TechCrunch unveils Builders Stage program for Disrupt 2026
TechCrunch has unveiled the Builders Stage program for the TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 conference, which will take place on October 13–15 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The stage will focus on practical aspects of building and scaling startups: raising capital, hiring, going to market, product development, and the use of artificial intelligence.
Builders Stage is one of six themed stages at Disrupt 2026. Organizers said the event will bring together more than 10,000 company founders, investors, startup operators, and technology industry representatives. The program includes discussions and question-and-answer sessions with speakers.
AI and fundraising
Among the announced topics is competition between AI startups and major model developers. In particular, participants will discuss the risk of competing products emerging from OpenAI or Anthropic and ways to protect products amid rapid technological change.
Separate sessions will focus on raising pre-seed investments before a product exists, venture investors’ expectations for Series A rounds in 2027, and go-to-market strategies. One panel will examine why reaching $10 million in annual recurring revenue from zero is increasingly considered a baseline benchmark for early-stage companies, as well as approaches to accelerating sales in the first 90 days.
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The program also includes topics such as assessing product-market fit, using multiple AI models, and scaling AI companies that require substantial capital.
Products, teams, and growth
Announced speakers include Gamma CEO and co-founder Grant Lee, Precedent.vc founder and general partner Leah Solivan, and Google Vice President of Product Robby Stein. Stein is expected to explain how product decision-making changes when updates affect billions of users.
The program covers hiring issues at technology companies, including competition for artificial intelligence specialists, compensation, equity stakes, and employee retention. Another discussion will address hybrid teams in which AI agents perform some engineering, operational, and service tasks.
Builders Stage participants will also discuss acquiring the first thousand customers without a marketing budget, viral growth, mergers and acquisitions as an early strategy, and the psychological burden on founders. TechCrunch noted that it will announce new speakers and additional sessions closer to the event.
