On November 4, TechCrunch’s Founder Summit will host a comprehensive one-day crash course on startup building at Boston’s SoWa Power Station. The event aims to reduce the steep learning curve for founders by sharing knowledge and amplifying their successes.
Instead of enduring months of costly trial and error, attendees gain direct access to investors and founders who have navigated the same challenges. The summit covers critical topics ranging from fundraising and hiring to AI strategy and achieving market leadership.
Tickets are available at the lowest prices, providing the best opportunity to secure a spot. The full agenda of speakers and sessions is detailed below, allowing attendees to plan their experience effectively.
Fundraising dynamics are constantly shifting, and Brian Devaney, partner at Underscore, will break down the current investor landscape. He will explain how founders can stand out in a saturated market and identify where they lose leverage, offering a candid look at term sheets and common round-breaking mistakes.
As companies grow, the title may stay the same, but the role of a CEO evolves significantly. Brian Halligan, co-founder of HubSpot and partner at Sequoia, will share his insights from building and advising startups through rapid growth and constant reinvention.
This session will guide founders on how to develop as leaders, avoid leadership pitfalls, and build organizations capable of thriving well beyond the early stages.
Adding AI features is one challenge, but building an AI-native company requires a fundamentally different approach. Lior Div, co-founder and CEO of 7AI, will explore how AI becomes the foundation of a startup, examining necessary changes in team structure, product development, and go-to-market strategy.
Selecting the right investors is crucial for long-term success, as choosing partners can shape a company's future. After raising an $11 million round for Cogent Security, co-founder and CEO Vineet Edupuganti will discuss how to evaluate investors, navigate trade-offs, and look beyond valuation when building a cap table.
Innovation is essential for solving global challenges, but only certain companies become category-defining winners. Tina Tosukhowong, investment director at TDK Ventures, will unveil the firm’s "King of the Hill" framework, a disciplined process for evaluating companies based on economics, scalability, and commercial timing.
Using real-world examples, including discussions on fission and fusion, attendees will learn actionable frameworks for assessing startup readiness and identifying when talent, technology, and timing align.
Early hiring decisions are pivotal in defining a startup's culture and speed. Melissa Taunton, partner at NEA, will share lessons from helping founders build resilient teams through periods of rapid growth and uncertainty.
From securing the right early hires to avoiding recruiting errors, this session covers how to build adaptable organizations prepared for future challenges.
Silicon Valley often dominates the headlines, but Chase Garbarino has successfully built category-defining companies from Boston for over a decade. As co-founder and CEO of HqO, he raised $200 million and scaled globally without changing locations.
He will analyze the real advantages and disadvantages of building outside major tech hubs and provide essential advice for founders operating outside a traditional center.
Achieving product-market fit is a universal goal, but recognizing when it has actually been found is complex. Kent Bennett, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, will explain how to validate demand, build an MVP that answers the right questions, and avoid premature scaling.
This discussion will distinguish signals that matter from metrics that mislead, highlighting the decisions that separate enduring companies from expensive experiments.
Beyond the programming, the Founder Summit offers valuable networking opportunities. Attendees can mingle with peers facing similar fundraising and hiring hurdles and learn from those who have successfully scaled their ventures.
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