The founder’s guide to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Everything you need to know

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is built astir 1 question: How bash you physique an enduring institution successful the AI era? Our programming and talker lineup bespeak that, based connected the feedback we’ve gotten from the assemblage and the world connected the ground.

Last twelvemonth astatine Disrupt, we spoke with founders astir their experiences and discovered the results of their attendance firsthand. One laminitis saw a 3x oversubscription complaint aft their confirmation for Startup Battlefield and much than 100 capitalist inbounds helping substance conversations astir a aboriginal fundraising round. Another laminitis had astir 30 back-to-back conversations with investors who flocked to them aft a transportation onstage and followed them to their booth.

That’s not the objection astatine Disrupt — that’s the point. And those opportunities aren’t conscionable disposable for Battlefield finalists. Every speech successful the Expo Hall oregon successful a Side Event tin make an accidental for your startup. For years, whether it’s been held successful New York, San Francisco, oregon elsewhere, Disrupt has brought unneurotic thousands of founders, investors, startup squad members, and tech leaders.  

We’re keeping that ngo live astatine SF’s Moscone West, this October 13-15 with a packed lineup of speakers, much than 200 adept sessions, a wealthiness of organized and serendipitous networking opportunities, and astir of all, the accidental to beryllium successful the aforesaid country arsenic the idiosyncratic who could alteration your nascent thought for a institution oregon your existent startup’s trajectory.

This usher is for the founders retired determination who are conscionable learning astir Disrupt, who request a refresher, oregon are skeptical of whether it’s worthy it. TechCrunch has been astir for much than 20 years; we tin instrumentality it.

Image Credits:TechCrunch / Slava Blazer Photography

The world of what makes Disrupt, Disrupt 

If you’re asking Claude oregon ChatGPT if TechCrunch Disrupt is worthy it, you’re not alone. The world is that Disrupt is simply a unsocial event, and it’s happening astatine a unsocial clip for the startup community.

This year’s Disrupt isn’t astir predicting the aboriginal of AI; it’s astir gathering companies successful it. Across six editorially curated stages, founders volition perceive applicable lessons from the CEOs, investors, engineers, and operators shaping the adjacent decennary of technology.  

Whether you’re raising your archetypal round, scaling your team, oregon deciding however AI changes your product, each league is designed to reply 1 question: “What tin I instrumentality backmost to my institution connected Monday morning?”

The founders Disrupt empowers 

Disrupt works a spot differently, depending connected wherever you are successful your founding journey, with antithetic tracks you tin travel to marque the astir of the 3 days:

Pre-seed and idea stages 

You’re present to pressure-test your thesis, conscionable your archetypal angel oregon pre-seed investors, and fig retired who other is gathering successful your space. Prioritize the Builders Stage, the Startup Battlefield semifinalist pitches, and the Expo Hall, on with roundtables tied to your manufacture and conversations you’ll privation to larn much from.

Early revenue or actively raising 

You’re present for superior and validation supra each else, and your clip is valuable. Prioritize our investor-matchmaking tools and the connections that travel with your Founder Pass, including the networking tools successful our app. You besides get entree to the Deal Flow Café, wherever we foster one-on-one conversations betwixt founders and investors.  

And erstwhile your docket isn’t packed with dealmaking, larn from VC perspectives and fundraising-focused sessions astatine the Builders Stage.

Scaling, hiring, successful hunt of partnerships 

You’re present successful hunt of talent, strategical partners, and marketplace visibility. Those aforesaid networking tools and opportunities tin assistance you conscionable imaginable hires and partners and deepen those connections oregon marque caller ones. Disrupt’s Side Events aren’t to beryllium missed — there’s 1 for each industry, interest, oregon post-event vibe you could beryllium looking to find.

Startup Battlefield: The astir iconic transportation competition 

The Startup Battlefield winner’s uncover packs the Disrupt stage and is each year’s capstone event. But it’s the lead-up to that $100,000 cheque and the deluge of attraction the victor receives that’s the astir invaluable for founders attending Disrupt.

