm targeting companies that have found product-market fit and are looking for operating expertise as they scale. David is the former Chief Revenue Officer of Facebook. He served at the company from 2010 to 2021, overseeing the advertising business and managing the sales and marketing teams worldwide. In that role, he led the growth of the company’s revenue from less than $1 billion a year to over $100 billion in 2021, while serving over 200 million businesses through the company’s products. Prior to joining Facebook in 2010, David was Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google. Starting in 2002, he built and directed Google’s online sales channel. David previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the U.S. Treasury Department in the late 1990’s. Prior to that, David was an Associate Editor at U.S. News & World Report, where he covered economics and business from Washington, DC.
David's Sessions
Building What’s Next with the Minds Behind Twitter and Meta
Join Adam Bain (former COO, Twitter), Dick Costolo (former CEO, Twitter) and David Fischer (former Chief Revenue Officer, Meta) of 01 Advisors for an insider fireside chat on what it really takes to build, scale, and fund early-stage startups today. From product to growth to fundraising, get candid advice and fresh perspectives from three industry veterans shaping the next wave of tech success.
Kathleen Fisher
Director, Information Innovation Office (I2O), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)Dr. Kathleen Fisher became the Director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office (I2O) in May 2022. She leads program managers who are funding the development and transition of technologies and capabilities to ensure an information advantage for the United States and its allies. Dr. Fisher joined DARPA from Tufts University, where she was a Professor of Computer Science, and served as chair of the department. Earlier in her career, she was a principal member of the technical staff at AT&T Labs. Fisher is a Hertz Foundation fellow, an AAAS fellow, an ACM fellow, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Harvey Mudd College.
Kathleen's Sessions
AI and National Security in the High-Stakes Race to Innovate
From defense labs to Wall Street and naval operations, AI is reshaping how countries protect themselves and project power. DARPA’s Kathleen Fisher, Point72’s Sri Chandrasekar, and Navy CTO Justin Fanelli dive into the cutting-edge AI breakthroughs driving security innovation. They’ll discuss what it means for entrepreneurs, investors, and the future of global stability.
Brit Fitzpatrick is an award-winning innovation strategist and ecosystem builder with over a decade of experience connecting historically overlooked founders to the capital, networks, and systems they’ve long been excluded from. She currently leads Data & Impact at All Raise, where she drives data strategy, impact measurement, and data-driven storytelling to accelerate the success of women and nonbinary investors. All Raise exists to reshape culture, capital flows, and decision-making power in venture capital—unlocking stronger returns and market-shaping innovation. Brit is best known as the creator of #ProjectDiane, the first national dataset tracking venture capital investments in Black women founders—research that transformed how the industry measures equity. Her work has helped over 150 founders raise more than $50 million in capital and secured an additional $23 million to grow inclusive entrepreneurship infrastructure. She has served as a U.S. Department of Commerce appointee, built one of the first SaaS mentoring platforms, and launched programs that have created more than 800 innovation jobs. Brit also serves on the External Review Board for the NIH REACH Hub at Vanderbilt University, guiding commercialization strategy for federally funded medical innovations. She brings a journalist’s curiosity and a strategist’s rigor to every conversation about tech, equity, and ecosystem design—using data as both a mirror and a map to help startups and investors redesign the systems that shape who gets funded and why.
Brit's Sessions
From Data to Disruption: Redesigning Startup & VC Ecosystems
Data isn’t just for dashboards — it’s a design tool for equity. In this roundtable, award-winning strategist Brit Fitzpatrick (All Raise, #ProjectDiane) leads a dynamic discussion on using data as both mirror and map to drive ecosystem change. From tracking which founders get funded to surfacing who’s missing entirely, we’ll explore how data can reveal blind spots, reshape narratives, and unlock capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs and investors. Brit will share real-world examples from her work at All Raise and ProjectDiane — including how simple tools like dashboards and overlooked datasets have fueled strategic decisions and shifted power. We’ll discuss how to translate data into funding, policy, and platform change — no technical background required. Attendees will leave with insights on spotting key signals, designing inclusive strategies, and using narrative-backed data to build what the future of tech actually needs.
Kelli Fontaine joined Cendana in 2018 and is a Partner on the Investment Committee. She leads the firm’s efforts around data, strategic relationships, and strategic initiatives. Ms. Fontaine joined from Trinity Capital Investment where she was the director for the Bay Area and deployed $75M of loans to growth stage companies in 2017. Prior to Trinity, she was on the operating side of fintech businesses. At RPX Corporation, she led the development, implementation, and execution of new market technology research techniques for the patent litigation insurance business, which served technology companies. RPX was backed by Kleiner Perkins, CRV, and Index; it went public within three years of its founding. Ms. Fontaine co-founded a point-of-sales analytics company focused on restaurants. She started her career at Capital Group on the consultant services team, and Credit Suisse in private wealth management where she worked with a small team responsible for $1.5Bn AUM and assisted the bank with Directed Share Programs and venture distributions. She holds a BA in Journalism and a BS in Business from the University of Colorado.
Kelli's Sessions
The LP Lens: Liquidity, Selection, and the Future of Venture
Venture capital starts and ends with LPs — but how are they making decisions in today’s market? In this candid conversation, top allocators share how they’re navigating liquidity crunches, rebalancing portfolios, and leveraging secondaries. We’ll also dig into what makes a GP stand out (or stumble) in a crowded fundraising environment. Expect tactical insights, red flags to avoid, and rapid-fire advice for emerging managers — plus a few “what would you do?” hypotheticals to put our panelists on the spot.
***The StrictlyVC program is dedicated to investor pass holders only.***
Brendan Foody is the co-founder and CEO of Mercor, the fastest-growing startup in the world. Mercor supports model development for all of the leading AI labs, and scaled its revenue run rate from $1-500M in just 17 months. Backed by investors such as Peter Thiel, Jack Dorsey, and Larry Summers, the company is headquartered in San Francisco. As a Thiel Fellow, Brendan dropped out of Georgetown to focus on Mercor full-time in 2023. He previously pursued entrepreneurship by starting a cloud consulting business in high school. Today, he is driven by a mission to solve talent allocation in the AI economy.
Brendan's Sessions
AI Meets the Future of Work with Mercor’s Brendan Foody
AI isn’t just changing how we work—it’s redefining who gets to work, how teams are built, and what talent looks like in a global, automated economy. Brendan Foody, co-founder and CEO of Mercor, joins the AI Stage to discuss how his company is using artificial intelligence to connect talent with opportunity in new ways, the implications for hiring and upskilling in an AI-first world, and what the next generation of work platforms will look like.
Celeste Ford
Managing Director, Stella VenturesCeleste Ford is Managing Director at Stellar Ventures. She is also Board Chair and Founder of Stellar Solutions, Inc., a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award-winning aerospace engineering company with the vision to satisfy customers’ critical needs while realizing employees’ dream jobs. Ford launched Stellar Ventures in 2020 to invest in the next generation of space technology companies. She also founded Stellar Solutions in 1995 and served as CEO until 2018 with the mission to deliver high-impact performance for defense, intelligence, commercial, civil and international clients. She established Stellar Solutions Foundation in 1998, QuakeFinder humanitarian R&D program in 2001, and expanded Stellar’s global presence with companies in the United Kingdom and France in 2003 and 2017, respectively. Ford’s numerous honors include Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Baldrige Foundation and the National Association of Women Business Owners, Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame, Entrepreneur of the Year from Ernest & Young, and Small Business Executive of the Year from National Defense Industry Association. Under her leadership, Stellar Solutions has been named a Fortune Magazine Great Place to Work® since 2014. Ford is a member of numerous public, private and nonprofit Boards, including the Board of Trustees at the University of Notre Dame and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Science from Stanford University, both in Aerospace Engineering.
Celeste's Sessions
Investing at the Edge of Space
As space becomes a bigger focus for both governments and private markets, investors are navigating new opportunities and new risks. Join these top investors to break down where capital is flowing, what startups need to show to stand out, and how the funding landscape for space is evolving.
Sarah Franklin is the Chief Executive Officer of Lattice, leading the company’s mission to make work meaningful. With over 25 years in technology, she has a proven track record of scaling businesses, driving innovation, and building high-performing teams. Before Lattice, Sarah spent more than 15 years at Salesforce in executive leadership roles, including President and Chief Marketing Officer, EVP of Platform and Trailhead, and head of developer initiatives. She has also held leadership roles at both startups and global enterprises. Sarah holds a dual degree in chemical engineering and biochemistry from Virginia Tech. A recognized industry leader, she has been named one of Forbes’ Most Influential CMOs, a “CMO to Watch” by Business Insider, and a recipient of Adweek’s Brand Genius Award. She also serves on the Board of Directors for PagerDuty.
Sarah's Sessions
The Pros and Cons of Hiring AI Agents as Early Employees
Most startups today are using AI in some capacities: vibe coding prototypes or new features, deep research via their favorite chat before sales calls. Many are also building AI products, or at least including AI options and features. So should you embed AI at the root operations of your businesses like hiring AI agents instead of humans for sales? For customer support? To automate your billing? Learn how to pick the right use cases, build smarter workflows, and get the biggest impact with limited resources.
Cathy Friedman is a business executive with nearly 40 years of experience across finance, technology, and healthcare. As Executive Venture Partner at GV, she advises the life sciences portfolio and invests across the healthcare continuum. Her interests include adolescent mental health, the full lifespan of women’s health, and more equitable systems for the underserved.
Cathy's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 1
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Ross Fubini is the founder and Managing Partner of XYZ. He’s made a career as a successful early-stage technology investor and is passionate about connecting people to build insightful products. Ross is from Virginia and currently based in San Francisco where he married a local with whom he has two children and goes over the top on seasonal holiday decor. He is an avid triathlete, marathon runner, and previous Ironman competitor. Ross likes to go faster in all things – from races to building companies.
Ross's Sessions
AI in the Public Sector
In this roundtable, Ross Fubini of XYZ Venture Capital and Ben Van Roo of Legion Intelligence—the agentic AI platform tackling the Department of Defense’s AI infrastructure challenge—will dig into the evolving role of AI in the public sector. Together, they’ll unpack where investment dollars are flowing in defense and government tech, the real-world hurdles of deploying AI in highly regulated environments, and how agentic AI is reshaping what’s possible for mission-critical operations. Attendees of this session will walk away with a better understanding of the investment landscape in public sector AI, practical insights into deploying AI in highly-regulated, complex government environments, and actionable advice for entrepreneurs looking to navigate the public sector market—from federal agencies to state and local governments.
Phoebe Gates
Co-founder, PhiaPhoebe Gates is an entrepreneur, and passionate advocate for women’s reproductive rights and gender equity. She graduated from Stanford University in 2024 with a degree in Human Biology, and with Sophia Kianni, is co-founder of AI shopping assistant, Phia. Phoebe collaborates with global healthcare leaders, activists, and advocates to drive meaningful and lasting social change, and in recognition of her work, was named the 2024 “Rising Reproductive Freedom Champion” by Reproductive Freedom for All (RFFA). Guided by her belief that the freedom to make personal healthcare decisions is key to unlocking educational and economic opportunities, Phoebe strives to be a catalyst for progress and, through Phia, to inspire a new generation of women in business.
Phoebe's Sessions
Storming the Gates: Scaling Consumer AI
Phia has quickly become one of the buzziest AI startups of 2025, capturing attention for how Gen Z shops — and for its high-profile cofounders. Sophia Kianni, climate activist and influencer, and Phoebe Gates, the youngest daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, join us at Disrupt to share how they’re building a new kind of consumer AI brand, what it takes to scale in one of tech’s most competitive markets, and how they’re turning buzz into staying power.
David George is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he leads the firm’s Growth investing team and has led many of the firm’s growth investments. Prior to joining a16z, David spent seven years at General Atlantic leading and partnering on numerous consumer internet and enterprise software growth investments, including Airbnb, AppDynamics, Opendoor, Slack, and Uber. Previously, he was an investment associate at FFL Partners and an investment banking analyst for William Blair & Company. David graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the Board of Trustees and Investment Committee of Sacred Heart Schools-Atherton and the Advisory Council of the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame, and sits on the board of the Foundation for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. David is a proud native of Kentucky, where he developed his love of basketball, bourbon, and horse racing.
David's Sessions
How Long Should a Startup Stay Private?
Startups today can grow to huge valuations, cash out their employees, and stay private longer than those of previous eras. But that also means that late-stage startups are facing a whole new set of rules. a16z’s David George unpacks the shifting VC landscape, what the next generation of scaled startups needs to know, and how capital is being deployed in an era of tighter money and higher expectations. From IPO windows to secondary markets to the evolving role of growth investors, this fireside chat goes deep on what it really takes to build enduring companies in today’s market and what’s coming next.
Dr. Amanda Gesselman
Research Scientist, Kinsey InstituteDr. Amanda Gesselman is a social-developmental psychologist and research scientist at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. Digital intimacy is a major focus of her research, including how people use technologies like dating apps, camsites, AI, and social media to navigate connection and desire. Dr. Gesselman also studies broader relationship dynamics, including communication between romantic partners, experiences of being single, and how relationships can serve as sources of resilience or support during health challenges like epilepsy. Dr. Gesselman has worked closely with industry partners such as Match, LiveJasmin, Clue, and Lovehoney, and she enjoys collaborating with platforms, brands, and organizations interested in advancing innovative, scientifically grounded research on sex, relationships, and digital connection. Her work has also been featured in top media outlets including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Netflix’s Explained series.
Amanda's Sessions
Love, Lies & Algorithms: The Truth About AI in Matters of the Heart
AI is changing the way we meet, match, and fall in love, sometimes in ways we don’t even notice. This panel explores how technology is reshaping modern relationships, for better or worse. From dating apps to digital soulmates, we’ll look at where things are headed and what that means for the human heart.
Elad Gil is a serial entrepreneur, operating executive, and investor/ advisor to private companies such as AirBnB, Airtable, Anduril, Coinbase, Figma, Gitlab, Gusto, Instacart, Notion, Pinterest, Retool, Samsara, Square, Stripe, TripActions and others. He has invested in over 40 “unicorn” companies worth $1B or more, 30+ of them at seed or series A. He’s the author of the bestselling book “High Growth Handbook”, about organizational and financial scaling of breakout technology companies. Elad is Co-Founder and Chairman of Color, a digital health company focused on virtualized population care delivery. He is also involved with longevity biotech including BioAge and Spring Discovery. Elad’s an advisor to Electric Capital, a crypto hedge fund, and is involved with various crypto protocols and companies (Coinbase, Opensea, Anchorage, Bitwise, Filecoin, dYdX, IronFish…). Previously, Elad was VP of Corporate Strategy at Twitter, he also ran various product teams (Geo, Search). Elad joined Twitter via acquisition of MixerLabs, where he was co-founder and CEO. MixerLabs ran GeoAPI, an early developer-centric infrastructure product. Elad spent many years at Google, where he started the mobile team. He was involved with 3 acquisitions (including the Android team) and was the original product manager for Google Mobile Maps and Mobile Gmail. Prior to Google, Elad had product management and market seeding roles at a number of Silicon Valley companies. Elad worked at McKinsey & Co. and received a Ph.D. from MIT and BS and BA in Math from UCSD.
Elad's Sessions
A Conversation with Investor Extraordinaire Elad Gil
Before most of the world had experienced ChatGPT, Elad Gil had already written seed checks to startups like Perplexity, Character.AI, and Harvey. This on top of checks into, for example, Airbnb, Airtable, Anduril, Brex, Checkr, Coinbase, Deel, Figma, Flexport, Gitlab, Gusto, Instacart, Notion, Opendoor, Pinterest, Rippling, Square, Stripe … you get the idea.
Will Grannis is the chief technology officer at Google Cloud, where he leads a global team of technology executives and senior engineers who work hand-in-hand with Google’s largest customers to enable industry and category-defining transformations while also catalyzing Google’s approach to emergent imperatives like GenerativeAI, Web3, Digital Sovereignty and Sustainability. He joined Google in March 2015 as the first product success lead for Google for Work (now Google Cloud). In 2022, Will founded a new subsidiary, Google Public Sector, acting as CEO of the new division until the permanent leadership team was in place. Will and the team established a foundational capability that today helps the U.S. government accelerate their cloud initiatives and digital transformations with the differentiated technology and talent of Google. Before joining Google, Will spent two decades as an entrepreneur, enterprise technology executive, and an investor, building and scaling technical platforms that today power commerce, telecommunications, transportation and the public sector. He’s been a developer, product manager, engineering leader, founder, chief technology officer, CEO and board director. Will holds a bachelor’s of science degree in operations research from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a master’s of business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Will's Sessions
What Startups Can Learn from Google Cloud’s AI Playbook
Google Cloud CTO Will Grannis sits down on the AI Stage to share how startups can harness the same tools and strategies powering some of the world’s biggest companies. From building with generative AI to scaling responsibly, Grannis will break down what founders need to know to compete in an AI-first world and where the real opportunities lie for early-stage companies.
Kirsten Green is the Founder and Managing Partner of Forerunner, the consumer-driven venture capital partnering with ambitious founders and companies redefining industries. Combining an unconventional and powerful blend of professional experiences and acquired investment expertise, Kirsten launched San Francisco-based Forerunner in 2012, and has since led the firm to raise nearly $3 billion in assets under management. Kirsten’s 25+ years of evaluation and investment success stem from a combination of product savvy, consumer insight, research, and a thesis-driven approach that has been the basis of all her investments — from pre-revenue startups to multi-billion-dollar enterprises. Her early investor and board member roles span Faire, Hims&Hers, Chime, Ritual, Daydream, Decagon, Warby Parker, Wonder, and Balance, among others. She is also on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association, and has been part of both the Forbes Midas List and Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women List for the past nine years.
Kirsten's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield Final
The grand final of TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition. Watch the final 5 teams from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000.
Shay is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Greenfield-Partners, focusing on SaaS, healthcare, and AI. He leads Greenfield’s investments in BigPanda, Avanan, Coralogix, Capitolis, Mixtiles, and Goodship. Prior to founding Greenfield, Shay was a senior advisor to TPG Growth. Originally from Tel Aviv and for the last 25 years in NYC, Shay spent the early years of his career operating and maturing early-growth technology companies. He then joined Thylacine Capital to lead the alternative investing activity. Shay has an undergraduate degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an EMBA from Columbia Business School.
