Featured Article

Announcing the Builders Stage agenda at Disrupt 2023

The TechCrunch+ stage has a new coat of paint!

Comment

TechCrunch Disrupt, our yearly flagship startup event, returns to San Francisco on September 19–21 — and you can bet TechCrunch+ will be in the house.

It’s going to be the biggest and best Disrupt we’ve ever hosted: Along with a few to-be-announced surprises, we’ll have Startup Battlefield, as well as six new stages with targeted materials for founders of all types.

With that in mind, I am very proud to announce the agenda for the Builders Stage, something that we’ve been working hard on for months.

If you went to Disrupt 2022, you’ll recall the TechCrunch+ Stage, which hosted dozens of panels and interviews focused on the nuts and bolts of building and funding new tech enterprises. In 2023, it’s back under a new moniker. This year, you’ll swing by the Builders Stage for more of the same great programming. We’ll be talking operations, hiring, fundraising and more, hitting on key topics for a new generation of startup founders.

And the TechCrunch+ lounge will make a return as well, so whether you’re busy taking notes inside or drinking coffee with the rest of us just outside, we have a lot planned for you.

Lots more to come, but here’s a first look at:

The Builders Stage Agenda at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

How to Build a New Venture Firm in Public

with Noramay Cadena (Supply Change Capital), Mac Conwell (RareBreed Ventures) and Turner Novak (Banana Capital)

Venture funds aren’t new, and neither are solo GPs. What is a fresh innovation in venture land, however, is building a new fund or firm in public. Some newer investors are as well-known for their online presence as for their investments. And that’s no diss: Raising capital is tough, and building a brand is no sin. Still, we want to know both the pros and cons of building something as complicated as a venture fund without a filter. Founders, there will be learnings for you as well, even if you are a few exits away from hanging up your spurs and taking the other side of the deal-making table.

How Founders Can Leverage a Soft Labor Market into a Competitive Edge

with Nick Cromydas (Hunt Club) and speakers to be announced

It seems like it was just yesterday that the tech talent market was so hot that mega-corps hoarded staff to simply keep them off the market and out of the reach of their competitors. Today things are different: Layoffs are more common than hiring binges, and suddenly perks have a bad name. How can startups use a new, and perhaps more attractive, talent market to their advantage? Let’s find out.

When to Follow the Hype and When to Ignore It?

with Sophia Amoruso (Trust Fund, Business Class) and Sarah Kunst (Cleo Capital)

Chasing the next big thing is often a pretty good idea for founders and investors alike. But when folks are chasing the wrong trend, the hype can be more siren song than victory march. When should founders follow the hype? When should they ignore it? Let’s talk about it.

How to Construct an Equitable Cap Table

with Ashley Mayer (Coalition Operators), Amanda Robson (Cowboy Ventures) and Richie Serna (Finix)

Venture investors are no longer all located on the same road at the same time in the same city in the same state of the same country. They’re all over the world, and are increasingly — if slowly — diverse across a host of metrics. How can founders construct an investor pool that reflects their values? In this discussion, we’ll dig into the brass tacks of building a truly equitable cap table.

How to Stretch Your Venture Dollars

with Anamitra Banerji (Afore Capital), Frederique Dame (Google Ventures) and Rick Yang (NEA)

Cash is worth more this year than last year, and certainly more than the tech industry got accustomed to during the last venture supercycle. With the dollar now more powerful than ever, how should startups ensure that their raised capital — equity, debt, whatever floats your burn — goes as far as possible? After all, the more you can do before you need more cash, the higher a price you can charge in your next round.

How Founders with Nontraditional Backgrounds Can Use Their Experience to Excel

with Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins (Promise), Ruben Harris (Career Karma) and Ritu Narayan (Zūm) 

While the hoodie-wearing, 20-something college dropout from a world-famous school still has their place in today’s startup founder makeup, they’re hardly the only sort of person raising big rounds and building hot companies. How can founders who don’t fit the Hollywood or HBO stereotype use their experiences to their benefit? We’ll find out in this highly anticipated panel.

