From Toast to Bessemer: Who founders will hear from at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026

TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 is scheduled for November 4 at SoWa Power Station in Boston. Hosted by TechCrunch in partnership with Fidelity Private Shares, the full-day event will include founder and investor discussions, roundtables, live startup pitches, networking, and a closing reception. Its program focuses on product-market fit, scaling, customer acquisition, team building, fundraising, enterprise sales, founder leadership, and AI-centric company design. Toast president, co-founder, and director Steve Fredette will discuss sustaining a company’s evolution after finding its market and scaling. Bessemer Venture Partners partner Kent Bennett will address signals of product-market fit before companies add headcount or spending, while Glasswing Ventures founder and managing partner Rudina Seseri will cover decisions to accelerate growth or exercise restraint. 7AI CEO and co-founder Lior Div will examine building companies around AI from inception, and HqO CEO and co-founder Chase Garbarino will discuss scaling from Boston. True Ventures venture partner and Edisyl CEO Dave Balter will lead a session on pitches that earn follow-up meetings and join Define Ventures partner Chirag Shah and Maveron principal Simran Suri to judge live startup pitches. Other sessions include NEA’s Hunter Worland on distribution, Cogent Security CEO Vineet Edupuganti on building 10x teams, and TDK Ventures’ Tina Tosukhowong on identifying category winners.