Shay's Sessions
Who’s Defining AI’s Future in 2025? The AI Disruptors 60 Unveiled
We’ve seen revolutions with the internet and mobile, now AI is taking center stage, and it’s moving faster than ever. Greenfield Partners is curating the AI Disruptors 60, a list of early and growth-stage companies leading this AI revolution. In this panel, top investors like Shay Grinfeld of Greenfield Partners, and founders like Renen Hallak of VAST Data will break down how these startups are succeeding, from building the AI infrastructure of tomorrow, to solving real-world problems in critical sectors, as well as the GTM plays that scale revenue. They’ll discuss why they’ve chosen these strategies in a rapidly evolving market and what makes them stand out. Finally, they’ll share what’s coming next, offering a glimpse of the innovations and challenges shaping the future of AI.
Adam Grosher
Director, The J. Paul Getty TrustAdam has spent the past nine years at The J. Paul Getty Trust, where he focuses on buyout and venture capital investments. Prior to Getty, Adam began his career in the Investments Office at the University of Southern California, his alma mater, after earning a B.S. in Business Administration. Adam is a CFA charterholder.
Adam's Sessions
The LP Lens: Liquidity, Selection, and the Future of Venture
Venture capital starts and ends with LPs — but how are they making decisions in today’s market? In this candid conversation, top allocators share how they’re navigating liquidity crunches, rebalancing portfolios, and leveraging secondaries. We’ll also dig into what makes a GP stand out (or stumble) in a crowded fundraising environment. Expect tactical insights, red flags to avoid, and rapid-fire advice for emerging managers — plus a few “what would you do?” hypotheticals to put our panelists on the spot.
***The StrictlyVC program is dedicated to investor pass holders only.***
Kyla Guru is Head of Model Cyber Safety at Anthropic, where she architects safety mitigations for AI agents and LLMs before public deployment, tracks cyber misuse patterns, and leads pre-deployment safety evaluations. Her mission: ensuring AI systems are secure by design, not afterthought. A Stanford-trained computer scientist (BS/MS), Kyla brings battle-tested expertise from offensive security and threat intelligence roles at SpaceX, Apple, MS-ISAC, and the U.S. Government. Her thesis pioneered using LLMs for threat actor attribution and technique identification—research that now directly informs her work securing frontier AI systems. Beyond being a technologist, Kyla is a grassroots activator, reshaping cybersecurity education as Founder/CEO of the 501(c)(3) Bits N’ Bytes Cybersecurity Education Corp. and co-founder of GirlCon Conference, which unites 700+ industry professionals and students annually to close tech’s gender gap. Now in its 8th year, GirlCon has become the premier tech conference for high school students globally. A sought-after voice on AI safety and cybersecurity, Kyla has delivered keynotes at TEDxChicago, RSA Conference (USA and Singapore), and Tableau Conference, advocating for people-first security solutions. Her unique perspective—spanning nation-state threats to AI safety—positions her at the forefront of defining how we build, deploy, and defend AI systems in an increasingly complex threat landscape.
Kyla's Sessions
How to Train Your Model: Taming AI Agents Without Breaking Them
Every AI model faces a fundamental tension: make it too harmless and it becomes less helpful, too helpful and it becomes dangerous. This interactive discussion explores real-world decisions in AI training – from constitutional AI to red-teaming strategies and enforcement approaches. We’ll examine case studies of blending safety and functionality, debate steering techniques that preserve model personality, and crowdsource solutions for common training dilemmas. Attendees will leave with frameworks for balancing safety constraints with performance goals, practical approaches to model character development, and strategies for building AI that’s both helpful and harmless.
How to Train Your Model: Taming AI Agents Without Breaking Them [encore]
Every AI model faces a fundamental tension: make it too harmless and it becomes less helpful, too helpful and it becomes dangerous. This interactive discussion explores real-world decisions in AI training – from constitutional AI to red-teaming strategies and enforcement approaches. We’ll examine case studies of blending safety and functionality, debate steering techniques that preserve model personality, and crowdsource solutions for common training dilemmas. Attendees will leave with frameworks for balancing safety constraints with performance goals, practical approaches to model character development, and strategies for building AI that’s both helpful and harmless.
May Habib is the CEO and co-founder of Writer, a leader and pioneer in enterprise AI. With Writer’s end-to-end AI agent platform, hundreds of companies like Accenture, Mars, Uber, and Vanguard are building and scaling AI agents that are grounded in their company’s data and fueled by Writer’s enterprise-grade LLMs. From faster product launches to deeper financial research to better clinical trials, companies are quickly transforming their most important business processes for the AI era in partnership with Writer. Writer houses the world’s only enterprise-specific AI research lab. Its family of enterprise-grade Palmyra LLMs includes state-of-the-art frontier models, as well as self-evolving, open-source, and domain-specific models. Palmyra models define industry-leading standards for enterprise-grade transparency, reliability, safety, efficiency, and observability. May is an expert in natural language processing and AI-driven language generation. She has led Writer to become one of the world’s fastest-growing generative AI companies, securing its position as a Forbes 50 AI company and inclusion in the World Economic Forum’s Unicorn Community. Founded in 2020 with its headquarters in San Francisco and offices around the globe, Writer is backed by world-leading investors, including Premji Invest, Radical Ventures, ICONIQ Growth, Insight Partners, Balderton, B Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Adobe Ventures, Citi Ventures, IBM Ventures, and others. May and the Writer team have raised over $326M in funding at a valuation of $1.9B. May graduated with high honors in Economics from Harvard University. She is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, a recipient of Inc.’s Female Founder Award, and one of Worth’s Groundbreaking Women for 2025.
David Hall is a Managing Partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and is responsible for investment sourcing, execution, and oversight of the Fund’s portfolio companies. David began his career with Revolution in 2006, has served as an investor on the Revolution Growth and Revolution Ventures teams, and helped launch Rise of the Rest in 2014. David works closely with and serves as a board member or observer for several Rise of the Rest portfolio companies, including FreightWaves, Hermeus, Pryon, Rheaply, SparkCharge, Speakeasy, and Understory. David also serves on the board of the National Venture Capital Association. Prior to Revolution, David was the Director of Planning and Development at The Washington Post Company. There, he managed corporate M&A and investments and launched new print and digital publications. Earlier in his career, David held positions at Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Morgan Stanley. David received a B.A. in economics from Morehouse College and MBA from Harvard Business School.
David's Sessions
Do Startups Still Need Silicon Valley?
While Silicon Valley is still the startup capital, how important is access to it anymore? This panel debates whether founders must plant roots in the Valley to succeed or if opportunity is so strong elsewhere that they don’t need it. Hear perspectives from investors and founders redefining what it means to build, scale, and fund a company in today’s decentralized tech world. While Silicon Valley is still the startup capital, how important is access to it anymore? This panel debates whether founders must plant roots in the Valley to succeed or if opportunity is so strong elsewhere that they don’t need it. Hear perspectives from investors and founders redefining what it means to build, scale, and fund a company in today’s decentralized tech world.
Renen Hallak is the founder and CEO of VAST Data. Prior to founding VAST, Renen led the architecture and development of an all-flash array at XtremIO, from inception to over a billion dollars in revenue while acting as VP R&D and leading a team of over 200 engineers. He holds a BA and an MSc in Computer Science, both summa cum laude.
Renen's Sessions
Who’s Defining AI’s Future in 2025? The AI Disruptors 60 Unveiled
We’ve seen revolutions with the internet and mobile, now AI is taking center stage, and it’s moving faster than ever. Greenfield Partners is curating the AI Disruptors 60, a list of early and growth-stage companies leading this AI revolution. In this panel, top investors like Shay Grinfeld of Greenfield Partners, and founders like Renen Hallak of VAST Data will break down how these startups are succeeding, from building the AI infrastructure of tomorrow, to solving real-world problems in critical sectors, as well as the GTM plays that scale revenue. They’ll discuss why they’ve chosen these strategies in a rapidly evolving market and what makes them stand out. Finally, they’ll share what’s coming next, offering a glimpse of the innovations and challenges shaping the future of AI.
Max is an aerospace, consumer electronics, and internet entrepreneur. Founded, scaled, and successfully sold four companies including Launcher (acquired by Vast), Mevo (acquired by Logitech), and Livestream (acquired by IAC/Vimeo).
Max's Sessions
Laying the Groundwork for a New Space Economy
The next wave of space startups is not just building rockets, it’s building an entire ecosystem. The CEOs of Northwood Space, True Anomaly and Vast take the stage to discuss how their companies are creating infrastructure, enabling new markets, and laying the foundations for a thriving space economy. From orbital services to next-generation satellite networks, this session explores the building blocks of a future where commercial space is a critical part of global tech.
Kevin Hartz is a co-founder and general partner at A*, an early stage venture capital firm. He co-founded Eventbrite, a publicly traded company, and served as the CEO for the first 11 years of the company. Prior to Eventbrite, Kevin co-founded Xoom, a money remittance company that was acquired by PayPal in 2015 for over $1b. He is a prolific technology investor having backed companies such as PayPal, Airbnb, Pinterest, Ramp, Trulia, Anduril at the seed stage, and was an early investor in Uber, Palantir, SpaceX, Square, Gusto, Decagon, Ramp and many others.”
Kevin's Sessions
GP Perspectives on LP Relationships
The GP–LP dynamic is the quiet engine that drives venture capital. Kevin Hartz of A* shares a founder-turned-investor’s perspective on cultivating lasting LP partnerships, managing expectations through cycles, and aligning on both vision and returns. From first meetings to multi-fund commitments, Hartz offers hard-earned advice on building trust and turning transactional relationships into long-term alliances.
***The StrictlyVC program is dedicated to investor pass holders only.***
The Startup Battlefield Final
The grand final of TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition. Watch the final 5 teams from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000.
Dan Hendrycks is the executive director of the Center for AI Safety and an advisor to xAI and Scale AI. He received his PhD in AI from UC Berkeley. He has contributed the GELU activation function (the most-used activation in state-of-the-art models including BERT, GPT, Vision Transformers, etc.), benchmarks and methods in robustness, MMLU, and an Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics, and Society.
Daniel's Sessions
AI at the Brink: Strategic Playbook for National Security
Advanced AI poses dual-use risks with potentially catastrophic consequences, from bioweapons to cyberattacks. As global competition accelerates progress, managing technological risks is a national and international security priority. This session explores strategic frameworks for the AI age, including Mutually Assured AI Malfunction, technical evaluations, non-proliferation, and supply chain security. Dan Hendrycks (CAIS) will be joined by key voices, potentially including Superintelligence Strategy co-authors Eric Schmidt and Alexander Wang.
Matt is a Partner at Lexington Partners, a leading global manager of private equity secondary and co-investment funds. Matt primarily focuses on technology investing through the acquisition of limited partnership interests in buyout, growth equity and venture capital funds, and direct interests in private companies. Prior to Lexington, Matt was a co-founder at Data Marketplace, a digital marketplace for data that was acquired, and an investor at Genstar Capital, a San Francisco-based middle market buyout firm. Matt began his career at J.P. Morgan’s investment bank and studied finance at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Matt's Sessions
The LP Lens: Liquidity, Selection, and the Future of Venture
Venture capital starts and ends with LPs — but how are they making decisions in today’s market? In this candid conversation, top allocators share how they’re navigating liquidity crunches, rebalancing portfolios, and leveraging secondaries. We’ll also dig into what makes a GP stand out (or stumble) in a crowded fundraising environment. Expect tactical insights, red flags to avoid, and rapid-fire advice for emerging managers — plus a few “what would you do?” hypotheticals to put our panelists on the spot.
***The StrictlyVC program is dedicated to investor pass holders only.***
Katelin Holloway is Founding Partner at Alexis Ohanian’s early-stage venture capital firm, 776. A seasoned investor with over 20 years of operational experience at companies like Pixar and Reddit, Katelin backs transformative startups across diverse sectors. She invests in solutions that push the boundaries of human potential and resilience—advancing health, exploring new frontiers, driving sustainability, fostering creativity, and enriching the human condition. At 776, Katelin combines her operational expertise with a deep commitment to supporting founders as they navigate early-stage challenges and scale their visions. Katelin is dedicated to reshaping venture capital by empowering generational entrepreneurs to tackle humanity’s biggest challenges while driving exceptional returns.
Katelin's Sessions
Aerospace Startup Showcase: Solving the Hardest Problems in Space
AI is transforming countless industries, and space is no exception. The Aerospace Corporation is hosting a pitch-off at TechCrunch Disrupt to showcase startups working on innovative AI solutions to the hardest problems in space exploration, orbital intelligence, and infrastructure.
The Startup Battlefield – Session 1
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Jen Hoskins leads cloud, partnerships, and go-to-market for NVIDIA Inception, a program designed to help startups accelerate technical innovation and business growth at all stages, with 29,000+ members globally. Hoskins joined NVIDIA after seven years at Microsoft, where she held roles in business development and partnerships across product teams including Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Graph, and Microsoft for Startups. Prior to Microsoft, Hoskins worked in marketing and alliance management at Cisco.
Jen's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 2
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. He invests in people over product at the earliest stage of their entrepreneurial journey. Under his leadership, Precursor has raised four funds and has $250+ million under management. He has invested in 400+ companies and has supported 450+ founders, including the teams behind Bobbie Baby, Carrot, Incredible Health, Juniper Square, Modern Health, Pair Eyewear, Rad AI, and The Athletic (sold to the NY Times for $525 million in 2022). Prior to founding Precursor, Charles was a Partner at Uncork Capital where he focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, applications, and marketplaces and supported their portfolio companies on business and corporate development matters. He was also the Co-founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup. Charles is an active member of the VC community. He was the 2023-2024 Chair of the NVCA Board of Directors, a board member at Venture Forward, on the investment committee for Screendoor, and is on the Path Ahead Ventures Advisory Board. He is also an advisor and mentor to a number of emerging managers. Charles holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Stanford. He maintains close connections with his alma mater and was awarded the 2021-22 Governors’ Award in honor of his volunteer service to the university as a board member and volunteer. Charles is also a co-instructor for the Entrepreneurship from Diverse Perspectives course in the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Charles's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 1
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
How to Pitch When You're at the Inception Stage
Raising pre-seed and seed-stage capital at the inception stage means pitching without a product, users, or traction—just a vision and a founder story. In this panel, Wesley Chan of FPV Ventures and Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures share what they look for in the earliest-stage founders and how to stand out when you have little more than an idea. Learn how to build trust, tell a compelling story, and avoid the most common mistakes founders make when trying to land that critical first check.
As Head of Corporate Development at Coinbase, Aklil Ibssa leads the firm’s merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy and execution, and is the brain behind some of the company’s most substantial acquisitions and investments (ex. Deribit, Spindl). In this role, he’s led over a dozen acquisitions and nearly 50 early & later stage investments, and as one of the first hires on the team, helped scale Coinbase’s M&A program to the most active in crypto with over 30+ completed acquisitions. Prior to Coinbase, he was an early member of LinkedIn’s Corp Dev team leading M&A, strategy, and investments across the business. Before that, he held an investment banking role working on M&A, capital markets, and advisory work at Deutsche Bank in San Francisco.
Aklil's Sessions
How to Get Acquired in Tech (Without Selling Out): M&A Tips for Founders and Builders
Coinbase just pulled off the biggest acquisition in crypto history — and its 6th acquisition in 6 months. So what separates the builders getting acquired from the ones getting ghosted? This no-BS session breaks down how to make your project irresistible: from product-market fit to community traction. Learn how to position your project for a strategic acquisition, partnership, or investment — without compromising decentralization. If you’re building onchain or in tech and wondering whether M&A is a path to scale, this is your playbook. And if you’re an investor, you’ll get a cheat sheet for spotting teams building toward high-value outcomes.
Randi Jakubowitz is the Head of Operations & Talent at 645 Ventures. In this role, she partners with existing portfolio founders to build their teams and culture, create scalable talent-focused processes and leverages best practices to help evolve early-stage companies into rapidly-growing, growth stage category-leading businesses. She also leads the internal People/HR function for 645 Ventures. In addition, Randi is responsible for founder programming, the firm’s events & sponsorship strategies, community development for 645’s portfolio operators and aspects of the firms day-to-day operations across both NYC & SF. Prior to 645, Randi was a Senior People Leader at high-growth companies across a variety of industries including: Seamless/GrubHub (ecommerce), Toptal (tech/services marketplace), Paro (fintech/services marketplace) and Havas (advertising). Randi was a part of the operational leadership team that took Seamless through the GrubHub merger and later, the GRUB IPO. Randi is also a Professional Coach and she received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, Georgia.
Randi's Sessions
How Much Salary and Equity Should You Really Offer Early Employees?
Early hires shape your startup’s future but only if you can attract and keep them. This panel dives into building equity and benefits packages that compete with big tech without breaking your burn rate. Hear real-world strategies to align incentives, boost retention, and build a team that scales.
Steve Jang, Founder and Managing Partner, Kindred Ventures: Steve is a Midas List investor whose investments include Uber, where he was an early advisor and angel investor since the company’s founding, Coinbase, Perplexity, Fal, and PlayAI. More recently, Steve has invested in startups in theme areas of AI, decentralized systems, consumer internet, infrastructure/tools, and frontier technologies.
Steve's Sessions
Betting on the Next Wave: What VCs Want in AI Startups
From model infrastructure to niche applications, AI is producing a new breed of founders, and a new set of investor expectations. In this candid conversation, top VCs share what’s catching their eye (and what’s not), how they’re thinking about defensibility in a world of AI monopolies, and what founders need to show to get that next term sheet.
Umair is a builder and investor focused on technology that drives real-world impact. As Founder & CEO of Tkxel, he helps enterprises, SMBs, and startups across North America and MENA use AI, software innovation, and digital strategy to scale, modernize, and stay ahead. He’s also an active investor and mentor, backing bold ideas in AI, SaaS, e-commerce, and more. He is working hands-on with founders to shape products, grow companies, and challenge the status quo. At the heart of it all is Umair’s belief in strong teams, clear thinking, and a culture that pushes people to solve hard problems and build what matters.
