10,000+ Founders, 3 Days: Disrupt 2026 Builders Stage Agenda Revealed

Scaling is where most promising startups die. The Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is betting that founders need less AI hype and more operational playbooks, with practical sessions from operators at Gamma, Google, and Precedent.vc on raising capital, hiring top talent, and building go-to-market engines that actually convert.

TechCrunch has unveiled the return of the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, positioning it as a practical counterweight to the AI-dominated venture conversation. The event runs October 13-15 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, with organizers expecting more than 10,000 founders, operators, investors, and technology leaders. The Builders Stage is one of six industry-focused stages at Disrupt 2026 and is explicitly designed for founders navigating the jump from seed to Series A, with sessions on fundraising, hiring, go-to-market strategy, AI, and operational decision-making. Early confirmed speakers include Grant Lee, CEO and co-founder of Gamma; Leah Solivan, founder and general partner at Precedent.vc; and Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google. TechCrunch says more speakers and sessions will be announced closer to the event.

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Early confirmed speakers include Grant Lee, CEO and co-founder of Gamma; Leah Solivan, founder and general partner at Precedent.vc; and Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google.

The initial agenda signals a deliberate focus on durable company-building rather than AI hype. The named session, "How to Win When You're Not Building AI," features Shan Shan, investment manager at Baillie Gifford, and Yuri Sagalov, managing director at General Catalyst. The framing is pointed: AI may dominate venture capital, but many enduring companies will not sell AI models or agents. Instead, the session is aimed at founders competing for attention in an AI-obsessed market, with panelists expected to break down what matters now — efficient growth, retention, and revenue quality. This emphasis on operational fundamentals reflects a broader shift in late-2020s venture sentiment, where capital efficiency and repeatable growth have regained importance after years of growth-at-all-costs behavior.

For startup founders, the Builders Stage offers more than inspiration. It is structured around live Q&A and real-world case studies, meaning attendees can interrogate specific decisions made by operators who have scaled companies or funded them. Grant Lee's presence is notable because Gamma has grown quickly as a productivity and presentation software company, giving him direct experience in product-led growth and competitive positioning. Leah Solivan, whose background includes founding TaskRabbit before moving into venture at Precedent.vc, embodies the operator-turned-investor perspective that can help founders understand what VCs actually evaluate at the Series A threshold. Robby Stein brings large-platform product expertise from Google, which is valuable for founders thinking about enterprise distribution, AI integration, and product strategy at scale.

The event's ticket mechanics add urgency: TechCrunch says attendees who register early can save up to $330 before rates increase, though no date for the next price increase is specified. This creates a near-term conversion incentive but also filters for committed attendees. For a founder deciding whether to spend three days at Moscone Center, the value proposition is tied to access — not just to content but to the 10,000-person ecosystem that includes potential co-founders, hires, customers, and investors. The live Q&A format and industry-specific stages make Disrupt 2026 a concentrated networking environment that is difficult to replicate through virtual content.