Agenda
New Sessions Added Weekly.
Event agenda is shown in the event's local timezone, which is GMT-08
October 28th
Startups in Dual-use
Government and defense are relying more and more on commercial services, but startups face a real challenge entering this highly regulated and formal side of the industry. How can young, lean companies compete for contracts and attention with primes and more established organizations – and how can investors help?
The Space Domain Awareness Challenge Pitch-off
This open call pitch-off will present startups across robotics, autonomous systems, AI/ML, Vision Systems, Propulsion and Navigation on the Space Stage at Disrupt 2024. Five finalists will pitch to Aerospace judges and one winner will get access to expert lead feedback sessions with The Aerospace Corporation, government experts, and commercial space leadership.
What You Need to Raise a Series A Today
If you aren’t building the next foundation model AI company, raising a Series A today is likely harder than it has been in some time. So, to help founders building at the Seed-stage prepare for their first lettered-round, we’ve rounded up investors to explain what they – and their firms – are looking for in their next Series A deals.
Peter Beck Takes the Space Industry by the Fins
As the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, Peter Beck is a familiar face to anyone in the space industry. But the company’s ambitions go far beyond its popular Electron launch vehicle: Beck believes that to thrive, perhaps even to survive, space companies will have to become fully integrated one-stop shops. Hear how Rocket Lab is pursuing this ambitious goal.
Founder & CEO, Rocket Lab
The Future of Launch
Launch has already been reinvented over the last decade, but why stop there? Demand for space is growing as fast as launch cadences permit, but there is opportunity beyond making rockets and vehicles. Startups will likely define the future of launch-related software, automation, and operations, if these founders have anything to say about it.
Brigit Mendler on Moving from Disney Star to Startup Founder
Former Disney Channel star Brigit Mendler wants to transform one of the least sexy segments of the space industry: ground stations. In this fireside, we’ll learn more about how Northwood Space will build out a data highway between Earth and orbit.
Why AI Regulation is Every Startup's Business
Andreessen Horowitz’s Martin Casado has lived the experience that every founder dreams of. He invented a new technology that radically altered the way computer networks are built and sold his startup for $1.26 billion when it was barely out of stealth (the second startup he sold). He’s since gone on to have an influential career as a VC at a16z, leading its infrastructure investment practice. He’s now sounding the alarm on AI regulation saying that startups, in particular, need to get involved.
How to Find, and Keep, Product-market Fit
Every startup knows that they need to find product market fit. But once they do find true resonance between what they are offering and what there is demand for, how should a startup ensure that they do not lose the product-market fit that they have gained? Finding PMF is one thing; maintaining it is another.
Managing Director, Adverb
President of Product and Technology, Glean
Riding the Wave: the Future of Space Investing
Private investments in commercial space companies has exploded over the past few years, but investor appetite has been tempered more recently by higher interest rates, turbulent space stock performance and geopolitical uncertainties. In this talk, we’ll discuss the future of space tech investing, which areas are oversaturated or undervalued, and whether this year will be make-it-or-break-it for space startups.
How to Launch a New Product Against Entrenched Incumbents
Founders seldom have the luxury of entering a completely empty market, but what happens when the incumbents are unusually entrenched? What does it take to start a company in an industry dominated by big players and technologies that have barely changed in recent years? Hear from two founders and an investor about the trials of taking on multinational conglomerates while building hardware and preparing for scale.
Managing Partner, RA Capital
Finding the Consensus of Crypto VC
In the crypto space, it’s time to scale. All signs point toward a period of growth with high market prices, a more favorable regulatory landscape and a large ecosystem of scaling solutions that work. So let’s talk with investors who have backed some of the most influential protocols, exchanges and decentralized apps. What’s the next big thing and what has been the biggest surprise in their investment portfolio?
Coinbase’s Onchain Pivot with Base
Base is a secure, low-cost and developer friendly Ethereum layer-2 blockchain. It is also Coinbase’s most ambitious bet on decentralization. It serves as the home for all of Coinbase’s on-chain products but anyone can also build decentralized apps on Base. Jesse Pollak is in charge of the ambitious Base project at Coinbase. He will tell us why Coinbase is moving outside of its comfort zone and betting on protocols.
Family Offices Want Startup Exposure, but What Are They Looking For?
Family offices have gotten increasingly active in investing in startups both directly and through their VC investors. But what are they looking for? While no two family offices are the same, this session will dig into family office investing trends and where they have been spending time in the startup ecosystem. We’ll also dive into what kind of risk these investors are looking to take on and what makes a startup a good fit for this category of backer.
Family Office Principle, Elle Family Office
CEO & Founder, Keebeck Wealth Management
How These Neobanks Grew During Challenging Times
While there have been a number of digital bank shutdowns in recent years, there are some players that are not only doing well, but thriving. Brazil’s Nubank posted $1 billion in net profit for 2023 and this year became Latin America’s most valuable bank. Chime touts 7 million monthly active users and was profitable in the first quarter of this year. What are these companies doing to help them grow during challenging times? And what should we expect from them in the future? We’ll talk to execs to find out.
