TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 in Boston Lines Up Leaders From Toast, Bessemer and Glasswing

TechCrunch has outlined the speaker lineup for its Founder Summit 2026, set for November 4 at SoWa Power Station in Boston. The full-day event is hosted with Fidelity Private Shares and brings together founders, investors and operators to discuss the decisions early companies face before all the answers are available.

The program goes beyond fundraising and artificial intelligence. Sessions will cover finding customers, building teams, sharpening a pitch, developing founder leadership and scaling companies both inside and outside traditional startup hubs.

Steve Fredette, president, co-founder and director of Toast, will appear on the Impact Stage for "Building a Company That Keeps Reinventing Itself." Toast grew from a Boston startup into a public company, and the conversation is expected to examine how a business keeps evolving as customer expectations, technology and the market shift, while staying tied to the needs that created it.

Two investor-led sessions focus on the tension between growth and restraint. Kent Bennett, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, will lead "Finding Product Market Fit Before You Scale," which looks at the signals founders should see before adding headcount, raising spend or accelerating go-to-market efforts. Rudina Seseri, founder and managing partner of Glasswing Ventures, will address "When to Scale and When to Hit the Brakes," exploring how to tell moments for acceleration from those where restraint protects a business.

On AI, Lior Div, CEO and co-founder of 7AI, will present "Built for AI From Day One." The session draws a line between bolting AI onto an existing process and building a whole company around it, including its architecture and operating model.

The Boston ecosystem gets its own spotlight. Chase Garbarino, CEO and co-founder of HqO, will take the Impact Stage for "The Boston Founder Playbook," which examines building and scaling a company from the city, with attention to talent, customers, capital and community outside the Bay Area. Together with the Toast session, it gives the summit a local theme: that ambitious companies can be built in Boston without copying Silicon Valley.

Pitching is another focus. Dave Balter, a venture partner at True Ventures and CEO of Edisyl, will lead "Your Pitch Has to Earn the Next Conversation." Later in the afternoon, "So You Think You Can Pitch?" will put founders on the Build Stage to present live to a judging panel. Balter will be joined by Chirag Shah, a partner at Define Ventures, and Simran Suri, a principal at Maveron, so attendees can hear investor reactions in real time.

Other sessions include Hunter Worland of NEA on why distribution may become a startup's next competitive advantage, and Vineet Edupuganti, co-founder and CEO of Cogent Security, on building 10x teams. Tina Tosukhowong of TDK Ventures will discuss hidden signals that can identify category winners. Fidelity Private Shares will contribute sessions on fundraising trends with Kristen Craft and on enterprise relationships with Evan Schnidman.

Beyond the talks, the day includes smaller roundtables, networking and a closing reception presented by Fidelity Private Shares. TechCrunch is offering a 25% ticket discount and a buy-one-get-one deal for registrations ahead of the event.