When Should Founders Provide Early Liquidity to Retain Staff?

with Amir Ashkenazi (Switchboard), Tyson Hendricksen (Notice) and Maria Dramalioti-Taylor (Beacon Capital) 

Look, we all want more IPOs. But they’re still far rarer than startups need them to be if they want to retain staff who want to see their hard-earned shares turn into something other than paper. So when should founders take a little pre-IPO liquidity as a treat, and when should they let staff do the same?

How to Build a Capital-Intensive Startup in a Tough Venture Market

with Chris Power (Hadrian) and Nikki Pechet (Homebound)

Every VC wants you to think that they’re bravely funding expensive hardware that will revolutionize the future. You know, space launches that use twigs, and satellites that can also zap aliens. That sort of thing. And then you read about new NFT fundraising. The good news is that even in a more conservative venture environment, it’s possible for founders to tackle big, hard and capital-intensive projects. Let’s talk about how it’s done.

How Founders Should Approach the TAM Question When Venture Capital Is Scarce

with Jomayra Herrera (Reach Capital), Helen Min (Phenomenal Ventures) and Monique Woodard (Cake Ventures)

Writing a good market slide is an art. You don’t want to oversell your total addressable market (TAM) and look silly, or post a number that’s too small to be exciting. Nailing TAM for both external pitching and internal planning is no small feat. Let’s dig into the matter with today’s more picky venture market in mind.

How to Build Intelligent Startup Ops that Will Scale with Your Business

with Naba Banerjee (Airbnb) and Asha Sharma (Instacart)

Lost amid glossy founder profiles and funding announcements are the nuts and bolts of scaling a startup’s internal operations. The real stuff that comes with building a scaling startup. From this panel expect operational notes and tips that you can put to work to avoid known pitfalls and to generally kick maximum ass.

Why Bootstrapping Is No Longer a Dirty Word in 2023

with Carey Smith (Unorthodox Ventures) and Hussein Yahfoufi (Arta Finance)

It’s possible to build huge companies without venture money. So long as your startup brings in more cash than it burns, you’re in business. But bootstrapping in tech circles often carries negative connotations — phrases like “lifestyle business” are sometimes thrown around. But with many startups realizing that they aren’t going to be able to raise more money, perhaps it’s time to give bootstrapping another look?

Disrupt 2023 runs September 19–21 in San Francisco. Early Bird passes are currently on sale — save $800 when you buy your pass by May 12. Seriously, what are you waiting for?

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

More TechCrunch

Rivian needs to sell its new revamped vehicles at a profit in order to sustain itself long enough to get to the cheaper mass market R2 SUV on the road.

Rivian’s path to survival is now remarkably clear

Featured Article

What to expect from WWDC 2024: iOS 18, macOS 15 and so much AI

Apple is hoping to make WWDC 2024 memorable as it finally spells out its generative AI plans.

1 hour ago
What to expect from WWDC 2024: iOS 18, macOS 15 and so much AI

In a research note, HSBC estimates that the Indian edtech giant Byju’s, once valued at $22 billion, is now worth nothing.

HSBC believes that $22 billion Byju’s is now worth zero

As WWDC 2024 nears, all sorts of rumors and leaks have emerged about what iOS 18 and its AI-powered apps and features have in store.

What to expect from Apple’s AI-powered iOS 18 at WWDC 2024

Apple’s annual list of what it considers the best and most innovative software available on its platform is turning its attention to the little guy.

Apple’s Design Awards winners highlight indies and startups

Meta launched its Meta Verified program today along with other features, such as the ability to call large businesses and custom messages.

Meta rolls out Meta Verified for WhatsApp Business users in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Colombia

Last year, during the Q3 2023 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg talked about leveraging AI to have business accounts respond to customers for purchase and support queries. Today, Meta announced AI-powered…

Meta adds AI-powered features to WhatsApp Business app

TikTok is testing streaks that are similar to Snapchat’s in order to boost engagement, including how long people stay on the app.

TikTok is testing Snapchat-like streaks

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Your usual…

Inside Fisker’s collapse and robotaxis come to more US cities

New York-based Revel has made a lot of pivots since initially launching in 2018 as a dockless e-moped sharing service. The BlackRock-backed startup briefly stepped into the e-bike subscription business.…

Revel to lay off 1,000 staff ride-hail drivers, saying they’d rather be contractors anyway

Google says apps offering AI features will have to prevent the generation of restricted content.