Umair's Sessions
The Unwrapped Opportunity Hidden in Business Workflows
Real wins now come from removing friction at the exact steps where work gets stuck. The next GenAI opportunity for startups is at the application layer, embedding intelligence directly into the processes where work actually stalls. This session will explore how identifying and addressing these gaps can create lasting competitive advantage for both startups and the businesses they serve. With founders and product leaders who are already building in this space, we’ll examine real-world use cases and lessons learned in taking ideas from pilot to tangible impact. Expect a forward-looking discussion on where startups can make the most impact, and how to turn recurring business struggles into the next wave of GenAI-driven growth.
Murali Joshi is a Partner at ICONIQ. He joined ICONIQ several years ago and has helped lead over $2.5B of investments in DX, Datadog, Procore, Drata, 1Password, Axonius, Netskope, Fivetran, Loom and several others. He was honored and selected on the Forbes’s Midas Brink List in 2024. Before joining ICONIQ, Murali worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs’s Technology, Media and Telecom group where he covered DevOps & Enterprise Software working with companies like Twilio, Zoom, DocuSign, AlienVault, Samsung, Micron and others.
Murali's Sessions
How to Nail Product Market Fit
Building a product is hard. Building one that has customers chomping at the bit to get it, is priced well and can deliver on its promises is far harder, and always messy. But once you achieve the holy grail of product market/fit, your startup will rocket to growth, funding and success. Hear from a founder who’s lived it and two investors who have helped many others achieve it. This panel breaks down how to test smarter, iterate with intention so you can stop guessing and start growing.
Fay Kallel is Headspace’s Chief Product & Design Officer, where she’s leading the vision and strategy for creating emotionally attuned, AI-powered wellness experiences that support millions on their mental health journeys. Prior to Headspace, she served as Chief Product & Design Officer at Intuit Mailchimp, where she built AI-powered marketing intelligence platforms that fueled growth for SMBs worldwide. With over 25 years of experience, Fay is a visionary product leader who has launched and scaled iconic innovations—from generative AI personalization at Amazon Prime Video, to Yahoo Gemini’s billion-user native ads platform, to successful startup exits including SigOpt (acquired by Intel) and Intellisync (acquired by Nokia). Fay is also a certified medical hypnotherapist, meditation instructor, and yoga practitioner, integrating deep emotional insight and holistic practices into her leadership approach. She bridges cutting-edge technology with soulful design to foster inclusive, transformative products and cultures. Born and raised in Tunisia, Fay is an avid explorer who finds joy in the outdoors, painting, and spending time with her family.
Fay's Sessions
Being Heard in the Age of AI
In a world saturated with AI-generated content, the challenge isn’t speaking—it’s being heard. The Age of AI has made it effortless to create but harder than ever to cut through the noise. For founders and builders, the ability to cut through the noise is no longer optional—it’s survival. This breakout panel explores what it really takes to stand out when AI can mimic anyone and algorithms dictate who gets noticed. We’ll examine the evolving role of personal brand, the shifting dynamics of narrative and design, and how credibility is built when trust is fragile and attention is scarce. Attendees can expect an honest conversation about the intersection of AI, branding, and influence, with insights into how today’s leaders navigate visibility, build trust, and make their voices resonate in an increasingly noisy digital landscape.
Mark Kantor currently serves as Head of Product at Tinder, where he leads cross-functional teams in product, design, revenue, trust & safety, and research to create features that help people form real connections. He also led a central innovation team at Match Group focused on integrating emerging technologies across the portfolio. Mark has been a serial entrepreneur and product builder for more than 20 years, focusing on the development of consumer apps. Before joining Match Group, Mark co-founded Yellowbrick, a startup that builds social tech products for retail investors, where he developed several AI tools that process and recommend news and investment decisions. This includes an AI feature used by 100K+ subscribers that summarizes and prioritizes hundreds of stock ideas daily. Mark also spent six years at Zynga as their General Manager/Head of Growth, where he shipped more than 20 games, grew the Zynga audience by millions of DAU, led partnerships with Facebook and Snapchat, and designed new ways for the company to ideate, validate, build, and grow products. Prior to Zynga, Mark spent more than a decade as an entrepreneur, building and running his own companies. One of his initial successes was a social creativity app called Graffiti, which grew to over 25 million users and reached its first million DAU in less than a week. Throughout his career, Mark has built dozens of products, including chat, social, and gaming apps. Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with a minor in International Business from Brandeis University.
Mark's Sessions
Love, Lies & Algorithms: The Truth About AI in Matters of the Heart
AI is changing the way we meet, match, and fall in love, sometimes in ways we don’t even notice. This panel explores how technology is reshaping modern relationships, for better or worse. From dating apps to digital soulmates, we’ll look at where things are headed and what that means for the human heart.
Alex co-founded Wayve in 2017 to reimagine autonomous mobility through embodied intelligence. From his award-winning research at the University of Cambridge, he seized the opportunity to use deep learning to pioneer an entirely new way to solve self-driving. He showed for the first time that it was possible to teach a machine to understand where it is and what’s around it and then give it the “intelligence” to make its own decisions based on what it sees with computer vision. As CEO, Alex is responsible for the company’s overall strategy, primarily focusing on establishing all necessary ingredients to develop and deploy AV2.0 globally. He also works closely with our partners and investors to ensure that our technology is commercially viable and can be widely adopted. Under Alex’s leadership, Wayve is fast becoming one of the most exciting companies in the autonomous vehicle industry. Before founding Wayve, Alex’s passion for autonomous vehicles began as a research fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he earned his PhD in Computer Vision and Robotics. His research has received numerous awards for scientific impact and made significant contributions to the field of computer vision and AI. He was selected on the Royal Academy of Engineering’s SME Leaders Programme and named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 innovators list.
Alex's Sessions
Driving Intelligence
From self-driving cars to self-learning systems, Alex Kendall is rethinking how machines perceive and act in the world. The Wayve CEO joins us to explore how real-world autonomy is shaping the next chapter of AI, and why breakthroughs on the road may unlock progress far beyond it.
Dr. Capella Kerst is a passionate entrepreneur and engineer leading the way in sustainable innovation with geCKo Materials. Her groundbreaking geCKo Materials Dry Adhesive (gMDA) technology, inspired by nature’s genius, is revolutionizing diverse industries, from space exploration to manufacturing. Driven by a deep fascination with biomimicry and a commitment to sustainability, Capella has built a distinguished career spanning various fields. Her educational background includes studies in math, physics, mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering, reflecting her diverse interests and thirst for knowledge. Capella’s leadership at geCKo Materials is marked by a unique blend of technical expertise, entrepreneurial vision, and dedication to building a collaborative and impactful team. She has secured key partnerships, secured funding, and overseen the development of gMDA into a commercially viable and environmentally friendly solution. Beyond geCKo Materials, Capella actively contributes to the innovation ecosystem. Driven by a deep commitment to social impact, she actively volunteers in numerous areas, empowering others and fostering positive change. Mentoring and inspiring the next generation of young women, particularly in underserved communities, by providing guidance and fostering their interest in STEM fields. Supporting initiatives that address critical needs in under-resourced areas, leveraging their skills and resources to make a tangible difference in people’s lives. Contributing to organizations that promote sustainability and environmental awareness, aligning with their commitment to building a greener future for all demonstrating her commitment to fostering the next generation of changemakers. In essence, Capella Kerst is a visionary leader, a skilled engineer, and a champion for sustainable innovation, leaving a lasting impact on the world through her groundbreaking work.
Capella's Sessions
Startup Battlefield Alumni Update
Battlefield startups from the past return to the stage to tell us what they’ve been up to since they competed for the Battlefield Cup. This year, we’ll hear from 2024’s geCKo Materials.
Charly Kevers is the Chief Financial Officer at Carta where he is responsible for leading cross-functional teams overseeing finance, accounting, treasury, risk and investor relations. In his eight years at Carta, Charly has worked as a strategic partner, growing the company from a Series C to a Series G with a valuation of $7.4 billion. In his more than 20 years of experience, Charly has held a variety of roles, including finance, investor relations, corporate development, and strategy in multiple countries across North America, Europe, and Asia. Before joining Carta, Charly served as the VP of Finance at marketplace lender LendingClub where he oversaw all finance activities supporting new product and strategic initiatives. Prior to LendingClub, Charly led the analysis and execution of acquisitions and strategic investments at Salesforce and held various finance and strategy positions at companies like Hewlett Packard, J.P. Morgan and Samsung, mostly focused on supporting key strategic initiatives. Charly graduated with a Business Degree from ESCP Business School and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
Charly's Sessions
IPO Success: Charting the Course from Private to Public
Join Daniel Tay (Managing Director, Morgan Stanley’s Global Capital Markets) and Charly Kevers (Chief Financial Officer, Carta) as they discuss strategies and draw upon their experiences in navigating the IPO process, focusing on balancing internal readiness with external market conditions, identifying market windows, and understanding both private and public investor perspectives. Attendees of this session will walk away with valuable insights and practical advice for companies considering an IPO, helping them to better navigate the complexities of the process and potentially enhance their chances of success.
Kamila Khasanova is the founder and CEO of On Top Strategy, a NYC-based communications firm that works with high-growth startups from seed stage through exit, as well as VCs focused on seed to Series C. Her team helps founders and investors navigate critical moments of scale – developing PR, founder thought leadership, and positioning strategies that drive fundraising and market expansion. With a background in government lobbying and public affairs, Kamila’s team has worked with companies across health tech, fintech, and other verticals whose founders have collectively raised over $500M.
Kamila's Sessions
Fundraising Mistakes That Will Kill Your Round, and How to Avoid Them.
From pre-pitch prep to post-meeting follow-through, this session will give founders a real-world look at what works — and what doesn’t — in today’s competitive fundraising landscape.
Vinod Khosla is an entrepreneur, investor, and technology fan. He is the founder of Khosla Ventures, focused on impactful technology investments in software, AI, robotics, 3D printing, healthcare and more. Mr. Khosla was a co-founder of Daisy systems and founding CEO of Sun Microsystems where he pioneered open systems and commercial RISC processors. One of Mr. Khosla’s greatest passions is being a mentor to entrepreneurs, assisting entrepreneurs and helping them build technology-based businesses. Mr. Khosla is driven by the desire to make a positive impact through technology to reinvent societal infrastructure and multiply resources. He is also passionate about Social Entrepreneurship. Vinod holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from IIT, New Delhi, a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Vinod's Sessions
No Filters: Vinod Khosla on the Future of Tech
Few investors speak as bluntly—or think as big—as Vinod Khosla. The Khosla Ventures founder has never shied away from calling out hype, doubling down on moonshots, and pushing founders to think beyond incremental progress. In this candid fireside chat, Khosla will share his unvarnished views on AI, climate, healthcare, and the next generation of transformational startups—and what entrepreneurs need to hear (not just what they want to hear) to build enduring companies in turbulent times.
Sophia Kianni
Co-founder, PhiaSophia Kianni is an Iranian-American entrepreneur and climate activist. She studied at Stanford University and, along with Phoebe Gates, is co-founder of AI shopping assistant, Phia. As a teenager, Sophia founded Climate Cardinals, which has now grown into the world’s largest youth-led climate nonprofit with 16,000 volunteers in 80+ countries. Her advocacy earned her a seat on the EPA’s National Youth Advisory Council and the honor of serving as the youngest UN climate advisor in U.S. history. A prolific storyteller, Sophia won the TED Global Idea Competition, with her debut TED Talk amassing over 2 million views. Her advocacy has earned her widespread recognition, including being named to Forbes 30 Under 30, BBC’s top 100 Women, and VICE Media’s youngest Human of the Year. Today, Sophia is focused on scaling Phia to deliver tech-driven solutions that empower conscious consumerism.
Sophia's Sessions
Storming the Gates: Scaling Consumer AI
Phia has quickly become one of the buzziest AI startups of 2025, capturing attention for how Gen Z shops — and for its high-profile cofounders. Sophia Kianni, climate activist and influencer, and Phoebe Gates, the youngest daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, join us at Disrupt to share how they’re building a new kind of consumer AI brand, what it takes to scale in one of tech’s most competitive markets, and how they’re turning buzz into staying power.
Michael Kim is the founder of Cendana Capital, an investment management firm based in San Francisco. With over $2 billion under management, Cendana Capital focuses on investing in very early-stage venture capital funds globally. Prior to founding Cendana, Mr. Kim was one of the original partners of Rustic Canyon, a VC firm with approximately $1 billion under management through 3 funds. In March 2004, the Mayor of San Francisco appointed Mr. Kim to a 5-year term as a Trustee of SFERS, a $15 billion pension fund (during that time period). Mr. Kim served as Chairman on several board committees, including the Investment Committee, the Personnel Committee and the Finance Committee. Mr. Kim served as Vice President and later President of the board in fiscal year 2007 and 2008, respectively. While on the SFERS board, Mr. Kim led several successful initiatives including the succession of the Executive Director, increasing the human resources and organizational configuration for the investment staff and the implementation of a risk assessment program. Prior to joining Rustic Canyon, Mr. Kim worked in the Technology Mergers and Acquisitions Group of Morgan Stanley in Menlo Park, CA, where he was directly involved with 27 announced transactions worth over $77 billion. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Kim was an associate at The Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, NY, where he completed the credit training program, and also worked at IBM Corporation in Armonk, NY. Mr. Kim received his AB with honors from the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University, where he formerly served on the Cornell Council. He has an MS from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (1992), where he serves on the Advisory Board for the MSFS program, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (1997). Mr. Kim is currently on the Board of Directors for the Wikimedia Endowment, which is a charitable organization to support the activities of Wikipedia. He is a former Trustee of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, where he served on the Investment Committee, and the former Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Symphonix League of the San Francisco Symphony. Mr. Kim formerly served on the boards of Lead21, an organization that enables entrepreneurs to advocate free market public policy, and the Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco-based think tank that champions freedom, opportunity and personal responsibility for all individuals by advancing free market policy solutions.
Michael's Sessions
The LP Lens: Liquidity, Selection, and the Future of Venture
Venture capital starts and ends with LPs — but how are they making decisions in today’s market? In this candid conversation, top allocators share how they’re navigating liquidity crunches, rebalancing portfolios, and leveraging secondaries. We’ll also dig into what makes a GP stand out (or stumble) in a crowded fundraising environment. Expect tactical insights, red flags to avoid, and rapid-fire advice for emerging managers — plus a few “what would you do?” hypotheticals to put our panelists on the spot.
***The StrictlyVC program is dedicated to investor pass holders only.***
Eunice Kim was named Chief Product Officer in October 2023. She previously led the company’s global Consumer Product Innovation team. Eunice joined Netflix in early 2021 after having spent 10 years in product leadership roles at Google Play and YouTube. Prior to Google, she worked at several tech startups as well as PepsiCo and Adobe Systems. Eunice holds a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She serves on the Board of Directors for Cure CMD.
Doug King is CEO of Epic Aircraft, where he has led the certification and launch of the E1000, E1000 GX, and E1000 AX — setting new standards in speed, automation, and composite design for single-engine turboprops. A veteran entrepreneur, Doug previously built successful software ventures in payment processing and call center systems, experience he now applies to embedding AI and automation across aviation. Hands-on and pilot-driven, he has flown test flights, built aircraft, and even led a fleet of Epics around the world to prove their performance and reliability.
Doug's Sessions
Flying into the Future: AI Is Fueling Aviation
The aviation industry has long been slowed by legacy systems and lengthy certification processes — but Epic Aircraft is proving change is possible. The Oregon-based disruptor earned FAA type certification for its E1000 AX in July 2025 and is now pioneering the use of artificial intelligence across design, testing, certification workflows, and customer support. By embracing smart automation, Epic is scaling faster and more efficiently than traditional manufacturers. In this session, attendees will get an inside look at how AI is reshaping the future of flight, what aerospace can learn from startup culture, and how innovation is accelerating speed, safety, and performance. Discover what happens when Silicon Valley thinking meets aviation’s next frontier.
Ilya Kirnos is the co-founder, managing partner, and CTO of ~$3 billion AUM early-stage venture firm SignalFire. He leads the development of SignalFire’s in-house Beacon AI data platform, which he’s been building for a decade with the firm’s team of AI PhDs, engineers, and data scientists. Beacon tracks more than 660 million employees and 80 million companies to guide the fund’s investing by surfacing high-quality founders and fast-growing companies, and assist its portfolio companies with recruiting and customer acquisition. As an investor, Ilya focuses on backing seed to Series B companies in enterprise infrastructure and developer tools. He supports highly technical startups in SignalFire’s portfolio including Horizon3 (autonomous pen-testing), OneSignal (notification infrastructure), and PlanetScale (scalable databases). Prior to co-founding SignalFire, Ilya was the Engineering Lead at CardSpring, a start-up payments platform that was acquired by Twitter in 2014. Before that, Ilya was a Software Engineer at Google from 2004 to 2012 where he was a Technical Lead for Gmail Ads and AdWords performance and scalability. Ilya was also the founder and Technical Lead for Google Prediction Markets. Ilya started his software engineering career at Bell Labs and Oracle after graduating from Princeton University with a B.S.E. in Computer Science and a minor in Applied Mathematics.
Ilya's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 3
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Gabriel Kra co-founded Prelude Ventures in 2013 after almost 25 years as an investor, entrepreneur, scientist and activist. Since its founding, Kra has built Prelude into a global leader in climate tech venture capital and has personally led investments in energy storage and batteries, plant-based foods, hydrogen production, novel display systems, and other cleantech companies. Previously, Gabriel spent four years as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank in its solar and semiconductor groups. He was also an early employee at venture-backed telecommunications and semiconductor start-ups, where he was instrumental in raising money, launching products, developing technology, and getting acquired. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for Activate, The CREO Syndicate and the Advisory Board for Carbon180.
Gabriel's Sessions
Leading a Series A Round in 2025 and Sustaining Momentum
2025 kicked off with a record-breaking first quarter for early-stage ventures, with the median deal size reaching $2.7M. At the same time, last year marked a 46% annual decline in the number of new venture funds raised in the U.S. VC dollars haven’t dried up, but the competition to secure capital has intensified. Drawing from his firsthand experience leading Series A rounds, Prelude Ventures’ Gabriel Kra will speak to what it takes for startups to successfully raise first funding, offering attendees practical takeaways for navigating today’s increasingly competitive landscape.