The 200 startups chosen connected August 20 to vie spell done a rigorous prep process and get the accidental to transportation onstage successful beforehand of top-tier VCs and the Disrupt crowds. You’ll besides get to ticker those pitches, instrumentality notes, larn from the peaks and valleys, and perchance conscionable the teams down the ideas and innovations. It could beryllium successful a follow-up gathering oregon conscionable walking done the halls of Moscone.  

And if that each leaves you inspired, here’s an insider tip: Most Battlefield participants, and respective winners, person gone done the process aggregate times. We’re nary longer taking applications for 2026’s competition, but we’re expanding the program to more international markets, and the 2027 process volition beryllium similar to this year’s, truthful instrumentality enactment for the future!

The founder-focused programming 

Disrupt 2026 spans respective stages, each built astir a antithetic laminitis need:

• Disrupt Stage: The biggest conversations successful technology, featuring the founders, CEOs, and manufacture leaders defining what’s next. These are the conversations you’ll beryllium talking astir agelong aft Disrupt ends.
• Builders Stage: The tactical playbook for gathering a startup. From fundraising and hiring to GTM, product, and scaling, each league is designed to springiness founders applicable proposal they tin enactment to enactment immediately.
• AI Stage: AI isn’t the aboriginal — it’s the present. Learn however the fastest-growing startups are building, deploying, and monetizing AI, with applicable lessons connected agents, models, infrastructure, and what it takes to triumph successful the AI era.
• Real World AI Stage: AI is moving beyond the surface and into the carnal world. Explore however robotics, autonomous systems, manufacturing, healthcare, and defence are turning AI breakthroughs into real-world products and businesses.
• Smart Money Stage: Follow the money. From fintech and stablecoins to payments, embedded finance, and AI-driven fiscal services, this signifier explores however exertion is reshaping the question of capital.
• Smart Systems Stage: Every AI breakthrough depends connected the infrastructure down it. Discover the innovations successful chips, compute, energy, networking, and information centers that volition find the adjacent procreation of exertion companies.

Image Credits:TechCrunch / Slava Blazer Photography

Conversations you tin lone get astatine Disrupt 

• RJ Scaringe (Rivian): Building a generational company. 

• Panos Panay (Amazon): Designing products radical love. 

• Paolo Ardoino (Tether): Money, AI, and infrastructure. 

• Toni Schneider and Rose Wang (Bluesky): Can societal commencement over? 

• Amjad Masad (Replit): Every laminitis becomes technical. 

• Andrew Feldman (Cerebras): Winning the AI compute race. 

And that’s conscionable the opening — we’ll person much speakers to denote arsenic we get person to Disrupt. Check retired the afloat lineup of speakers crossed each stages and events here.

How to get the astir bang for your subordinate astatine Disrupt 

Disrupt’s prices summation arsenic we get person to the event, and laminitis tickets are presently $300 disconnected their last terms until August 21. But if you marque the telephone to be Disrupt earlier 11:59 p.m. PT August 7 via this link, you’ll prevention an further $100!  

If you privation to bring a co-founder, you tin get a 10% discount connected that 2nd ticket. For larger teams, we person further per-ticket discounts available.  

San Francisco mightiness beryllium the hotbed of the startup assemblage and an AI epicenter, but we each cognize it’s caused prices to spike successful the Bay. We’ve partnered with immoderate fantabulous adjacent edifice options to support accommodation costs arsenic debased arsenic possible. Check retired our 4 spouse hotels close here.

Your clip astatine Disrupt is valuable, too, truthful earlier you caput there, cheque connected our regularly updated docket of speakers and Side Events, get up of competitors’ schedules by booking your networking opportunities successful advance, and get your ain elevator pitches successful bid to marque the astir of those magical Disrupt moments that tin travel astatine immoderate constituent October 13-15!