Future of Work
Software is eating the world, and companies are hiring global talent more frequently than ever. They want to be able to hire talent in foreign countries and retain employees who want to move abroad. That’s why a new wave of global HR startups are helping companies hire people all around the world with local contracts. But can they replace local subsidiaries?
BaaS in a Post-Synapse Meltdown World
The bankruptcy of banking-as-a-service (BaaS) fintech Synapse shows just how treacherous things are for the often-interdependent fintech world when one key player hits trouble. Synapse’s problems have hurt and taken down a number of other startups and affected millions of consumers all over the country. Many believe regulatory clarity is needed moving forward. One analyst says the case of Synapse underscores the need for fintech companies to maintain high operational and compliance standards. This panel looks at the potential impacts the Synapse collapse will have on the future of BaaS.
General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Treasury Prime
The Boom in National Interest Startups
One fascinating trend these days is an area that has a number of names: national-interest startups, American Dynamism, New World. These startups are creating technologies in areas that are meant to be built, used, and create jobs in the country of origin, like the US. They cover everything from aerospace and critical infrastructure to government, manufacturing and national safety. This panel will dig into how far — and how fast — Silicon Valley can rebuild a nation’s foundations.
Managing Partner, Dcode Capital
October 29th
The New Data Pipeline
The rise of modern AI applications has but a renewed emphasis on the importance of the data that underpins them. But simply having data isn’t enough, you also need the tools to manage it, secure it and build the pipelines to let it flow between applications. In this session, we’ll talk to some of the companies that are building the tools to make that happen.
How Startups Can Save the World
Startup work and venture capital investing are usually judged through the lens of their financial results. The bigger a startup gets, the more it’s worth. But some upstart tech companies are also working on making the world better, while making money. So we want to know how far the ‘doing good’ can go while not giving up on the critical ‘making money’ side of building tech companies.
Co-Founder, Glacier
Leadership Challenges: Fireside chat with Denise Dresser on embracing Slack's evolution under Salesforce.
Join us for a one on one chat with Slack CEO Denise Dresser, who became the company’s third CEO in 10 months and has had to lead her organization through a time of turbulence, while navigating being part of the Salesforce family and all that entails
How to Build a Company While Protecting your Mental Health
Everyone knows that it is stressful to build a company. And it’s just as commonly known that endless chronic work can lead to burnout. So, why don’t we talk more about founder mental health? Now that our culture is more comfortable discussing mental health in general, it’s time we brought the topic to Disrupt for a thorough interrogation.
How to Hire in 2025
Gone are the days when recruiters seemed more plentiful than leaves in the wind; employees in nearly every startup function are therefore facing a more conservative labor market. How can founders capitalize on their increased labor buying power, while also treating their staff with respect and retaining key talent? Founders, take note, this one is for you.
Partner, People & Talent, SignalFire
Don’t Be a Lemming: the Anti-hype Panel
What’s the difference between true opportunity and hype? Answering that question correctly is the difference between success and failure and the tech industry. And it’s a far more difficult question than it might appear. When everyone is convinced a specific tech is the future, founders – and even VCs – tend to pursue that tech en mass. But as anyone who’s been through a Valley boom and bust cycle knows, collective excitement – hype – isn’t the best indicator.
What's Next in Open Source as a Business Model?
Open source has become the default business model for many tech startups. But the success of the movement hasn’t been without challenges as businesses now try to balance the ideals of open source with the realities of running a business in an ever-changing competitive environment. Join us to hear industry leaders discuss how they navigate these complexities and what the future holds for open source as a sustainable business model
Scaling Trust to Unicorn Status: Fireside with Vanta’s CEO Christina Cacioppo
SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, GDPR — few people want to deal with them, but to be even considered for a deal, many B2B startups now need to comply with one or more compliance frameworks. Vanta, which became a unicorn in 2022, has become somewhat of a standard of its own for helping businesses automate large parts of their initial and recurring audits. We’ll talk to Vanta CEO and co-founder Christina Cacioppo about what it has been like to build and scale a trust management startup, and how AI and other new technologies are shaping its future.
How the Chainsmokers Bring Value Beyond their Celebrity Status
While a lot of celebrities invest in startups, the Chainsmokers are different. Instead of angel investing, Drew Taggart and Alex Pall launched a formal fund, Mantis Venture Capital, invest out of a formal closed-end fund, and back companies in industries their celebrity prowess can’t always help in, like security startups and analytics platforms. In this session, Taggart and Pall will be joined by Dan Lorenc, the founder of Chainguard, to talk about how they are an asset to their B2B startups.