Thomas Krane is a Managing Director at Insight Partners and has been with the firm since 2012, when he joined as an analyst. As an investor, his focus areas include cybersecurity, DevOps, IT automation, and application software. Five of his investments have gone on to realize an IPO (Tenable, JFrog, Darktrace, 1stdibs, SentinelOne) and more have seen successful strategic exits, including Recorded Future, Adaptive Shield, Thycotic, Nearpod, Cylance, and QASymphony. Thomas studied astrophysics at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and earned his master’s degree in four years.
Thomas's Sessions
How to Raise a Series A in 2026
In this no-fluff panel, top VCs reveal what really gets them to offer a term sheet with a healthy valuation from metrics that matter to the pitch mistakes that kill deals. Learn how to position your company for its first priced, institutional investment.
The Startup Battlefield – Session 2
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Abhi Kumar is a strategy leader at the forefront of aerospace and emerging technologies. In addition to his full-time commitment in the aerospace industry, he’s a visiting lecturer at UC Berkeley, where he designed and taught a brand new course, ‘New Space Economy’, bringing founders, investors, and operators together to decode what’s next in space. His goal: equip the next generation of leaders with a clear-eyed view of current industry dynamics and future opportunities. Abhi serves on two technical committees of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA): Space Systems and Space Resources. Previously, he helped shape strategic programs at Planet Labs, the SF-based satellite imaging company known for pioneering daily Earth observation. Outside of work, he advises early-stage startups, invests occasionally in space ventures, and mentors founders through the Techstars Accelerator. He holds a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and an MBA with double major in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the Wharton School of Business. Abhi lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two young children.
Abhi's Sessions
Future of Space Economy in the Low Earth Orbit
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is no longer just for satellites; it’s the new frontier for manufacturing, energy, and data infrastructure. This session explores the emerging LEO economy, regulatory shifts, and key investment trends. Attendees will gain actionable insight into partnering with space startups, leveraging orbital platforms for Earth-based industries, and preparing for the commercialization of near-Earth space.
Future of Space Economy in the Low Earth Orbit [encore]
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is no longer just for satellites; it’s the new frontier for manufacturing, energy, and data infrastructure. This session explores the emerging LEO economy, regulatory shifts, and key investment trends. Attendees will gain actionable insight into partnering with space startups, leveraging orbital platforms for Earth-based industries, and preparing for the commercialization of near-Earth space.
Eugenia Kuyda founded Replika, the world’s leading AI friend to do life with, in 2017. Designed to be a companion you can laugh with, reflect with, and feel understood by, Replika was built to help people feel seen and supported through meaningful conversation. Whether it’s to brighten someone’s day, help them with their personal goals, or simply be there to listen, Replika provides a trusted space for connection. Under Kuyda’s leadership, Replika has grown to over 35 million users globally and become a cultural touchpoint in conversations about AI, mental health, and the future of human relationships with technology. Her work explores how AI can foster empathy and resilience in a rapidly changing world. Guided by the belief in “building a machine beautiful enough for a soul,” Kuyda continues to advocate for responsible innovation and inspire a new generation of creators to build technology that supports, not replaces, human connection.
Eugenia's Sessions
Love, Lies & Algorithms: The Truth About AI in Matters of the Heart
AI is changing the way we meet, match, and fall in love, sometimes in ways we don’t even notice. This panel explores how technology is reshaping modern relationships, for better or worse. From dating apps to digital soulmates, we’ll look at where things are headed and what that means for the human heart.
Vanessa Larco is the cofounder of Premise. She is a former partner for the investment firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) with a background in product management and leadership. She has worked in tech since 2008 and previously worked as the director of product management for mobile and web at Box. Larco specializes in providing strategic guidance to founders and management teams. She holds a bachelor’s in computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Vanessa's Sessions
How AI is Forcing Late-stage Startups to Rewire GTM – or Be Left Behind
AI is rewriting the playbook for how startups reach and win customers — and late-stage companies are feeling the pressure to adapt fast. In this panel, two top VCs and a seasoned founder break down how AI is transforming go-to-market strategies, from sales and marketing to customer success. We’ll get into what’s working, what’s hype, and how to build AI into your GTM engine without losing focus. If you’re scaling and wondering how AI fits into your next phase of growth, this is the conversation you don’t want to miss.
Aileen is the founder of Cowboy Ventures, a leading seed-stage focused venture firm investing in enterprise and consumer software including companies like Dollar Shave Club, Drata Security, Guild and Ironclad Software. Prior to Cowboy, Aileen was a partner at Kleiner Perkins for over a decade, founding CEO of digital media company RMG Networks and worked at Gap Inc in operating roles. Aileen is also known for coining the business term “unicorn” and is a co-founder of All-Raise, a non-profit to accelerate success for women in the tech ecosystem. She has been included on the Forbes Midas List, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. She has degrees from MIT and HBS, is a mom of 3 and wife to a startup founder. Aileen is also known for coining the business term “unicorn” and co-founding All-Raise, a non-profit to accelerate success for women in the tech ecosystem. She has been included on the Forbes Midas List, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. Prior to Cowboy, Aileen was a partner at Kleiner Perkins for over a decade, founding CEO of digital media company RMG Networks and worked at Gap Inc in operating roles. She has degrees from MIT and HBS, and is mom of 3 and wife to a startup founder.
Aileen's Sessions
Betting on the Next Wave: What VCs Want in AI Startups
From model infrastructure to niche applications, AI is producing a new breed of founders, and a new set of investor expectations. In this candid conversation, top VCs share what’s catching their eye (and what’s not), how they’re thinking about defensibility in a world of AI monopolies, and what founders need to show to get that next term sheet.
The Startup Battlefield Final
The grand final of TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition. Watch the final 5 teams from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000.
Soyoung Lee is the Co-Founder and Head of GTM at TwelveLabs, where she leads the company’s enterprise growth and strategic partnerships. She has played a central role in bringing TwelveLabs’ video foundation models to leading global enterprises by driving collaborations with industry giants such as NVIDIA and AWS. Through her leadership, TwelveLabs has secured over $100 million in funding, including a $77 million raise in 2024 from NEA, Index Ventures, and NVentures, while doubling its workforce and expanding internationally. Soyoung has been instrumental in scaling the company’s reach across industries like sports, media, and entertainment, delivering AI-powered video understanding capabilities that make video content instantly searchable and actionable. Soyoung’s strategic vision and operational excellence continue to elevate TwelveLabs as a global leader in video AI technology.
Soyoung's Sessions
Creative Machines and Where AI Meets Imagination
AI is no longer just optimizing workflows; it’s co-creating art, media, and experiences in ways we’re only beginning to understand. Wonder Dynamics CEO Nikola Todorovic, Twelve Labs Co-founder Soyoung Lee and Co-founder of Pocket Prateek Dixit are creative technologists who explore how AI is reshaping the creative process, blurring the lines between artist and algorithm, and opening up new frontiers for storytellers, designers, and dreamers alike.
Rebecca Lee Whiting
Fractional General Counsel for Early-Stage Startups, Epigram Legal P.C.Rebecca Lee Whiting is the principal attorney and founder of Epigram Legal P.C., where she serves as a fractional General Counsel, corporate secretary, and legal advisor to pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A startups in the AI, tech, and biotech sectors. She also provides general corporate, labor and employment, and commercial contracting legal services and advice to individual founders, executives, and nonprofit organizations, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors for several 501(c)(3) organizations. Over the course of her career, Rebecca has served as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel to multiple early-stage startups, and has represented and advised a variety of for-profit and nonprofit organizations and state and local public entities in contract negotiations, legislative matters, and high-stakes impact litigation at all levels of the state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. A graduate of Yale College and the U.C. Berkeley School of Law, Rebecca began her legal career as a federal law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, both in San Francisco.
Rebecca's Sessions
How Much Salary and Equity Should You Really Offer Early Employees?
Early hires shape your startup’s future but only if you can attract and keep them. This panel dives into building equity and benefits packages that compete with big tech without breaking your burn rate. Hear real-world strategies to align incentives, boost retention, and build a team that scales.
Since his appointment as CEO in 2018, Lenchner works to advance Bright Data’s innovative data collection products, while also leading the industry in ethics, transparency and self-regulation. Lenchner is a sought-after thought leader in the future of AI, ethics and public web data. He has participated in regulatory events that will shape the future of legislation that protects public web data in the public domain. Lenchner joined Bright Data in 2015 as a product manager and was pivotal in the design of Bright Data’s first products — driven by a firm belief in a transparent, compliance-driven web environment that serves both the public and the business sector alike. Today, under Lenchner’s leadership, Bright Data serves thousands of prominent organizations.
Or's Sessions
From Web Pages to Autonomous Agents: A Conversation on Linking Today's Web to Tomorrow’s Data Layer
Bright Data CEO Or Lenchner discusses how today’s web is the data infrastructure layer for tomorrow’s AI-powered dynamic web. Learn how to bridge the gap by future-proofing your tech stack so chatbots and agents can reason with live, structured web data, while overcoming challenges related to scale, speed, and regulations.
Aaron Levie is Chief Executive Officer, Cofounder at Box, which he launched in 2005 with CFO and cofounder Dylan Smith. He is the visionary behind the Box product and platform strategy, incorporating the best of secure content collaboration with an intuitive user experience suited to the way people work today. Aaron leads the company in its mission to transform the way people and businesses work so they can achieve their greatest ambitions. He has served on the Board of Directors since April 2005. Aaron attended the University of Southern California from 2003 to 2005 before leaving to found Box.
Aaron's Sessions
Survive, Scale, Reinvent: Lessons from a Cloud OG
Aaron Levie built Box before cloud was cool and the company is still thriving while competitors have come and gone. Known for his sharp takes and startup instincts, Levie joins us to unpack how to keep innovating inside a public company, the possibilities AI and agents bring to enterprise software, and why reinvention is the name of the game in tech right now. Expect real talk and a playbook for building companies that last in the world of AI.
Sam is co-founder and CEO of Thoropass (f.k.a Laika), an information security compliance and audit technology startup backed by leading investors such as JP Morgan and Fin Capital. Thoropass is the modern alternative to legacy security auditors, enabling companies to get and stay compliant with information security and privacy standards, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HITRUST, HIPAA, and many others. Before Thoropass, Sam was an EIR at Bain Capital Ventures after running Zinc Platform, a YC-backed insurtech startup as co-founder and CTO. He started his career at Goldman Sachs and Google in various technical roles. He studied CS at the University of Virginia and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Sam's Sessions
Fundraising Mistakes That Will Kill Your Round, and How to Avoid Them.
From pre-pitch prep to post-meeting follow-through, this session will give founders a real-world look at what works — and what doesn’t — in today’s competitive fundraising landscape.
Edo Liberty is the founder and Chief Scientist of Pinecone whose mission is to make AI knowledgeable. Pinecone is the leading vector database for building accurate and performant AI applications at scale in production. Prior to founding Pinecone, Edo was a Director of Research at AWS and Head of Amazon AI Labs where his team worked on data systems and services including SageMaker and OpenSearch. Before AWS, Edo was a Senior Research Director at Yahoo and Head of Yahoo’s Research Lab in New York. As an adjunct professor at Princeton and Tel Aviv University, Edo taught long-term memory in AI and data mining. His academic work focuses on numerical linear algebra, streaming algorithms, data mining, and mathematical foundations of machine learning. Edo holds a B.Sc in physics and computer science from Tel Aviv University, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Yale. He has authored more than 75 academic papers and patents.
Edo's Sessions
Why the Next Frontier Is Search
In a world overflowing with data, finding what matters is everything. Pinecone founder Edo Liberty unpacks why infrastructure, not algorithms, might be the biggest unlock in AI, and what’s coming next in the race to power smarter applications at scale.
Zach Lloyd is the founder and CEO of Warp, the AI-powered developer platform reinventing the command line for the era of coding agents. Backed by Sam Altman, Sequoia, GV, Dylan Field, and cousin Marc Benioff, Warp has raised $73M and is already used by hundreds of thousands of developers—including half of the Fortune 500—with usage growing 10–20% week-over-week. Before Warp, Zach led engineering on Google Sheets, helping bring the spreadsheet into the modern age. He’s also held roles at NASA, did a stint at Yale Law, served as interim CTO at TIME, and co-founded SelfMade. Zach holds a BS in Symbolic Systems from Stanford and a Master’s in Philosophy of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Zach's Sessions
Designing Products for the AI Age
AI is changing how we work, and the tools we depend on. Join Yukhi (Chief Product Officer, Figma), Zach (Founder & CEO, Warp), and Andrew Reed (Partner, Sequoia) for a conversation on how product strategy is evolving in the AI era and what it takes to design great AI experiences.
With Vibe Coding, Do Early Stage Startups Still Need to Hire 10x Engineers?
Vibe coding products have completely changed the speed, cost and technical skill needed to build products, from prototypes to shipping. This is especially true for early stage startups. Some makers of these products have even declared that no one needs to learn to code anymore. If so, that means startups don’t need to fill their early rosters with the famed 10x coders. But how much of that is hype and how much is reality? Our panelists will dive into how the developer tool world is changing and what comes next.
Miloni Madan Presler
Partner,, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP)I’m passionate about partnering with businesses that aren’t just innovating for the sake of it but are solving real problems—creating products and solutions people truly need, not just want. These companies bridge gaps in fragmented ecosystems, automate outdated processes, and deliver data-driven platforms that can transform industries. These companies and their impact will endure long beyond our involvement, and the opportunity to help drive that lasting change is what keeps me inspired and intentional about all that I do.
Miloni's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 3
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Matt joined Pinterest as Chief Technology Officer in 2024. Matt leads the company’s product and platform direction, overseeing the product and engineering teams that build our user experiences and the machine learning systems that power them. Previously, he was the Vice President and General Manager of Merchant Shopping at Google, where he led the product and engineering teams that build Google Shopping’s tools, partner integrations, and infrastructure to help businesses and merchants grow and thrive. Prior to Google, Matt was the Chief Technology and Product Officer at Fanatics, where he played a key role in shaping the mobile strategy, while expanding product development and data capabilities driving significant revenue and customer growth. Before Fanatics, he was the SVP of eCommerce & Marketing for Williams-Sonoma, Inc. He also spent 8 years leading product and engineering for eBay’s growth marketing and onsite advertising technology platforms. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Matt was also a senior consultant with KANA Software and began his career as an analyst at Accenture.
Matt's Sessions
Embracing AI for a Better Digital Future
We’re at a crossroads for AI, where the norms and innovations we cement now could define whether AI is additive instead of addictive, inclusive instead of harmful. As AI reshapes digital experiences, leaders must pioneer a new path. Matt can explore how AI works “under the hood” at Pinterest-powering its positivity, personalization for users, and advertiser performance and internal productivity, and how Pinterest charts a different course from other platforms through its vision for tuning AI for good. In a landscape often dominated by “engagement by enragement” models, Pinterest proves that AI can be both powerful and responsible, drive innovation and keep users’ well-being at the forefront.
Kay Makishi is Vice President at Lupoff/Stevens Family Office, a NYC based single family office, diligencing LP investments into impact-oriented early-stage VC funds and founders. She is also an Ambassador for Invest Tokyo, US-Japan Council Member, Board Member of Oxford Alumni Association of New York, Advisor to Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, and Advisor to various startups/VCs mainly in the US and Japan.
Kay's Sessions
Rethinking Startup Capital Without VCs
VCs aren’t the only game in town. Join us as we explore alternative fundraising paths with an angel investor, a family office vice president, and a founder who bootstrapped to success. Learn how to tap into capital that aligns with your vision, keeps you in control, and gets you to the next stage—on your terms.
Marc Manara leads the global Startups, VC, & Private Equity Teams at OpenAI. Before OpenAI, Marc led a startups team at AWS and co-founded a startup called Farm Hill. Earlier in his career, Marc served as an engineer at enterprise software firm Appian and later an investor at Acumen, a global impact investment fund. Marc studied computer science at Harvard and has an MBA from Stanford.
Marc's Sessions
Building a GTM Engine that Actually Works
A killer product needs a killer go-to-market strategy. This panel explores best traditional practices in building a GTM function, as well as how early-stage startups can harness AI to build a GTM function that drives growth, wins customers, and scales efficiently. Hear from founders and GTM experts on hiring, messaging, sales tactics, and the key metrics that prove your approach is working.
Alejandro Matamala Ortiz is the Chief Design Officer and Co-founder of Runway. He previously was a research resident at New York University, exploring the interaction of AI and Creativity.
Alejandro's Sessions
From Ads to Films: Creating with Code
Creatives aren’t being replaced, they’re being rearmed. Alejandro Matamala Ortiz, co-founder of Runway, shares how creative work is being reshaped by machine learning, what AI-native tools mean for visual storytelling, and why this is just the beginning of a new creative era.
Tekedra N. Mawakana is the co-CEO of Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company. As co-CEO, Tekedra oversees the company’s strategy for the wide adoption of the Waymo Driver. She boasts 20+ years of experience advising consumer technology companies to advance their business interests globally. Tekedra currently serves on the Board of Directors for Intuit and the Advisory Council for Boom Technology. She is a social impact-focused angel investor and an Advisor and LP with the Operator Collective.
Tekedra's Sessions
The Self-Driving Reality Check
Autonomous vehicles have been “just around the corner” for years—until now. Tekedra Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo, takes the Disrupt Stage to talk about where AVs actually stand, what it’s taken to get to real deployments, and why the race isn’t just about tech, it’s about trust. From regulation to rider experience to competition with Tesla and Tesla-adjacent hype, this conversation gets real about what’s next in mobility.
Jon McNeill is the CEO and Co-Founder of DVx Ventures, a venture studio that has launched 12 companies tackling large-scale market opportunities. A visionary entrepreneur, investor, and operator, Jon has founded six companies, building and scaling businesses that created tens of thousands of jobs and delivered 9x returns to investors. Jon’s operating career includes leadership at some of the world’s most transformative companies. As President of Tesla, he helped scale the company from $2B to $20B in revenue in just 18 months, overseeing global sales, delivery, and service. At Lyft, where he served as COO during a critical growth phase, Jon doubled revenue, expanded market share, and prepared the company for its IPO. He currently serves on the boards of General Motors, Lululemon, Asurion, CrossFit, and Stash. At Lululemon, Jon played a key role in its turnaround, contributing to a 5x increase in stock value. He also sits on the Liquid AI Advisory Council. Earlier in his career, Jon was a consultant at Bain & Company and is a graduate of Northwestern University. A frequent speaker and guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, and Stanford GSB, Jon is known for delivering practical, actionable insights on innovation, leadership, and scaling operations. His upcoming book, The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula That Transformed Tesla, SpaceX, Lululemon, and General Motors, will be published by Penguin Random House in 2026.
