The Builders Stage brings practical strategies for

What happened

The Builders Stage is returning to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, bringing together founders, startup operators, and investors for practical conversations on what it takes to build and scale successful companies. vc; Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google; and more. Through candid conversations and real-world case studies, speakers will share actionable insights on fundraising, hiring, go-to-market strategy, AI, and the operational decisions that fuel startup growth.

From competing for AI talent to navigating secondary sales, founders are rethinking the human infrastructure of their startups. As incentives and employee expectations rapidly evolve, this session explores how companies are adapting compensation, culture, and team-building strategies to attract and retain top talent in a fundamentally changed market.

With Puneet Agarwal, Managing Partner, True Ventures; Austin Clements, Managing Partner, Slauson and Co; and Sandhya Venkatachalam, Founder and Managing Partner, Axiom Partners Founders are increasingly expected to compete for capital before they even have a product. At the pre-seed stage, investors are betting on story, conviction, and founder-market fit. This session breaks down how to build credibility before revenue exists so investors will cut that first check.

With Robby Stein, VP, Product, Google The instincts that win when building your first minimum viable product can break you at a billion-user scale. In this fireside, Robby Stein shares how product decision-making changes when every update impacts billions of users. Hear how teams balance speed with trust and innovation with reliability at one of the world’s largest product organizations.

With Josh Reeves, CEO and Co-founder, Gusto; more speakers to be announced Early-stage companies are no longer just building with AI; they’re hiring it. As AI agents take on engineering, support, and operations, the definition of an early team is being rewritten.

Why it matters

Join more than 10,000 founders, investors, startup operators, and technology leaders at Moscone Center in San Francisco on October 13-15. Register today and save before our next ticket price increase. Building a startup is one thing. Building a company that can scale is another challenge entirely.

The Builders Stage is one of six industry-focused stages at Disrupt 2026, dedicated to helping founders navigate the challenges of growth, from raising capital and hiring top talent to building go-to-market engines and preparing for the jump from seed to Series A. Every session delivers practical strategies you can put to work immediately, plus opportunities to engage directly with speakers during live Q&A.

Secure your pass to Disrupt 2026 today and save up to $330 before rates increase. Without further ado, here’s your first look at the Builders Stage agenda, with more speakers and sessions to be announced as we get closer to the event.

With Shan Shan, Investment Manager, Baillie Gifford; and Yuri Sagalov, Managing Director at General Catalyst AI may dominate the world of venture, but many enduring companies won’t be those that sell AI models or agents. This session is for founders competing for attention in an AI-obsessed market.

Panelists break down what actually matters now: efficient growth, retention, revenue quality, and disciplined execution, and why fundamentals, not hype, still build breakout businesses. With Michel Tricot, CEO and Co-founder, Airbyte; Rob Toews, Partner, Radical Ventures; and Linda Tong, CEO, Webflow Nearly all AI founders have the same worry these days: What if OpenAI or Anthropic launches a product that competes with mine?

Even strong products are at risk of becoming features of the larger players. This session explores where defensibility exists and what founders can do if they do face competition from rapidly evolving AI giants. With Jas Khaira, Global Head, Blackstone N1 AI startups are scaling faster, and demanding more capital, than any generation before them.

Jas Khaira, Global Head of Blackstone N1, shares what separates enduring companies from early momentum, how founders should think about capital as they scale, and what Blackstone looks for when backing the next generation of category-defining businesses. co, Ioana Hreninciuc, Runware, Atli Thorkelsson, VP, Talent Network, Redpoint Ventures The growth of AI startups has made hiring and retention more difficult for every tech company.

What to watch

This session explores how founders decide what humans should own versus what gets delegated to AI, and how high-growth startups are building hybrid teams without losing speed, accountability, or culture. AI isn’t just adding features, it’s forcing product teams to rethink how people search, discover, communicate, travel, and make decisions.

Leaders from Reddit, Square and Uber discuss how they’re redesigning products used by millions, what users actually want from AI, and where product leaders should resist the temptation to automate everything. With Karl Alomar, Managing Partner, M13 and Lindsey Mignano, Founder, Mignano Law Group The smartest founders today aren’t just building for IPOs; they’re also building with possible acquisitions in mind from day one. As exits shift and capital tightens, understanding M&A early has become a competitive advantage.