Google Play cracks down on AI apps after circulation of apps for making deepfake nudes

The British retailers association also takes aim at Amazon’s “Buy Box,” claiming that Amazon manipulated which retailers were selected for the coveted placement.

UK retailers file a £1.1B collective action against Amazon over claims of data misuse

Featured Article

Rivian overhauled the R1S and R1T to entice new buyers ahead of cheaper R2 launch

Rivian has changed 600 parts on its R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck in a bid to drive down manufacturing costs, while improving performance of its flagship vehicles.  The end goal, which will play out over the coming year, is an existential one. Rivian lost about $38,784 on every vehicle…

5 hours ago
Rivian overhauled the R1S and R1T to entice new buyers ahead of cheaper R2 launch

Twitch has come up with a solution for the ongoing copyright issues that DJs encounter on the platform. The company announced Thursday a new program that enables DJs to stream…

Twitch DJs will now have to pay music labels to play songs in livestreams

Google said today it is partnering with RapidSOS, a platform for emergency first responders, to enable users to contact 911 through RCS (Rich Messaging Service).

Google partners with RapidSOS to enable 911 contact through RCS

Long before product-led growth became a buzzword, Atlassian offered free tiers for virtually all of its productivity and developer tools. Today, that mostly means free access for up to 10…

Atlassian now gives startups a year of free access

Featured Article

A social app for creatives, Cara grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies

Artists have finally had enough with Meta’s predatory AI policies, but Meta’s loss is Cara’s gain. An artist-run, anti-AI social platform, Cara has grown from 40,000 to 650,000 users within the last week, catapulting it to the top of the App Store charts. Instagram is a necessity for many artists,…

5 hours ago
A social app for creatives, Cara grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies

Google has developed a new AI tool to help marine biologists better understand coral reef ecosystems and their health, which can aid in conversation efforts. The tool, SurfPerch, created with…

Google looks to AI to help save the coral reefs

Only a few years ago, one of the hottest topics in enterprise software was ‘robotic process automation’ (RPA). It doesn’t feel like those services, which tried to automate a lot…

Tektonic AI raises $10M to build GenAI agents for automating business operations

SpaceX achieved a key milestone in its Starship flight test campaign: returning the booster and the upper stage back to Earth.

SpaceX launches mammoth Starship rocket and brings it back for the first time

There’s a lot of buzz about generative AI and what impact it might have on businesses. But look beyond the hype and high-profile deals like the one between OpenAI and…

Sirion, now valued around $1B, acquires Eigen as consolidation comes to enterprise AI tooling

Carlo Kobe and Scott Smith believed so strongly in the need for a debit card product designed specifically for Gen Zers that they dropped out of Harvard and Cornell at…

Kleiner Perkins leads $14.4M seed round into Fizz, a credit-building debit card aimed at Gen Z college students

A new app called MyGlimpact is intended not only to help people understand their environmental footprint, but why they shouldn’t feel guilty about it.

How many Earths does your lifestyle require?

Prolific Machines believes it has a way of transitioning away from molecules to something better: light.

Prolific Machines, with a $55M Series B, shines ‘light’ on a better way to grow lab proteins for food and medicine

It’s been 20 years since Shira Yevin, the lead singer of punk band Shiragirl drove a pink RV into the Vans Warped Tour grounds, the now-defunct punk rock festival notorious…

Punk singer Shira Yevin pushes for fair pay with InPink, a women-focused job marketplace

While the transport industry does use legacy software, many of these platforms are from an earlier era. Qargo hopes its newer technologies can help it leapfrog the competition.

Qargo raises $14M to digitize and decarbonize the trucking industry

When you look at how generative AI is being implemented across developer tools, the focus for the most part has been on generating code, as with Github Copilot. Greptile, an…

Greptile raises $4M to build an AI-fueled code base expert

The models tended to answer questions inconsistently, which reflects biases embedded in the data used to train the models.

Study finds that AI models hold opposing views on controversial topics

A growing number of businesses are embracing data models — abstract models that organize elements of data and standardize how they relate to one another. But as the data analytics…

Cube is building a ‘semantic layer’ for company data

Stock-trading app Robinhood is diving deeper into the cryptocurrency realm with the acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp.

Robinhood acquires global crypto exchange Bitstamp for $200M