Jon's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 2
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Betting on the Next Wave: What VCs Want in AI Startups
From model infrastructure to niche applications, AI is producing a new breed of founders, and a new set of investor expectations. In this candid conversation, top VCs share what’s catching their eye (and what’s not), how they’re thinking about defensibility in a world of AI monopolies, and what founders need to show to get that next term sheet.
Bridgit Mendler is the co-founder and CEO of Northwood. Northwood is building proliferated ground infrastructure to address fundamental data transmission bottlenecks impacting the space industry. Designed from the ground up, Northwood’s ground network is built to rapidly scale capacity for satellite communication. Prior to founding Northwood, Bridgit ran two companies in television and music. She served as leading actress on multiple series including Disney’s Good Luck Charlie and she was a platinum songwriter and recording artist. During her time at the FCC while at Harvard, Bridgit focused on satellite licensing frameworks and regulatory policy development, working directly with industry stakeholders to address technical and legal challenges in the rapidly evolving commercial space sector. As a Director’s Fellow and Researcher at the MIT Media Lab, she contributed to projects at the intersection of technology, communication, and social impact, exploring innovative approaches to global connectivity challenges. Bridgit has earned a Masters from MIT and a JD from Harvard.
Bridgit's Sessions
Laying the Groundwork for a New Space Economy
The next wave of space startups is not just building rockets, it’s building an entire ecosystem. The CEOs of Northwood Space, True Anomaly and Vast take the stage to discuss how their companies are creating infrastructure, enabling new markets, and laying the foundations for a thriving space economy. From orbital services to next-generation satellite networks, this session explores the building blocks of a future where commercial space is a critical part of global tech.
Rachel is the product manager leading Search Experiences at Reddit, scaling search and AI products for millions. She has launched multiple zero-to-one initiatives, led cross-functional teams across frontend and backend, and is driving a more equitable future of tech by building impact and safety focused digital experiences. Beyond Reddit, Rachel is a recognized leader in tech for social good. She founded digital tech initiatives advancing diversity, accessibility, and mental health, and volunteers as a product manager at Taimaka, where she manages engineers building digital tools that have helped treat over 12,000 children with malnutrition in Nigeria. Rachel’s work has been featured numerous times in outlets like TechCrunch and The Verge. She has delivered talks to large technical audiences, appeared as a guest on several podcasts, and frequently judges and speaks at hackathons around the world. She also donates 5% of her salary to high-impact charities through Giving What We Can and is committed to using her product skills to build a better future in technology.
Rachel's Sessions
Scaling Search and AI for Millions: Lessons from Reddit Search
Let’s talk about what it really takes to build AI at scale in a way that users trust. This conversation dives into Reddit’s approach to scaling Search and ML systems for millions globally—balancing relevance, safety, and bias mitigation. We’ll explore tough questions around community expectations, ethical tradeoffs, and real-world implementation. Bring your startup’s challenges and join a candid, collaborative discussion.
Scaling Search and AI for Millions: Lessons from Reddit Search [encore]
Let’s talk about what it really takes to build AI at scale in a way that users trust. This conversation dives into Reddit’s approach to scaling Search and ML systems for millions globally—balancing relevance, safety, and bias mitigation. We’ll explore tough questions around community expectations, ethical tradeoffs, and real-world implementation. Bring your startup’s challenges and join a candid, collaborative discussion.
Lauri Moore is a Partner at Bessemer’s Silicon Valley office, where she focuses on early-stage opportunities in data, AI, developer tools, and related infrastructure. With a unique background spanning research, data science, product management, and investing, Lauri is a passionate ally and coach for entrepreneurs, collaborating with them to tackle the inevitable challenges of company building. Before joining Bessemer, Lauri was a Partner at Foundation Capital. She also co-founded a company that automated top-of-funnel screening using voice AI, leveraging one of the earliest (and ultimately not good enough) externalized BERT models in 2018. Lauri has held product leadership roles at LinkedIn and worked in data science and product across several startups. Her career began at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the Research & Statistics Group.
Lauri's Sessions
With Vibe Coding, Do Early Stage Startups Still Need to Hire 10x Engineers?
Vibe coding products have completely changed the speed, cost and technical skill needed to build products, from prototypes to shipping. This is especially true for early stage startups. Some makers of these products have even declared that no one needs to learn to code anymore. If so, that means startups don’t need to fill their early rosters with the famed 10x coders. But how much of that is hype and how much is reality? Our panelists will dive into how the developer tool world is changing and what comes next.
Chris Morales is a Partner on the Investment Team at Point72 Ventures, leading defense tech investments. Prior to joining Point72 Ventures, Chris was a Technology, Media, Telecommunications Associate at Goldman Sachs in their Investment Banking division, where he advised leading technology clients on M&A, debt, and equity financings. Earlier, Chris served as an F/A-18 Super Hornet Weapons Systems Officer in the U.S. Navy, where he flew combat missions in support of Operations New Dawn and Enduring Freedom. During his last two years on active duty, he was assigned as a flight instructor responsible for teaching aircrew the techniques, tactics, and procedures of the F/A-18.
Chris's Sessions
Investing at the Edge of Space
As space becomes a bigger focus for both governments and private markets, investors are navigating new opportunities and new risks. Join these top investors to break down where capital is flowing, what startups need to show to stand out, and how the funding landscape for space is evolving.
Dr. Richard Munassi MD MBA is a serial Entrepreneur and investor. As Managing Director, Dr. Munassi leads both the CORE and Accelerator programs for the nationally-recognized Tampa Bay Wave, helping software and hardware startups from throughout the US and abroad build, launch, and grow their technology companies. His background includes time with NASA as part of their iTech program, as Entrepreneur in Residence for Techstars, the University of South Florida (where he was also Adjunct Professor for the Graduate School of Business), and the University of Florida, and mentor for programs such as FedTech, UCSF’s Health Hub, MassChallenge, Founder Institute, the Director of Innovation at Moffitt Cancer Center, and more. He is also an active investor in early stage technology startups and several VC funds.
Dr. Richard's Sessions
Fundraising Mistakes That Will Kill Your Round, and How to Avoid Them.
From pre-pitch prep to post-meeting follow-through, this session will give founders a real-world look at what works — and what doesn’t — in today’s competitive fundraising landscape.
Patrick Murphy is Co-Founder & CEO at Maket, a generative architecture platform for homeowners and builders. Maket’s AI tools empower anyone to instantly generate and customize residential floorplans—no architectural background required. With over 900,000 registered users, Maket is redefining how homes are designed and delivered, making sustainable, affordable housing accessible to all.
Patrick's Sessions
AI & Agents: Shaping how we Build, Live & Connect
AI is no longer just a back-end tool—it’s shaping how we design our homes, connect in communities, and empower agents to take meaningful action. This panel brings together three founders at the forefront of this shift: Alyx van der Vorm (Clyx), building a new kind of social network centered on real-world connection; Patrick Murphy (Maket.ai), democratizing architecture with generative AI that produces zoning-compliant home designs in minutes; and Karan Vaidya (Composio), powering the next wave of AI agents with tools that enable real-world execution. Moderated by Jeremiah Owyang, General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures and founder of the Llama Lounge event series, the session will explore how AI and agents are redefining the way we live and interact—and what it takes to build enduring companies that thrive beyond the hype.
Tawni L. Nazario-Cranz is an operator-turned-investor and company builder at scale. She is currently an Operating Partner at SignalFire, where she helps lead post-investment strategy from pre-seed through Series D+. Since 2017, she has partnered with founders to connect strategy, capital, and operating systems—spanning GTM, product cadence, org design, and financial discipline—to turn early momentum into durable enterprise value as companies grow from first hires to global scale. Before venture, Tawni spent a decade at Netflix powering its transformation from DVDs to streaming and its global breakout. During her tenure, Netflix went from zero streaming subscribers to 100M+, and from ~$1B in DVD revenue with no streaming revenue to more than $10B in global streaming. She co-authored the Netflix Culture Deck and helped prove that Talent Density accelerates execution, the essential ingredient for a high-performance startup. That experience informs how she helps founders keep operating models simple, feedback loops tight, and resource allocation disciplined. Outside of venture, Tawni and her family are building Nazario Ranch Vineyards in Saratoga, CA. She holds an EMBA from the Drucker School and a BA from UC Santa Barbara.
Tawni's Sessions
Do Startups Still Need Silicon Valley?
While Silicon Valley is still the startup capital, how important is access to it anymore? This panel debates whether founders must plant roots in the Valley to succeed or if opportunity is so strong elsewhere that they don’t need it. Hear perspectives from investors and founders redefining what it means to build, scale, and fund a company in today’s decentralized tech world. While Silicon Valley is still the startup capital, how important is access to it anymore? This panel debates whether founders must plant roots in the Valley to succeed or if opportunity is so strong elsewhere that they don’t need it. Hear perspectives from investors and founders redefining what it means to build, scale, and fund a company in today’s decentralized tech world.
Praveen Neppalli Naga
CTO for Mobility and Delivery, UberPraveen Neppalli Naga is the Chief Technology Officer for Mobility & Delivery, where he leads the engineering and science strategy and technical execution for Uber’s Mobility and Delivery businesses. Since joining Uber in 2015, his focus has been creating outstanding experiences for customers while building a flexible earning platform for drivers and couriers. Prior to joining Uber, Praveen held engineering leadership roles at LinkedIn. There, he spent seven years building early products and data infrastructure, contributing to the foundation for LinkedIn’s rapid growth. Originally from southern India, Praveen moved to the US in 2002, and went on to earn his master’s in computer science from the University of Nebraska. Passionate about community and mentorship, Praveen serves as an executive sponsor for the “Women at Uber” US&C Employee Resource Group. He is also committed to supporting other parents of Autistic children, drawing from his firsthand experience with his own son.
Praveen's Sessions
Smarter Streets: How AI Is Driving the Future of Transportation
From ride-hailing at massive global scale to autonomous delivery bots on neighborhood streets, AI is reinventing how people and goods move. Uber CTO Praveen Naga and Nuro Co-Founder Dave Ferguson take the stage to discuss the breakthroughs shaping mobility, the challenges of deploying AI in unpredictable real-world environments, and what the next decade of transportation will look like.
Jennifer Neundorfer is an operator turned investor who has been investing in early stage startups for the last decade. She is currently the Managing Partner of January Ventures, a pre-seed focused venture capital firm investing in B2B startups leveraging software to transform legacy industries. She founded January Ventures to rewrite the networks in venture capital, and invest in the most ambitious founders regardless of pedigree, network, or access. Prior to January, Jennifer was co-founder of Flashstarts, a startup accelerator focused on software startups outside of Silicon Valley. As an operator, she launched and scaled media and advertising businesses at 21st Century Fox and YouTube. As a Cuban-American and one of the few Latina GPs in venture, Jennifer believes in demystifying venture for founders and future investors. She has a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University. Jennifer is based in Boston.
Jennifer's Sessions
What VCs Really Want to Hear in Your Pitch
Investors hear hundreds of pitches but only a few stand out. Hear directly from VCs on what they love, what makes them cringe, and the subtle signals founders often miss. This panel reveals insider tips to help you craft a pitch that grabs attention, builds trust, and wins the right checks.
Marlon Nichols is the co-founder and managing general partner of MaC Venture Capital, a leading seed-stage firm renowned for backing visionary founders who redefine industries. Under his leadership, MaC has grown into one of North America’s largest seed-stage venture firms, surpassing $600 million in assets under management (AUM). In October 2024, the firm announced the closing of its third fund ($150 million), further solidifying its influence in the early-stage investment landscape. Marlon’s portfolio includes industry-defining companies such as Airspace, Blavity, FINESSE, Gimlet Media, MongoDB, Pipe, Purestream, Thrive Market, and Shekel Mobility, among others. His keen eye for transformative opportunities has earned him widespread recognition, including consecutive placements on Los Angeles Business Journal’s LA500 (2022–2024) and Business Insider’s Seed 100 (Top Early-Stage Investors) for three years. Additionally, he ranks 25th on the Kauffman Fellows Fund Returners Index and has been featured in PitchBook’s 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch for six years. His expertise is frequently sought by top media outlets such as Axios, CNBC, Fortune, and more. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Marlon serves on the board of Kauffman Fellows, working to expand representation for underrepresented minorities in venture capital. With a unique blend of technology acumen and leadership principles shaped by his athletic background, he actively mentors CEOs, fosters strategic partnerships, and helps founders scale their businesses into market leaders.
Marlon's Sessions
Seed Money Secrets Every Founder Should Know
Raising your first round is tough—but far from impossible. This panel brings together experienced investors to break down what it really takes to close a seed round. From crafting the right pitch to ensuring you are greenlighting the right partners, get actionable advice to turn investor interest into capital.
Pratik Nimbalkar is the Founder and CEO of Plaid Semiconductors, a company redefining advanced packaging with its System-on-Glass™ platform for AI-scale computing. He earned his PhD in Materials Science from Georgia Tech, where he developed novel interconnect technologies for high-performance computing. Pratik has authored over 15 publications, holds four patents and has deep expertise spanning materials, process integration, and chiplet architectures. His work bridges cutting-edge research with scalable manufacturing, enabling a vision of fitting an entire data center rack on a single substrate.
Pratik's Sessions
Discovery to Disruption: Turning Research into Venture-Backable Companies
Join us for an exclusive session on transforming cutting-edge deep tech research into scalable, venture-ready companies. Hear from trailblazing founders in the Berkeley SkyDeck portfolio who have successfully spun out their research into high-growth startups with major commercial impact. Topics: – How do you identify whether your research has a viable market application or product opportunity? – How do you find the right Co-Founder or team? – What are early validation strategies for Deep Tech? – How do you raise your first $1mm of funding? Moderator: – Chon Tang, Managing Partner of Berkeley SkyDeck Fund Panelists: – Jared O’Leary, Co-Founder & CEO of SirenOpt – Asad Tirmizi, Founder of T-Robotics – Pratik Nimbalkar, Co-Founder of Plaid Semiconductors
Jared O’Leary is the co-founder and CEO of SirenOpt, which makes a real-time sensing and software platform based on cold atmospheric plasmas to improve the yield, performance, and safety of advanced coatings, thin films, and mirco- and nano-scale materials, which are critical components in batteries, aerospace, semiconductor, and many other advanced manufacturing segments. O’Leary earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley, where he investigated learning-based methods to characterize, model, and control advanced materials manufacturing processes. He co-founded SirenOpt to commercialize the technology he helped develop during his doctoral work. Previously, O’Leary worked as an engineer and team lead at Theranos and earned a B.S. with honors and distinction in chemical engineering at Stanford.
Jared's Sessions
Discovery to Disruption: Turning Research into Venture-Backable Companies
Join us for an exclusive session on transforming cutting-edge deep tech research into scalable, venture-ready companies. Hear from trailblazing founders in the Berkeley SkyDeck portfolio who have successfully spun out their research into high-growth startups with major commercial impact. Topics: – How do you identify whether your research has a viable market application or product opportunity? – How do you find the right Co-Founder or team? – What are early validation strategies for Deep Tech? – How do you raise your first $1mm of funding? Moderator: – Chon Tang, Managing Partner of Berkeley SkyDeck Fund Panelists: – Jared O’Leary, Co-Founder & CEO of SirenOpt – Asad Tirmizi, Founder of T-Robotics – Pratik Nimbalkar, Co-Founder of Plaid Semiconductors
Nnamdi is a seasoned venture capitalist with over $9B in exit value. As Co-Founder and Managing Partner of 645 Ventures, he has invested in companies like Setpoint, RentSpree, Overtime, and Iterable. He has helped build the firm into an emerging leader in the early-stage venture category. Prior to 645, he spent eight years at Insight Partners, where he invested in companies like Mimecast (IPO, $5.5B market cap) and Exact Target (acquired for $2.5B). He’s a Board Member of the National Venture Capital Association, and was also named to the Midas Brink List of top venture capitalists. He holds a BA, JD, and MBA from Harvard.
Nnamdi's Sessions
The Future of Banking and Fintech: the AI Wave
AI is transforming financial services, creating huge opportunities for new fintech startups as well as providers of software for banking. This session will focus on the AI wave and its impact on financial services, describing where startups are innovating and where VC’s are investing. We’ll discuss how startups can differentiate themselves in this new world, in particular in terms of data and technology moats as well as end-user experiences. We’ll also discuss key learnings from the mobile and cloud waves in terms of the successful companies those waves produced, and what new AI startups should learn from them.
VC Investor at Blitzscaling Ventures leading early-stage AI investments. Founder of the Llama Lounge AI startup event series.
Jeremiah's Sessions
AI & Agents: Shaping how we Build, Live & Connect
AI is no longer just a back-end tool—it’s shaping how we design our homes, connect in communities, and empower agents to take meaningful action. This panel brings together three founders at the forefront of this shift: Alyx van der Vorm (Clyx), building a new kind of social network centered on real-world connection; Patrick Murphy (Maket.ai), democratizing architecture with generative AI that produces zoning-compliant home designs in minutes; and Karan Vaidya (Composio), powering the next wave of AI agents with tools that enable real-world execution. Moderated by Jeremiah Owyang, General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures and founder of the Llama Lounge event series, the session will explore how AI and agents are redefining the way we live and interact—and what it takes to build enduring companies that thrive beyond the hype.
Tade Oyerinde is an education entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience using technology to solve a variety of challenges in the higher education system. Prior to founding Campus, he created and founded Campuswire, a leading online learning platform used by students and professors from over 300 active universities. He was named Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2021 as one of the most influential education entrepreneurs in the country. Before starting his first company, Gleepost Labs, Oyerinde studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Leeds in the UK and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.
Tade's Sessions
Creating Communities and Companies That Last
What happens when you design around people, not institutions? Jason Citron, founder and former CEO of Discord, and Tade Oyerinde, founder and chancellor of Campus, will discuss how they built companies that tapped into community to break through the noise. From Discord’s rise as a global hub for millions to Campus’s ambitious mission to reinvent college, they’ll explore product design, lessons in scaling amidst competition, and how founders can balance vision with adaptability.
