TechCrunch Founder Summit moves to Boston for November 4

TechCrunch will host the Founder Summit 2026 at the SoWa Power Station in Boston on November 4. The event brings together founders, investors, and operators for a day of programming that includes live pitching and networking. Organizers have added a series of small-group roundtables to the main schedule to allow for more detailed discussion.

The program features six distinct sessions designed for attendees to bring their own specific questions. Participants will work through shared challenges with experts and fellow founders. Topics range from enterprise sales and vertical strategy to artificial intelligence and creating new market categories.

Alexandra Ames, founder and chief event strategist at Blueprint Lab, leads the first roundtable at 10:45 a.m. Her session focuses on how early-stage companies can approach events strategically. The discussion covers choosing the right opportunities and defining success while stretching limited resources before hiring a full-time events team.

Two sessions run concurrently at 11:30 a.m. Chirag Shah, a partner at Define Ventures, addresses the difficulties of entering regulated industries or markets with complex buyers. Shishir Tewari, head of enterprise data engineering at Procore Technologies, discusses how knowledge graphs and GraphRAG can make AI systems more reliable in real-world organizations.

Merve Kitapci, managing partner and CGO of ADIN.AI, begins the afternoon at 1:15 p.m. Her session examines how founders can win major enterprise customers early. She will discuss the specific experience of closing deals with L'Oreal and Vodafone before a Series A, including how to manage long buying cycles and multiple stakeholders.

Andy Tang, a partner at Draper Associates, leads a conversation at 1:55 p.m. for founders whose products do not fit an established category. The session covers how to explain and sell these products and how to help investors grasp the opportunity. Linden Tibbets, CEO and founder of IFTTT, concludes the roundtables at 2:35 p.m. by exploring how smaller teams can use AI to raise speed and output without adding headcount.

The roundtables form one part of a larger program that includes sessions on the Build and Impact Stages. These sessions cover product-market fit, hiring, fundraising, and building companies outside the Bay Area. Toast co-founder Steve Fredette is among the leaders slated to share perspectives. The event also features a live competition called So You Think You Can Pitch and a closing reception presented by Fidelity Private Shares. TechCrunch is currently offering 25% off tickets and a buy-one-get-one deal for a limited time.