TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 will bring a founder-focused conference to Boston on November 4, 2026, at the SoWa Power Station. TechCrunch hosts the full-day event in partnership with Fidelity Private Shares, and the agenda is built around the practical work of running a company rather than a single theme.
What the Day Covers
Customer acquisition, team building, pitching, leadership and scaling form the backbone of the program. Sessions will also address the timing of product-market fit and the decisions that come with scaling, along with the question of how to build an AI-native company from inception. The Boston startup ecosystem is a session theme in its own right, with local examples featured in the discussion.
The event is structured as a full day of sessions, roundtables and networking, ending with a closing reception presented by Fidelity Private Shares.
Speakers on the Impact Stage
Steve Fredette, president, co-founder and director of Toast, is set to speak on company reinvention. Chase Garbarino, CEO and co-founder of HqO, will present a Boston founder playbook. Both sessions take place on the Impact Stage.
Kent Bennett, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, will lead a session on validating product-market fit before scaling. Rudina Seseri, founder and managing partner of Glasswing Ventures, is scheduled to discuss scaling versus restraint. Lior Div, CEO and co-founder of 7AI, will address building AI-native companies.
Dave Balter, venture partner at True Ventures and CEO of Edisyl, will speak on pitching for the next conversation — a framing that points at the follow-up rather than the first impression alone.
Live Pitch Competition and Judges
The Build Stage will host a live pitch competition judged by Balter alongside Chirag Shah, partner at Define Ventures, and Simran Suri, principal at Maveron. The format gives founders an audience of investors evaluating pitches in real time.
Additional Sessions
Hunter Worland of NEA will discuss distribution as a competitive advantage. Vineet Edupuganti, co-founder and CEO of Cogent Security, will speak on building high-performance teams. Tina Tosukhowong of TDK Ventures will cover the signals that identify category winners.
Fidelity Private Shares will be represented by Kristen Craft, who will discuss fundraising trends, and Evan Schnidman, who will address enterprise relationships.
Tickets and Offers
Registration includes a 25% ticket discount and a buy-one-get-one offer, allowing one attendee to bring a second pass free. Exact session times, full speaker lineup, ticket prices and registration deadlines were not included in the event details.
For founders weighing a day out of the office, the program leans toward operational topics — hiring, selling, leading and deciding when to press the accelerator — rather than a single fundraising or AI track.
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