Justine Palefsky is the Co-Founder and CEO of Kindred, a global home swapping community she launched in 2021 with co-founder Tasneem Amina. Prior to Kindred, Justine was on the early teams at Opendoor and Homebound and began her career at Bain & Company. She holds a degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from Brown University. Raised in San Francisco in a home where the family’s studio apartment was always open to extended relatives and friends, Justine grew up seeing hospitality as a way of life – an early model of reciprocal travel that later inspired Kindred. She’s based inSan Francisco but travels often to New York, Chicago, and Europe, and is an avid drawer, painter, and magical thinker.
Justine's Sessions
The Winning Formula: Turning Your Business Into a Trusted, Scalable Community To Drive Growth
Join Kindred Co-founders Justine Palefsky and Tasneem Amina as they share how they turned a high-performing tech platform into a community-led movement that redefined home swapping.They’ll explore the strategic blueprint behind building trust at scale to drive exponential growth to include: Turning members into brand ambassadors through a values-driven approach. Using community as a lever for growth and retention. Building for emotional need, not just technical performance. Justine and Tas didn’t just launch a travel product — they revived an outdated category. This talk is for any founder or operator looking to grow an authentic community with integrity, relevance, and resonance.
The Winning Formula: Turning Your Business Into a Trusted, Scalable Community To Drive Growth [encore]
Join Kindred Co-founders Justine Palefsky and Tasneem Amina as they share how they turned a high-performing tech platform into a community-led movement that redefined home swapping.They’ll explore the strategic blueprint behind building trust at scale to drive exponential growth to include: Turning members into brand ambassadors through a values-driven approach. Using community as a lever for growth and retention. Building for emotional need, not just technical performance. Justine and Tas didn’t just launch a travel product — they revived an outdated category. This talk is for any founder or operator looking to grow an authentic community with integrity, relevance, and resonance.
Maria Palma is a General Partner at Freestyle Capital. Prior to Freestyle, she was a General Partner at Kindred Capital, a seed and early-stage venture firm focusing on European technology companies. Prior to Kindred, Maria was a Principal at RRE Ventures in New York where she spent time on the investment side, and also built out their platform efforts. Maria has invented in companies such as Fung Money, Lovable, Lightning Labs, Moov & Payman. Before venture, Maria was the Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Business Development for a NY-based startup, Eyeview, as they scaled from zero to $40M in revenue. Maria began her career at General Electric in Operations Management & Supply Chain. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Industrial Engineering from UW-Madison.
Maria's Sessions
Seed Money Secrets Every Founder Should Know
Raising your first round is tough—but far from impossible. This panel brings together experienced investors to break down what it really takes to close a seed round. From crafting the right pitch to ensuring you are greenlighting the right partners, get actionable advice to turn investor interest into capital.
Ashley Paston is a Partner at General Catalyst, an investment firm that partners with founders from seed through growth stages. In this role, she helps lead the firm’s Applied AI thesis and growth practice. Prior to this, Ashley was a Partner at Meritech, where she invested in companies such as Clay and Pigment. Prior, she was an investor at Bain Capital Ventures, investing in companies such as GoCardless, ACV Auctions, and Pleo. She started her career at McKinsey & Co.
Ashley's Sessions
Fundraising Mistakes That Will Kill Your Round, and How to Avoid Them.
From pre-pitch prep to post-meeting follow-through, this session will give founders a real-world look at what works — and what doesn’t — in today’s competitive fundraising landscape.
Rohit Patel is a Director in Meta Superintelligence Labs, where he focuses on building the company’s next generation of AI models. Known for his ability to distill complex technical ideas into clear, accessible insights, Rohit is a sought-after voice in the fast-evolving world of artificial intelligence. In addition to his leadership role at Meta, Rohit also founded and runs a research lab, QuickAI, which builds smaller, task-specific AI models for practical impact. He also advises Baypine, a digitally focused private equity firm, helping shape their AI strategy for acquisitions and across its portfolio companies. Rohit’s unique blend of technical depth and business acumen is grounded in a career that spans enterprise consulting and product innovation. Before joining Meta, he advised CEOs of private equity–backed companies at PwC Strategy&, crafting analytics and data strategies to unlock enterprise value. He holds a PhD in Game Theory from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, as well as Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute. His article “Understanding LLMs from Scratch” has been widely shared by technologists and non-technical readers alike – an example of his gift for making AI concepts approachable and relevant.
Rohit's Sessions
AI Evaluation 101: Addressing Challenges to Real-World AI Applications
This session looks at GenAI under the hood, breaking down how neural networks generate language. We discuss challenges to real-world AI deployment, and why evaluation is key to ensuring success. We’ll compare automated, judge-based and human-rated methods for assessing AI performance. Attendees will learn how to build evaluations for their use-cases to assess AI vs. human performance on their tasks.
AI Evaluation 101: Addressing Challenges to Real-World AI Applications [encore]
This session looks at GenAI under the hood, breaking down how neural networks generate language. We discuss challenges to real-world AI deployment, and why evaluation is key to ensuring success. We’ll compare automated, judge-based and human-rated methods for assessing AI performance. Attendees will learn how to build evaluations for their use-cases to assess AI vs. human performance on their tasks.
Caleb Peffer is the founder and CEO of Firecrawl, a fast-growing developer platform that turns the web into AI-ready data. Since launching in early 2024, Firecrawl has grown to serve over 350,000 developers and enterprise customers like Shopify and Zapier, helping them access, process, and integrate high-quality, real-time web data into AI products. Peffer is a Y Combinator alumnus and serial builder with a background in AI, large-scale data infrastructure, and developer tools. Under his leadership, Firecrawl has scaled to millions in ARR while remaining profitable, along with becoming one of the top 400 GitHub repos of all time. Known for his product-driven approach, Peffer has led Firecrawl through rapid iteration, from viral open-source launch to enterprise adoption, while fostering a team culture where 80% of employees are former founders and engineers. His work is focused on making the world’s information accessible and actionable for AI systems — a mission that’s reshaping how developers and AI agents interact with the web.
Caleb's Sessions
The Pros and Cons of Hiring AI Agents as Early Employees
Most startups today are using AI in some capacities: vibe coding prototypes or new features, deep research via their favorite chat before sales calls. Many are also building AI products, or at least including AI options and features. So should you embed AI at the root operations of your businesses like hiring AI agents instead of humans for sales? For customer support? To automate your billing? Learn how to pick the right use cases, build smarter workflows, and get the biggest impact with limited resources.
Doug Pepper is a General Partner at ICONIQ. He joined ICONIQ in 2019. Doug has helped lead ICONIQ’s investments in Airtable, Guild Education, Reify, and others. Prior to joining ICONIQ, Doug was a managing director at Shasta Ventures, a premier early-stage venture capital firm. Previously, he was a general partner at InterWest Partners for 15 years where he was the first investor in Marketo and served on its board of directors for 10 years. He began his career working at Goldman Sachs and Amazon.com. Doug received an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.
Doug's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 4
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Ryan Petersen is Founder and CEO of Flexport, a leader in global supply chain technology. Since its inception, more than 10,000 companies of all sizes – from emerging brands to Fortune 500s – have used Flexport’s logistics and technology to move more than $175 billion dollars in merchandise. Prior to starting Flexport, Ryan was the founder and CEO of ImportGenius, a premier provider of transaction data for the global trade industry. He earned a BA from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Ryan's Sessions
Building in a Time of Uncertainty
Uncertainty is the new normal—but it’s also an opportunity. In this fireside chat, Ryan Petersen, CEO of global logistics unicorn Flexport, shares his hard-won insights. With $2.3B raised, Flexport’s shipping technology sits at the intersection of international business and policy, giving Petersen almost prescient economic insights. He’s been vocal about everything from tariff policy to AI. He’s also experienced personal volatility, famously leaving his CEO role and then returning less than a year later. Founders, take notes: this is how you build when the rules keep changing.
Lila Preston joined Generation Investment Management in 2004 and is Head of the Growth Equity strategy. Previously, Lila was a director of finance and development at VolunteerMatch in San Francisco. Lila was also a Fulbright Fellow in Southern Chile. Lila received a BA in English and Latin American Studies from Stanford University and an MBA from London Business School. Lila speaks fluent Spanish. Lila serves on the board of Nature’s Fynd and as a board observer for CiBO Technologies, Optoro and Pivot Bio. She is also on the Board of Advisors at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.
Lila's Sessions
Preparing Now for Your Later Stage Raise
Raising later-stage rounds takes more than luck — it’s about strategy from day one. Join these 2 exceptional VCs and an experienced founder as they share how to build metrics, storytelling, and relationships that position your startup for future funding success. Learn the key moves that set you up to close bigger rounds with confidence.
Brynn Putnam is the founder and CEO of Board, a first-ever face-to-face game console launching Fall 2025. She is the former CEO of Mirror, a connected fitness start-up that launched in 2018 and was acquired in 2020 for $500 million by lululemon, representing its first acquisition. MIRROR was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, TIME’s Best Inventions and Forbes’ Next Billion-Dollar Startups. Brynn has been recognized by Inc’s 30 under 30, Crain’s 40 under 40, and EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Brynn was a professional ballerina with The New York City Ballet and founder of the renowned NYC fitness chain Refine Method. Brynn has a B.A. from Harvard College and is a member of New York City Ballet’s Board of Directors. Brynn is a native New Yorker and lives on the UES with her husband, Kevin Thau, and two children, George and Agnes.
Brynn's Sessions
From MIRROR to What’s Next: Brynn Putnam Returns to Disrupt
In 2018, Brynn Putnam unveiled MIRROR on the Disrupt stage, launching one of the most talked-about connected fitness products of the decade — and ultimately selling it to Lululemon for $500 million. Now she’s back, and she’s chosen TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 to reveal her brand-new, never-before-seen product. Join us for an exclusive conversation with Putnam as she shares her founder journey, the lessons she’s carried forward, and to get a first look and live demonstration of her new product.
Tarun Raisoni is CEO, Co-Founder at Gruve Inc, focused on Services and Software Development in AI / ML / Data. Tarun was CEO, Co-Founder at Rahi Systems from 2012 to 2022, post acquisition with Wesco, he was SVP for Wesco Data Center Solutions. As CEO, Tarun was consistently nominated for 2021, 2022, 2023 as one of the Top 100 CEOs by Comparably. Rahi was bootstrapped, and at the time of acquisition by Wesco had a run rate revenue of more than $500M. His experience includes 20+ years in the Data Center Industry. Introduced several new and emerging technologies to our customers including Data Center Infrastructure, Software Defined Networking or Infrastructure, Security, Networking and Management Products. He has invested in several startups at the seed stage, usually providing enough funding to bootstrap the startup to success. Tarun collaborates with startups to provide expertise, resources and access to a global network to take them to the next level.
Tarun's Sessions
Build First, Fund Later: The Founder's Guide to Bootstrapping Breakout Startups
In a world obsessed with fast funding and flashy valuations, Tarun Raisoni has taken a different path twice. With $565M+ in exits under his belt, he’s proven that bootstrapping isn’t about being scrappy—it’s about being sharply focused. In this breakout session, Tarun will share hard-earned lessons on how to build a profitable business that scales. He’ll dive into how to identify problems worth solving, generate revenue before raising capital, and create lasting traction without relying on brand cachet or a big burn. Whether you’re pre-seed or post-product, this session delivers a no-fluff playbook for building a capital-efficient company that lasts and why doing more with less is still the ultimate founder advantage.
Anmol Rastogi is a technical product leader who builds the future. With over 10 years of experience shipping AI/ML products and large-scale platforms, he’s a proven expert in turning cutting-edge technology into business growth. Anmol currently leads product for Science, Analytics, and Engineering at Amazon Business, a $75 billion portfolio entity. He previously spearheaded product innovation for Amazon One’s AI/ML-based palm payments system and was the founding product manager for the award-winning “Hello Baby” app. A dedicated mentor and community builder, Anmol also founded a career development program that has empowered over 20,000 Amazonians.
Anmol's Sessions
Agentic AI for Startups: Automate, Adapt, and Accelerate Growth
Agentic AI is revolutionizing how startups scale by enabling automation, personalized user experiences, and data-driven agility. In this session, we’ll break down how startups can identify high-impact AI opportunities, build practical agentic AI workflows, and measure outcomes. Using real startup case studies, attendees will gain a hands-on blueprint for integrating agentic AI to streamline operations, enhance customer engagement, and accelerate growth — empowering founders and teams to outpace competition with AI-driven strategies.
Andrew Reed is a Partner at Sequoia. His investments include Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), Figma (NYSE:FIG), Klarna (NYSE: KLAR), Strava, Vanta, Bolt, Odoo, Eleven Labs, Phantom, Harmonic, MUBI, Peregrine, Warp, and Zapier. He previously worked on Sequoia’s investments in GitHub (Microsoft) and Loom (Atlassian). Andrew joined Sequoia in 2014 from Goldman Sachs. Prior to Sequoia, Andrew worked at Goldman Sachs in the technology, media, and telecom group in San Francisco. Andrew has a B.A. with distinction in economics and classics from Amherst College.
Andrew's Sessions
Designing Products for the AI Age
AI is changing how we work, and the tools we depend on. Join Yukhi (Chief Product Officer, Figma), Zach (Founder & CEO, Warp), and Andrew Reed (Partner, Sequoia) for a conversation on how product strategy is evolving in the AI era and what it takes to design great AI experiences.
Tim is a product manager at GitHub, and recovering software engineer, from London, UK. Currently, he works on GitHub Copilot’s coding agent, and has been at GitHub for 3 years, working on a variety of products including the GitHub Enterprise Importer (GEI) migration tools and the launch of GitHub Copilot code review.
Tim's Sessions
From Vibes to Velocity: How AI Tools Can Help You Achieve Your Development Goals
With the recent surge in popularity of vibe coding, developers are looking at every option to help them work faster, think bigger, and commit more secure, high-quality code. GitHub Product Manager, Tim Rogers is pioneering agentic coding at scale with GitHub Copilot, the AI-powered peer programming tool used by more than 15M people to scale their impact. During this breakout session, Tim will give the audience a first-hand look at how GitHub’s latest innovations, insights, and AI-powered tools are changing the future of software development and advancing developer workflows in an increasingly autonomous world.
Even establishes True Anomaly’s strategic objectives and aligns resources for their execution. Prior to co-founding True Anomaly, Even served as an Air Force officer, leading interdisciplinary teams of space operators, scientists, and engineers to develop and evaluate the performance of military systems and tactics designed to protect U.S. and allied space assets. Even is the author of six seminal texts that serve as foundational doctrine and training for U.S. military space operations. He was a major contributing author of the U.S. Space Force’s inaugural Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces. He has held leadership positions in space system developmental and operational test, training, spacecraft operations, and joint fires. In these roles, he provided key insights into the practices needed to successfully deploy space security satellites and supporting infrastructure. Even was also a Service Chiefs Fellow at DARPA and a rendezvous and proximity operations intern with NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He graduated with honors from Virginia Military Institute and holds an M.A. from The University of Chicago in Social Sciences.
Even's Sessions
Laying the Groundwork for a New Space Economy
The next wave of space startups is not just building rockets, it’s building an entire ecosystem. The CEOs of Northwood Space, True Anomaly and Vast take the stage to discuss how their companies are creating infrastructure, enabling new markets, and laying the foundations for a thriving space economy. From orbital services to next-generation satellite networks, this session explores the building blocks of a future where commercial space is a critical part of global tech.
Kevin Rose is a Partner at True Ventures and the founding CEO of the newly rebooted social platform Digg, where he now serves as Board Chair, investor, and key advisor. Rose’s entrepreneurial career expands across founding multiple startups, including the original Digg, Revision3, Zero, Oak, and PROOF. He has held leadership roles such as CEO of HODINKEE and General Partner at Google Ventures, backing companies like Uber, Slack, and Nextdoor. A top angel investor recognized by Bloomberg, his portfolio includes Twitter, Facebook, Solana, OpenAI, and Magic Spoon. Rose also hosts The Kevin Rose Show and co-hosts The Random Show with Tim Ferriss. His contributions to tech and media have earned accolades from Forbes, Time, and MIT, and his expertise has been featured on major media platforms. An innovator with multiple social media patents, Rose remains deeply engaged in emerging tech and investment while maintaining a dedicated Zen meditation practice.
Kevin's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield Final
The grand final of TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition. Watch the final 5 teams from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000.
From Digg to Deals: Kevin Rose on Reinvention and Investing
Kevin Rose last spoke at Disrupt in 2012, when Digg was in the middle of one of tech’s most talked-about pivots. More than a decade later, he returns to Disrupt to talk about relaunching Digg alongside Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and to share what that experience taught him about product and community. Beyond Digg, Rose has become one of Silicon Valley’s most active early stage investors, backing breakout startups in consumer tech and crypto. In this fireside chat, he’ll reveal how he evaluates founders, spots the next wave of opportunities, and applies lessons from his own entrepreneurial journey to investing today.
Nicolas Sauvage is President of TDK Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of TDK Corporation, where he leads the firm’s $500M mandate to invest in early-stage startups driving digital and energy innovation. Since its founding in 2019, TDK Ventures has backed 45 startups under his leadership, including three unicorns—Ascend Elements, Groq, and Silicon Box. Recognized globally, Nicolas has appeared on the GCV Powerlist for six consecutive years, most recently ranking #17 among the top 150 heads of corporate venture. He is also one of only a few corporate VCs inducted into the prestigious Kauffman Fellows program. A champion of knowledge-sharing, Nicolas contributes to outlets including Harvard Business Review, London Business School, and INSEAD, and hosts the Corporate Venturing Insider podcast to spotlight best practices in venture investing. He currently serves on the boards of Sagence AI, AutoFlight, Faction, Metalenz, Virewirx, and TDK Ventures. Prior to TDK, Nicolas held leadership roles at InvenSense—managing strategic relationships with Google and Qualcomm—and at NXP Software, where he oversaw global sales and OEM strategy. Nicolas holds an engineering degree from ISEN in France, studied at King’s College London through Erasmus, and is an alumnus of Stanford GSB and Harvard Business School’s Corporate Director program.
Nicolas's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 1
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
CVC: What's Different? What's their Superpower?