Producer, The Chainsmokers & Partner and Co-Founder, MANTIS Venture Capital
Producer, The Chainsmokers & Partner and Co-Founder, MANTIS Venture Capital
So, You're Going to Get Hacked: Advice from the Front-lines
Cyberattacks are inevitable, but disasters are avoidable. Hear from experienced security defenders who have built and grown security teams, and what you need to know to get ahead of cyberattackers before they strike.
From Seed to Success: What VCs Want to See from Early Stage Founders
Every startup begins with a founder with a germ of an idea. How does it mature into an actual business? Venture capitalists have to sort through pitches every day to find the gems that will become successful companies. We’ll speak to a trio of investors to find out what they look for in early stage companies.
Pitch Deck Teardown
An articulate, alluring pitch presentation is a big part of successfully fundraising, and yet it’s relatively uncommon for founders to get candid feedback on how they communicated the problem, their solution, and their path to success. During the Pitch Deck Teardown, VCs will offer their live feedback on decks submitted by audience members.
October 30th
How to Raise in 2025 if You’ve Taken a Flat, Down, or Extension Round
Old ideas like you need $100 million worth of trailing revenue to go public, and $1 million worth of annual recurring revenue to raise a Series A are so old that they are practically perched atop Abe Lincoln’s head. In today’s market, what a startup needs to raise depends on its sector, founder profile, and, yes, momentum. So what do you need to raise that Series A?
How Generative AI is Flooding the Web with Disinformation
As generative AI tools become more widely available – and become cheaper, or even free, to use – they’re being abused by an array of actors, including state actors, to create deepfakes and sow disinformation online. In this session, we’ll hear from experts about the types of deepfakes now circulating the web and some possible ways to combat the threat.
Founder & CEO, Center of Countering Digital Hate
How to Build Tech That Wins Over Customers
Rivian’s chief software officer Wassym Bensaid knows a thing or two about building a product from scratch in a high-stakes environment. The software and systems engineering veteran played a central role in Rivian’s recent push to drive down costs, while improving its EVs. It was a massive and existential effort that led the EV maker to rework the guts of the vehicles, including the electrical architecture and a redesigned software user interface. It wasn’t always easy. Bensaid, who has led R&D programs at Freescale and Intel and most recently held a senior engineering leadership position at Silver Spring Networks, has been in this spot before. Learn from Bensaid what it takes to build a product from scratch, including how to navigate conflict and challenges — an essential tool for any startup founder.
Do DEI Initiatives Have a Future?
Fearless Fund is one of many organizations facing the heat for having programs focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a result, the future of many of these initiatives is uncertain. But the fight isn’t over yet. Join us for a fireside chat about what happens when civil rights comes to venture capital, only at this year’s Disrupt.
Are "Open" AI Models Really Better?
There’s a war brewing in the AI industry between companies in support of “open” AI models — models released under permissive licenses that can be fine-tuned and repurposed for a range of applications — and closed-source models, or models gated behind paid services and APIs. Is one approach better than the other? The answer isn’t as clear-cut as you might think. In this talk, we’ll investigate the differences between open and closed-source models, as well as the subtle but important flavors of open model licenses.
CEO, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2)
Navigating AI's Legal and Ethical Minefield
AI’s meteoric rise has created new ethical dilemmas and exacerbated old ones, while lawsuits drop left and right. This threatens both new and established AI companies, and the creators and workers whose labor feeds the models. A panel of experts in AI, copyright, and ethics take on this complex and fast-moving problem space.
Free but Not Cheap, the Open-Source Dilemma
Open-source software is everywhere, and in everything. Many startups are pursuing explicitly open-source business models. But every company out there that builds software has at least some dependency on open-source code. Recent security issues, however, have made it plain that open-source software is a target for state-level hackers. So, how can we keep building and using code that is built communally, but without the risk of backdoors and other security holes?
Section Chief, Open Source Security, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
General Counsel and Co-Founder, Tidelift
But is it Art? Generative AI's Evolving Role in Music and Video Production
Generative AI is increasingly capable of creating video, music, and other media on demand. But who actually wants it, and why? This panel of AI startups will discuss the growing markets for generative media, and how they can be served without harming or displacing the artists they claim to empower.
From Search Engines to Knowledge Engines: Perplexity's Rush Toward an AI-curated Web
Perplexity’s AI-powered search engine might be the next stage of interacting with the web and knowledge in general – or not. But the company is certainly risking it all to manifest that future, even if it ruffles a few feathers along the way. Hear from the CEO how the company plans to take on all comers in this new category of tech.
When to Cash Out, When to Keep Fighting
Startup founders are often presented with the chance to sell their companies before they reach full maturity. In today’s world with IPOs often delayed past historical norms, it may be tempting for founders to look for a parent company for their startups. But when does it make sense to sell, when should a founder keep blazing their own path?