In this myth-busting session, TDK Ventures President Nicolas Sauvage reveals how modern CVCs differ from earlier generations of Corporate VCs—and how to spot the 20% that truly deliver “capital++“: market access, commercialization bridges, strategic insight, and patient partnership. Drawing on lessons from building TDK Ventures to avoid the pitfalls of first-wave CVCs, Nicolas shares field-tested insights to help founders identify CVCs that integrate strategic and financial goals, move with speed and rigor, and accelerate long-term success. He’ll also debunk common myths (“too slow,” “strings-attached,” “no follow-ons”) and offer practical tips—from governance and decision-making speed to incentive alignment and post-investment support—so founders can evaluate the right CVC partners and know what to expect after the check clears.
Schrep is a Partner at Gigascale Capital and brings a 25-year track record in technology and science as an executive, entrepreneur, and investor. As Meta’s CTO, he scaled products to billions of users, shipped millions of units of consumer hardware, constructed tens of millions of sq ft of data centers, built teams of up to 35,000, and made breakthroughs in AI. His philanthropic endeavors include Additional Ventures, the Carbon-to-Sea Initiative, and grants aimed at accelerating climate science and policy responses to the crisis.
Mike's Sessions
Powering AI: The Race to Scale Gigawatts of New Energy
AI is running into an energy wall. Panthalassa CEO Garth Sheldon-Coulson and former Meta CTO and Gigascale Capital founder Mike Schroepfer share how building the world’s largest new energy platform can unlock clean power for AI. They will also break down what every founder needs to know about using an iterative, market-learnings-driven approach to prioritize the right pain points, de-risk technology, and signal momentum to customers, employees, and investors.
Kevin Scott
Chief Technology Officer, MicrosoftKevin Scott is Microsoft’s chief technology officer. He is an innovative leader driving the technical vision to achieve Microsoft’s mission, and is passionate about creating technologies that benefit everyone. He focuses on helping make the company an exceptional place for engineers, developers and researchers to work and learn. Scott’s 20-year career in technology spans both academia and industry as researcher, engineer and leader. Prior to joining Microsoft, he was senior vice president of engineering and operations at LinkedIn, where he helped build the technology and engineering teams and led the company through an IPO and six years of rapid growth. Earlier in his career, he oversaw mobile ads engineering at Google, including the integration of Google’s $750 million acquisition of AdMob. At AdMob, Scott was responsible for engineering and operations for the world’s leading platform for mobile monetization. Before joining AdMob, Scott held numerous leadership positions at Google in search and ads engineering and helped with the company’s early efforts establishing remote engineering centers. Scott is the host of the podcast Behind the Tech , which features interviews with technology heroes who have helped create the tech industry of today. He also authored the book “ Reprogramming the American Dream ,” which explores how artificial intelligence can be realistically used to serve the interests of everyone, not just the privileged few. As co-inventor on several patents around search and information extraction, he has also authored several publications on dynamic binary rewriting that collectively have been cited hundreds of times in other scholarly research. He has received a Google Founder’s Award, an Intel Ph.D. Fellowship and an ACM Recognition of Service Award. He is a member of the board of directors of Shopify, an adviser to several Silicon Valley startups, an active angel investor, the founder of the non-profit organization Behind the Tech, an emeritus of the Anita Borg Institute’s board of trustees and a trustee of The Scott Foundation. He also serves on the Leadership Council for Harvard’s Technology for Public Purpose (TAPP) program. Scott holds an M.S. in computer science from Wake Forest University, a B.S. in computer science from Lynchburg College, and has completed most of his Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Virginia.
Kevin's Sessions
Inside Microsoft’s AI Bet with CTO Kevin Scott
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott joins the Disrupt Stage to unpack the company’s boldest AI moves yet, from its OpenAI partnership to reshaping enterprise and consumer products. He’ll share where Microsoft sees the biggest opportunities, how startups should think about building on its platforms, and what comes next in the race to define the future of AI.
Rinki Sethi is Chief Security Officer at Upwind Security and Founding Partner at Lockstep. She previously served as Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Twitter, BILL, and Rubrik and held senior security leadership roles Palo Alto Networks, IBM, eBay and Intuit. Sethi brings deep expertise to both the private sector and corporate boards, shaping security strategy at the highest levels.
Rinki's Sessions
The Startup Battlefield – Session 3
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Kirill Skrygan is the CEO of JetBrains – the company creating intelligent software development tools trusted by over 15 million users and 88 Fortune Global Top 100 companies – driving its mission to help the next generation of developers and engineers build the future. Before being appointed as CEO in February 2024, Kirill spent 14 years at JetBrains playing a pivotal role in shaping industry-leading software development products, used by millions worldwide. A software developer at heart, Kirill lives in Amsterdam with his family.
Kirill's Sessions
Vibe coding? Cute. Now Let’s Get Real and Talk about AI Built for Developers
AI’s evolving role in software development has created a tension between rapid code generation and quality. In the real world, true disruption is more than just velocity, it’s about delivering intelligent, reliable software at scale. Join Kirill Skrygan, CEO of JetBrains, for an insightful session on how AI built for developers is reshaping the industry, and why elevating code quality, not just speed, will become the new measure of success.
Mati Staniszewski is the co-founder and CEO of ElevenLabs, a research company building audio AI tools to solve audio intelligence and make digital interactions feel more human — with voice as the most direct path to that. Before founding ElevenLabs, Mati worked at Palantir as a Deployment Strategist, managing large-scale implementations across public and private sectors, and at BlackRock, where he helped launch the Aladdin Wealth platform.
Mati's Sessions
Synthetic Voices and Real Impact
From audiobooks to avatars, synthetic speech is having a moment. ElevenLabs is helping lead the charge. CEO Mati Staniszewski joins us to explore what it takes to build AI that speaks like us and how voice technology is reshaping the creative industries, accessibility, and entertainment.
Katie is the Founder and General Partner of Moxxie Ventures, an early-stage venture fund. Prior to Moxxie, Katie served in numerous executive operating roles at Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and Color. In addition to working in Silicon Valley, Katie served in the (Obama) White House and State Department and began her career as a banker at JP Morgan Chase. Katie sits on the Board of Vivendi, a French multinational media company headquartered in Paris, and previously served on the Board of Time Inc. Katie started her venture career as a Founding Partner of #Angels and has invested in over 100 early-stage companies including Airtable, Calm, Cameo, Carta, Coinbase, Literati, Modern Fertility, and Shape Security.
Katie's Sessions
How to Raise a Series A in 2026
In this no-fluff panel, top VCs reveal what really gets them to offer a term sheet with a healthy valuation from metrics that matter to the pitch mistakes that kill deals. Learn how to position your company for its first priced, institutional investment.
The Startup Battlefield – Session 2
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Elizabeth Stone was named Chief Technology Officer in October 2023. She joined Netflix in 2020, serving first as Vice President, Product Data Science & Engineering and more recently as Vice President, Data & Insights. Elizabeth previously worked in finance as a trader at Merrill Lynch and economist at Analysis Group before transitioning to the tech industry, where she served as Chief Operating Officer at Nuna and Vice President, Science at Lyft. She is a graduate of MIT and Stanford University.
Elizabeth's Sessions
What's Next for Netflix and for Streaming Itself
As CTO of Netflix, Elizabeth Stone is steering the future of entertainment for hundreds of millions of users. In this fireside chat, Stone will break down how Netflix is evolving its product and technology strategy—from personalized discovery to global growth, from ad tiers to gaming. We’ll explore how Netflix is adapting to a shifting content landscape, what it means to innovate at massive scale, and what design surprises Netflix has up its sleeve. For anyone building consumer experiences, this will be a masterclass.
Santi Subotovsky is a General Partner at Emergence Capital. Since joining the firm in 2010, he has been a driving force behind some of its most successful investments, including Chorus and Openpath. He led Emergence’s investment in Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) when it was a little-known startup and remains on its board as the company stands as a $24 billion market cap giant. He also serves on the boards of leading companies like Crunchbase, Logik.io, Zipline, Tundra, and Class. After moving to the U.S. from Argentina, Santi discovered venture capital and the pivotal role it could play in helping startups scale globally. He channeled this experience into co-founding Puente Labs, which supports high-growth Latin American entrepreneurs as they expand internationally. A Kauffman Fellow and Endeavor Entrepreneur, Santi is passionate about helping founders from underrepresented markets access the resources and networks they need to succeed. Santi holds a BS in economics from Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a three-time member of the Midas List and one of three Latin American VCs to achieve this distinction.
Santi's Sessions
What Comes After Breakout Success?
You’ve built the hit product—now what? Zoom CEO Eric Yuan and Emergence GP Santi Subotovsky take the stage to dig into what comes after the breakout moment. From expanding into new markets to launching the next product bets, this panel will explore how great companies avoid becoming one-hit wonders. We’ll get into the tough calls on focus vs. diversification, how to keep innovating at scale, and what investors want to see in a second act. If you’re staring down the post-product/market fit phase, this convo is your roadmap.
Startup Lessons You Won’t Find in a Playbook
The founder’s path is paved with challenges. With AI-fueled transformation accelerating the pace of innovation, the stakes for success are sky-high. Santi Subotovsky, founder-turned-investor at Emergence Capital, and Melissa Wong, Zipline CEO, know firsthand the rough terrain and milestones founders face. In this session, Santi and Melissa will share vital lessons learned in their partnership and explore tactics attendees can leverage to navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship: from hiring a winning team and creating a vibrant company culture to honing leadership skills essential for lasting success.
The Startup Battlefield – Session 4
TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is back, as entrepreneurs from around the world pitch expert judges and vie for the prestigious Startup Battlefield Cup and equity-free $100,000.
Chon is an experienced Silicon Valley engineer, entrepreneur and investor. He was formerly founding partner and Managing Director of Junzi Capital Engineering, a leading quantitative hedge fund investing in the commodity space. He has been actively investing in Silicon Valley startups for 12 years, and has personal investments in over 25 deals with multiple IPOs and exits. He now manages the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, a private VC fund that invests exclusively in companies from Berkeley’s premier accelerator program. Chon is a proud Cal Bear (BS EECS), and also has a SM EECS from MIT.
Chon's Sessions
Discovery to Disruption: Turning Research into Venture-Backable Companies
Join us for an exclusive session on transforming cutting-edge deep tech research into scalable, venture-ready companies. Hear from trailblazing founders in the Berkeley SkyDeck portfolio who have successfully spun out their research into high-growth startups with major commercial impact. Topics: – How do you identify whether your research has a viable market application or product opportunity? – How do you find the right Co-Founder or team? – What are early validation strategies for Deep Tech? – How do you raise your first $1mm of funding? Moderator: – Chon Tang, Managing Partner of Berkeley SkyDeck Fund Panelists: – Jared O’Leary, Co-Founder & CEO of SirenOpt – Asad Tirmizi, Founder of T-Robotics – Pratik Nimbalkar, Co-Founder of Plaid Semiconductors
Dr. Astro Teller currently oversees X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory for building breakthrough technologies and businesses designed to help tackle huge problems in the world. Before joining Google / Alphabet, Astro was the co-founding CEO of Cerebellum Capital, Inc, an investment management firm whose investments are continuously designed, executed, and improved by a software system based on techniques from statistical machine learning. Before his tenure as a business executive, Dr. Teller taught at Stanford University and was an engineer and researcher for Phoenix Laser Technologies, Stanford’s Center for Integrated Systems, and The Carnegie Group Incorporated. Dr. Teller holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Stanford University, Masters of Science in symbolic and heuristic computation, also from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a recipient of the Hertz fellowship.
Astro's Sessions
Moonshots, AI, and the Future of Alphabet
From self-driving cars to internet balloons to AI-fueled breakthroughs, Astro Teller leads the lab where Alphabet incubates the nearly impossible. In this rare Disrupt stage appearance, he shares what’s actually working inside X, why “failing fast” isn’t just a mantra, and how moonshots may evolve in the AI age. If you think your startup is ambitious, wait until you hear what he’s launching next.
Andrea Thomaz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Diligent Robotics and a renowned social robotics expert. Her accolades include being recognized by the National Academy of Science as a Kavli Fellow, the US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Tech, MIT Technology Review on its Next Generation of 35 Innovators Under 35 list, Popular Science on its Brilliant 10 list, TEDx as a featured keynote speaker on social robotics and Texas Monthly on its Most Powerful Texans of 2018 list. Andrea’s robots have been featured in the New York Times and on the covers of MIT Technology Review and Popular Science. Her passion for social robotics began during her work at the MIT Media Lab, where she focused on using AI to develop machines that address everyday human needs. Andrea co-founded Diligent Robotics to pursue her vision of creating socially intelligent robot assistants that collaborate with humans by doing their chores so humans can have more time for the work they care most about. She earned her Ph.D. from MIT and B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UT Austin and is a Robotics Professor at UT Austin and the PI of the Socially Intelligent Machines Lab.
Andrea's Sessions
Preparing Now for Your Later Stage Raise
Raising later-stage rounds takes more than luck — it’s about strategy from day one. Join these 2 exceptional VCs and an experienced founder as they share how to build metrics, storytelling, and relationships that position your startup for future funding success. Learn the key moves that set you up to close bigger rounds with confidence.
Ethan Thornton is the CEO and founder of Mach Industries, a next-generation defense technology and manufacturing company. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before launching Mach in 2023. Thornton’s ultimate goal is to create decentralized strategic capabilities that guarantee the defense of freedom worldwide.
Ethan's Sessions
Building Intelligence for Modern Defense
From stealth mode to center stage, Mach Industries is bringing AI into one of the world’s most complex and controversial sectors: defense. CEO Ethan Thornton joins us to talk about what it takes to build in high-stakes environments, where speed and autonomy matter most, and why next-gen infrastructure starts with rethinking the fundamentals.
Asad Tirmizi is the founder of T-robotics, a company that trains AI skills for industrial robots. He has a PhD in Robotics, and his research has focused on developing specific-purpose robotics skill models. He resides in San Francisco, CA. Previously, he served as a robotics researcher at ByteDance Inc., Vicarious Inc. (acquired by Google), and Flanders Make. He is the recipient of the best Ph.D. award from the Italian Society of Researchers in Automatic Control (SIDRA) and was awarded by the European Union as one of the 15 Next Generation Innovators.
Asad's Sessions
Discovery to Disruption: Turning Research into Venture-Backable Companies
Join us for an exclusive session on transforming cutting-edge deep tech research into scalable, venture-ready companies. Hear from trailblazing founders in the Berkeley SkyDeck portfolio who have successfully spun out their research into high-growth startups with major commercial impact. Topics: – How do you identify whether your research has a viable market application or product opportunity? – How do you find the right Co-Founder or team? – What are early validation strategies for Deep Tech? – How do you raise your first $1mm of funding? Moderator: – Chon Tang, Managing Partner of Berkeley SkyDeck Fund Panelists: – Jared O’Leary, Co-Founder & CEO of SirenOpt – Asad Tirmizi, Founder of T-Robotics – Pratik Nimbalkar, Co-Founder of Plaid Semiconductors
Nikola Todorovic is the Co-Founder of Wonder Dynamics, an Autodesk Company. An entrepreneur, visual effects supervisor, and award-winning filmmaker, Nikola spent most of his career working at the intersection of film and technology. This ultimately led him to dream up Wonder Dynamics with fellow co-founder and actor/producer Tye Sheridan. Together, they created the company’s proprietary AI software, Autodesk Flow Studio (previously Wonder Studio), a cloud-based 3D animation, CGI and VFX platform that combines artificial intelligence (AI) with established tools, helping artists more easily animate, light, and compose 3D characters within live-action scenes. In 2024, Wonder Dynamics was acquired by Autodesk, giving even more creators access to the industry-leading technology.
Nikola's Sessions
Creative Machines and Where AI Meets Imagination
AI is no longer just optimizing workflows; it’s co-creating art, media, and experiences in ways we’re only beginning to understand. Wonder Dynamics CEO Nikola Todorovic, Twelve Labs Co-founder Soyoung Lee and Co-founder of Pocket Prateek Dixit are creative technologists who explore how AI is reshaping the creative process, blurring the lines between artist and algorithm, and opening up new frontiers for storytellers, designers, and dreamers alike.
Nirav Tolia has been at the forefront of creating, scaling, and leading innovative consumer internet companies for over twenty years. Nirav is the CEO, President, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, and Co-Founder of Nextdoor, the essential neighborhood app, where community and camaraderie come together across 11 countries. Nirav also serves as Non-Executive Chair of Hedosophia, has appeared as a Guest Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank, and is a co-founding director of the William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership in SMU’s Cox School of Business. Nirav previously led Nextdoor as CEO from 2010 through the end of 2018 – expanding Nextdoor’s footprint throughout the US (encompassing 90% of American neighborhoods), UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Australia. Before founding and serving as Nextdoor’s CEO, Nirav was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Benchmark Capital and COO of Shopping.com, an organization he founded via a merger between Dealtime and Epinions, which later went public and sold to eBay for $620 million. Tolia Co-Founded and served as CEO of Epinions.com following the beginning of his career as the 84th employee at Yahoo.
Nirav's Sessions
How AI is Forcing Late-stage Startups to Rewire GTM – or Be Left Behind
AI is rewriting the playbook for how startups reach and win customers — and late-stage companies are feeling the pressure to adapt fast. In this panel, two top VCs and a seasoned founder break down how AI is transforming go-to-market strategies, from sales and marketing to customer success. We’ll get into what’s working, what’s hype, and how to build AI into your GTM engine without losing focus. If you’re scaling and wondering how AI fits into your next phase of growth, this is the conversation you don’t want to miss.
Raquel Urtasun is Founder and CEO of Waabi, an AI company building the next generation of self-driving technology. Raquel is also a Full Professor at the University of Toronto and a co-founder of the Vector Institute for AI. Raquel earned her Ph.D. from the Computer Science department at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2006 and did her postdoc at MIT and UC Berkeley. In 2024, she was named a fellow of The Royal Society of Canada for her contributions to computer science and was included on the CNBC Changemakers: Women Transforming Business list. In 2023, she was named one of the TIME100 Most Influential People in AI, made Business Insider’s AI 100 list of Top People in AI, and was awarded the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s Emerging Tech CEO Award and the Order of Ontario, the highest civilian honor in the province.
Raquel's Sessions
Intelligence in Motion and the Future of Physical AI
AI in the physical world hasn’t had its ChatGPT moment…yet.. Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun and Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas join us to explore what it takes to bring intelligence into motion, whether it’s behind the wheel or on two legs. From simulation to sensors to scaling safely, this panel explores the breakthroughs driving the next generation of physical machines.
Karan Vaidya is Co-Founder of Composio, the developer-first “skill layer” for AI agents. Composio gives LLMs secure, managed access to hundreds of SaaS tools (GitHub, Slack, Salesforce and more) and a reliability layer for production—abstracting auth, triggers, and execution so teams can ship agentic workflows fast. It’s used by 100,000+ developers. In July 2025, Composio announced a $25M Series A led by Lightspeed, bringing total funding to roughly $29M to pursue agents that learn from real-world experience at enterprise scale.   Before Composio, Karan built integrations and platform systems at Rubrik and worked at Nirvana Insurance and Google; he holds a B.Tech. in Computer Science from IIT Bombay.
Karan's Sessions
AI & Agents: Shaping how we Build, Live & Connect
AI is no longer just a back-end tool—it’s shaping how we design our homes, connect in communities, and empower agents to take meaningful action. This panel brings together three founders at the forefront of this shift: Alyx van der Vorm (Clyx), building a new kind of social network centered on real-world connection; Patrick Murphy (Maket.ai), democratizing architecture with generative AI that produces zoning-compliant home designs in minutes; and Karan Vaidya (Composio), powering the next wave of AI agents with tools that enable real-world execution. Moderated by Jeremiah Owyang, General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures and founder of the Llama Lounge event series, the session will explore how AI and agents are redefining the way we live and interact—and what it takes to build enduring companies that thrive beyond the hype.
Ben is the Co-founder and CEO of Legion Intelligence, the agentic AI platform solving the DOD’s AI infrastructure problem. Ben has spent his career building tech companies serving the Public and the Private sectors – he spent time as the VP of Supply Chain and Data Science at Chegg, helping grow the company and taking it public, and as Researcher at RAND where he worked with the Department of Defense on supply chain inefficiencies and infrastructure challenges. Ben has a PhD in Operations Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Ben's Sessions
AI in the Public Sector
In this roundtable, Ross Fubini of XYZ Venture Capital and Ben Van Roo of Legion Intelligence—the agentic AI platform tackling the Department of Defense’s AI infrastructure challenge—will dig into the evolving role of AI in the public sector. Together, they’ll unpack where investment dollars are flowing in defense and government tech, the real-world hurdles of deploying AI in highly regulated environments, and how agentic AI is reshaping what’s possible for mission-critical operations. Attendees of this session will walk away with a better understanding of the investment landscape in public sector AI, practical insights into deploying AI in highly-regulated, complex government environments, and actionable advice for entrepreneurs looking to navigate the public sector market—from federal agencies to state and local governments.
Mandy is one of the most innovative and influential leaders in the US space industry. She founded GXO in 2021 to drive innovation, unlock new opportunities, and address emerging threats by working across the space technology sector & the acquisition community to increase adoption of commercial space opportunities in national security missions. She is also the Operating Partner for Embedded Ventures, a cutting-edge VC firm supporting the same technical thesis. Prior to founding GXO, Mandy was an active duty officer in the US Air Force as an aerospace engineer and program manager in some of the most innovative and compelling space missions. She worked at General Dynamics Mission Systems and was the President of VOX Space (Virgin Orbit subsidiary) with a specific focus on the national security launch market. Mandy holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics, both from MIT. She is a member of the National Space Council User’s Advisory Group and member of the Defense Science Board.
Mandy's Sessions
Aerospace Startup Showcase: Solving the Hardest Problems in Space
AI is transforming countless industries, and space is no exception. The Aerospace Corporation is hosting a pitch-off at TechCrunch Disrupt to showcase startups working on innovative AI solutions to the hardest problems in space exploration, orbital intelligence, and infrastructure.
Alison Wagonfeld is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for Google Cloud representing both Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace. In this global role she manages product marketing, demand gen, brand, creative, partner marketing, strategy & ops, events, and regional/field teams. Previously, she was an operating partner at Emergence Capital, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm focused on enterprise cloud companies, where she worked with over 30 portfolio companies and developed the firm’s branding, marketing, and talent programs. Prior to Emergence, Alison was Executive Director of the Harvard Business School California Research Center where she worked with faculty to build the entrepreneurship curriculum, helped develop programs for the Harvard Innovation Lab and led Harvard student “entrepreneurship immersion” trips to Silicon Valley. Before her role at HBS, Alison led Marketing and Business Development at Greenlight, a venture backed start-up, and worked at Intuit, where she co-founded the Quicken Loans business. Earlier in her career, Alison worked as a product manager at Microsoft and as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York and Hong Kong. Alison currently sits on the public board of BILL Holdings (BILL) as well as the Advisory Board of the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs and the Leadership Council of Yale Engineering. Alison has a BA, magna cum laude, from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar. The San Francisco Business Journal named Alison one of the “Most Influential Women in the Bay Area.”
Alison's Sessions
Building a GTM Engine that Actually Works
A killer product needs a killer go-to-market strategy. This panel explores best traditional practices in building a GTM function, as well as how early-stage startups can harness AI to build a GTM function that drives growth, wins customers, and scales efficiently. Hear from founders and GTM experts on hiring, messaging, sales tactics, and the key metrics that prove your approach is working.
Dr. Chenxi Wang is the Founder and General Partner of Rain Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture fund. A well-known investor, technologist, and thought leader in the AI and Cybersecurity markets, Dr. Wang served on the Board of Directors for MDU Resources (NYSE: MDU), a Fortune 500 company. The recipient of the 2023 Venturebeat Women in AI award, Chenxi started her career as a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University. She later served as VP of Research at Forrester Research, VP of strategy with Intel, and a number of C-level positions with Silicon Valley startups. With Rain Capital, Chenxi has invested in a dozen early stage companies and spearheaded late-stage investments into some of the largest AI and Cybersecurity companies. Chenxi was named by Fortune as one of the Top Cyber Investors in the world and recognized by trade media as Women Investor of 2022, and Women-of-Influence of 2024. Chenxi is a sought-after keynote speaker and has headlined events worldwide, including the RSA conference, BSides, Blackhat Middle East. Chenxi holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Virginia.
Chenxi's Sessions
Being Heard in the Age of AI
In a world saturated with AI-generated content, the challenge isn’t speaking—it’s being heard. The Age of AI has made it effortless to create but harder than ever to cut through the noise. For founders and builders, the ability to cut through the noise is no longer optional—it’s survival. This breakout panel explores what it really takes to stand out when AI can mimic anyone and algorithms dictate who gets noticed. We’ll examine the evolving role of personal brand, the shifting dynamics of narrative and design, and how credibility is built when trust is fragile and attention is scarce. Attendees can expect an honest conversation about the intersection of AI, branding, and influence, with insights into how today’s leaders navigate visibility, build trust, and make their voices resonate in an increasingly noisy digital landscape.
Gale Wilkinson is the founder and Managing Partner at VITALIZE, a seed stage venture capital fund investing in transformative WorkTech software. Previously, Wilkinson founded IrishAngels, one of the largest angel groups in the world. Gale has led nearly $80M in early-stage deals across 150+ portfolio companies, and she has made 50 personal angel investments. Her experience prior to VC includes founding two HR tech startups, consulting for new product launches with Nielsen, and data strategy with Orbitz. Wilkinson received a BBA with honors from Notre Dame and an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is a founding Board member of Chicago:Blend, an organization focused on increasing diversity in VC and startups in Chicago. Wilkinson enjoys public speaking, design, teaching, and connecting. Her inspirations include energy work, vintage and antique pieces, dogs, and nature. She is an avid dog rescuer and will be publishing her first book (on pet loss grief) very soon. You can find her on X @galeforceVC. She lives in Chicago and Nashville with her husband and two dogs.
Gale's Sessions
Rethinking Startup Capital Without VCs
VCs aren’t the only game in town. Join us as we explore alternative fundraising paths with an angel investor, a family office vice president, and a founder who bootstrapped to success. Learn how to tap into capital that aligns with your vision, keeps you in control, and gets you to the next stage—on your terms.
Roseanne is a venture capitalist, early-stage startup founder and operator, scientist, and co-founder of Renegade Partners. In more than a decade in venture, she has gravitated toward pioneering founders tackling big, bold problems in AI & ML, Fintech, Vertical SaaS, Infrastructure, and Consumer Technology. Her recent investments include the AI-driven sales enablement platform Spekit, enterprise WebRTC platform Daily, and real-time incident response solution, Rootly. Prior to starting Renegade, Roseanne served as a Partner at IVP and Principal at Canaan Partners. Past investments include Glossier, Compass, MetaCloud, Unifi Software, Wise, Looker (Acquired by Google), Turo, Motive, and MasterClass, where she continues to serve on the board.
Roseanne's Sessions
Everything You Need to Know Before an Exit
Go public, get acquired, or double down and stay private? In today’s unpredictable market, founders need to think about exit strategy earlier — and more strategically — than ever. This panel brings together two top VCs and a seasoned CEO to unpack how to set your company up for every option. We’ll talk timing, metrics that matter, investor expectations, and what it really takes to navigate M&A, IPO prep, or just keep building through the storm. Whether you’re 12 months out or just starting to scale, this conversation is all about making smart moves now for whatever comes next.
Thomas Wolf is co-founder and Chief Science Officer (CSO) of Hugging Face where he has been at the inception of the open-source, educational and moonshot efforts. Thomas enjoys creating open-source software that makes complex research, models and datasets widely accessible (for instance by creating the Hugging Face Transformers and Datasets libraries). When he’s not building OSS libraries, he can be found pushing for open-science in research in AI/ML, trying to lower the gap between academia and industrial labs through projects like the BigScience Workshop on Large Language Models (LLM), which led to the BLOOM experiments, model and dataset. His current research interests are directed toward the future of AI and future moonshot. He also enjoys writing and producing educational content on AI, ML and NLP, including writing the reference book “Natural Language Processing with Transformers” published at O’Reilly with amazing co-authors, “The Ultra-scale Playbook” teaching large-scale AI trainings, writing (not often enough) in his blog and recording (also not often enough) educational videos like The Future of Natural Language Processing.
Thomas's Sessions
Shaping the AI Stack with Hugging Face
From models and datasets to ethics and infrastructure, Hugging Face is helping define what building responsibly with AI actually looks like. Co-founder and CSO Thomas Wolf joins us to talk about the shifting power dynamics in the AI ecosystem, the rise of community-led innovation, and what it takes to stay open while moving fast.
Melissa Wong is the CEO and Co-founder of Zipline, the leading store communications and operations platform designed for best-in-class retail brands. Under her leadership, Zipline has grown into a powerhouse used by over 150 brands worldwide, ensuring flawless execution, enabling associate engagement and operational ease in brick-and-mortar stores. Melissa founded Zipline to solve a problem she experienced first-hand while working at Old Navy: keeping frontline teams connected to their brand’s vision. A decade later, the company is backed by top Silicon Valley VCs—and even Serena Williams. Zipline has achieved a Net Promoter Score of 89, was included in the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, and received an honorable mention in Fast Company for World-Changing Ideas. Melissa is a Stevie Gold winner for Best Female Entrepreneur, Stevie Bronze winner for Female Executive of the Year, a Tech Trailblazer finalist, a Retail Today Top 50 Influential Woman, and one of the “50 Outstanding Women in Retail.” She has been recognized as a BI Insider Retail Power Player for “revolutionizing the in-store shopping experience,” a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert, a Shoptalk speaker, and a RIS Retail Industry Mover and Shaker.
Melissa's Sessions
Startup Lessons You Won’t Find in a Playbook
The founder’s path is paved with challenges. With AI-fueled transformation accelerating the pace of innovation, the stakes for success are sky-high. Santi Subotovsky, founder-turned-investor at Emergence Capital, and Melissa Wong, Zipline CEO, know firsthand the rough terrain and milestones founders face. In this session, Santi and Melissa will share vital lessons learned in their partnership and explore tactics attendees can leverage to navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship: from hiring a winning team and creating a vibrant company culture to honing leadership skills essential for lasting success.
Yin Wu is the co-founder and CEO of Pulley, the equity management platform empowering startups to take control of their cap tables with speed and transparency. A seasoned entrepreneur and engineer, Yin has founded four companies. Before Pulley, she built ventures ranging from door-to-door laundry service to computer vision technology for advertising. Her most notable early success, Echo, a customizable Android lock screen, amassed over five million downloads before being acquired by Microsoft in 2015, where it continues to live on as Microsoft Launcher. Yin is redefining how startups manage equity—one founder at a time.
Yin's Sessions
How Much Salary and Equity Should You Really Offer Early Employees?
Early hires shape your startup’s future but only if you can attract and keep them. This panel dives into building equity and benefits packages that compete with big tech without breaking your burn rate. Hear real-world strategies to align incentives, boost retention, and build a team that scales.
Zeya Yang is a Partner at IVP, where he invests in AI-native companies transforming how we work and create. Zeya brings sharp product intuition and a thoughtful, founder-first mindset to every partnership, shaped by his experience as both an investor and a builder. Prior to IVP, he focused on early-stage SaaS and AI investing at a16z. Before his time in venture, Zeya led product for several teams at Plaid and was the founding PM of the Subscription Growth team at Dropbox. Zeya’s investing track record includes companies like Graphite, Macro, and Tennr. He’s become a trusted thought partner to technical teams navigating the path to product-market fit. A global citizen, he’s lived in China, Japan, and Canada and draws on that perspective to connect with founders. Zeya holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University, where he graduated second in his class, and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.
Zeya's Sessions
Preparing Now for Your Later Stage Raise
Raising later-stage rounds takes more than luck — it’s about strategy from day one. Join these 2 exceptional VCs and an experienced founder as they share how to build metrics, storytelling, and relationships that position your startup for future funding success. Learn the key moves that set you up to close bigger rounds with confidence.
Austin Yount is a Partner at Brick & Mortar Ventures, where he evaluates, invests in, and supports early-stage construction technology companies. Previously, he was among the first 10 employees at Enjoy Technology, helping forge partnerships with major consumer electronics and telecom brands including AT&T, British Telecom, Sonos, Microsoft, and Apple. He began his career as an investment banking analyst advising tech growth companies on M&A and capital raising, and earlier spent 3.5 years playing professional baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox organizations after graduating from Stanford with a BA in Economics. Based in San Francisco with his wife Bess and son Denver, he’s passionate about real estate, technology, and team-building, and enjoys running, surfing, golf, and coaching.
Austin's Sessions
Future of Construction: The Role of AI and Data in the Field and the Office
In ‘Future of Construction: The Role of AI and Data in the Field and the Office,’ Austin Yount of Brick & Mortar Ventures explores how artificial intelligence and data-driven tools are reshaping construction workflows—both on-site and back-office—to boost efficiency, improve decision-making, and accelerate innovation across the built environment.
Eric S. Yuan is the founder and CEO of Zoom, where he now leads the company’s AI-first strategy to transform how people connect, collaborate, and create. Since founding Zoom in 2011, he has guided the company from startup to IPO in 2019, reshaping global communication along the way. A recognized leader in enterprise technology, Eric has been named to the Bloomberg 50 (2019), Time’s Businessperson of the Year, and one of its 100 Most Influential People (2020), and UC Today’s UC Leader of the Year (2024). Prior to Zoom, he served as VP of engineering at Cisco and was a founding engineer at Webex. He holds 29 issued and 28 pending patents in real-time collaboration.
Eric's Sessions
What Comes After Breakout Success?
You’ve built the hit product—now what? Zoom CEO Eric Yuan and Emergence GP Santi Subotovsky take the stage to dig into what comes after the breakout moment. From expanding into new markets to launching the next product bets, this panel will explore how great companies avoid becoming one-hit wonders. We’ll get into the tough calls on focus vs. diversification, how to keep innovating at scale, and what investors want to see in a second act. If you’re staring down the post-product/market fit phase, this convo is your roadmap.
Sangeen is a general partner at GV, focusing on high-growth AI and enterprise investments. He works with both early and late-stage startups. Sangeen’s investments include Chronosphere, Fabric, Harvey, and Hebbia. He is on the board of Vercel, and a board observer at Harvey. Before joining GV in 2021, Sangeen was an investor with Founders Circle Capital, where he helped lead the firm’s investments in Attentive, Algolia, Cohesity, Confluent (IPO), Databricks, Segment (acquired by Twilio), Robinhood (IPO) and UiPath (IPO). He spent over five years at Centerview Capital, where he sourced investments in Affirmed Networks (acquired by Microsoft) and Sauce Labs (acquired by TPG) and began his investment career at Summit Partners.
Sangeen's Sessions
How to Raise a Series A in 2026
In this no-fluff panel, top VCs reveal what really gets them to offer a term sheet with a healthy valuation from metrics that matter to the pitch mistakes that kill deals. Learn how to position your company for its first priced, institutional investment.
Alyx van der Vorm is the founder and CEO of Clyx, the Gen Z platform reshaping how friendships begin and grow in person. A solo female founder and Gen Z herself, Alyx holds degrees from Harvard and Oxford in computational neuroscience, neurobiology, and behavior. Her academic foundation, combined with a career rooted in behavioral science and a personal drive as a competitive marathon runner, informs the structure behind Clyx’s IRL-first social design. Her own experience with digital disconnection while growing up in a hyper-connected world inspired her to rethink what social tech should be. Under Alyx’s leadership, Clyx has secured $14M in Series A funding, and launched cultural partnerships with icons like Simon Sinek, JP Saxe, and Selena Gomez’s Wondermind. She’s building more than an app — she’s using AI to architect a new social infrastructure where connection is measured not by metrics, but by meaning.
Alyx's Sessions
AI & Agents: Shaping how we Build, Live & Connect
AI is no longer just a back-end tool—it’s shaping how we design our homes, connect in communities, and empower agents to take meaningful action. This panel brings together three founders at the forefront of this shift: Alyx van der Vorm (Clyx), building a new kind of social network centered on real-world connection; Patrick Murphy (Maket.ai), democratizing architecture with generative AI that produces zoning-compliant home designs in minutes; and Karan Vaidya (Composio), powering the next wave of AI agents with tools that enable real-world execution. Moderated by Jeremiah Owyang, General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures and founder of the Llama Lounge event series, the session will explore how AI and agents are redefining the way we live and interact—and what it takes to build enduring companies that thrive beyond the hype.