TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: A Deep Dive into Breakout Sessions
With TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 set to commence in less than three days at Moscone West, the event promises over 200 breakout sessions led by top executives, founders, and investors shaping the tech and startup landscape. These sessions are designed for immersive, tactical learning, providing attendees with actionable insights directly applicable to their ventures. Participants can still register to secure significant discounts—up to $444 off admission and 60% off a second pass—before prices rise at the event’s opening on October 27.
Uncovering Growth in Business Workflows
Umair Javed (CEO, tkxel), Marcus Torres (CPO, Quickbase), and Umair Bashir (fractional CTO, Signal) lead a session on identifying and productizing latent opportunities within everyday business workflows. Founders will learn how to transform mundane process inefficiencies into sticky software solutions that yield rapid ROI.
Leveraging AI to Accelerate Software Development
Tim Rogers, staff product manager for GitHub Copilot, delves into practical applications of AI agents and copilots within the software development lifecycle. Attendees will explore strategies to reduce repetitive work, expedite code reviews, and unblock teams while maintaining code integrity and security.
Bootstrapping Breakout Startups: Build First, Fund Later
Tarun Raisoni, CEO of Gruve, shares pragmatic tactics for capital-efficient startup growth. This session focuses on identifying ideal customer profiles, securing early lighthouse customers, and scaling revenue to fund expansion, enabling founders to raise capital on their own terms.
M&A Strategies for Founders: Achieving Premium Outcomes Without Compromise
Aklil Ibssa (Head of Corporate Development, Coinbase) and Yonas Beshawred (CEO, StarSling) provide an insider’s perspective on preparing for acquisition. Topics include financial packaging, outreach tactics, and integration planning to maximize deal value while preserving company mission.
Avoiding Fundraising Pitfalls: Insights from Founders and VCs
Kamila Khasanova (On Top Strategy), Sam Li (Thoropass), Ashley Paston (General Catalyst), and Dr. Richard Munassi (Tampa Bay Wave) dissect common fundraising errors—such as unclear narratives and misaligned metrics—and share corrective habits that increase the likelihood of securing investment.
Fundraising Process Workshop with Josh Constine
Josh Constine, venture partner at SignalFire and former TechCrunch editor, leads a hands-on session breaking down essential fundraising components including storytelling, proof points, data room preparation, and outreach sequencing.
AI at the Brink: National Security Strategic Playbook
Daniel Hendrycks, Executive Director of the Center for AI Safety, discusses frameworks for evaluating and governing high-impact AI systems where failure carries significant real-world consequences.
Startup Lessons Beyond the Playbook
Santi Subotovsky (Emergence Capital) and Melissa Wong (Zipline) offer candid insights on scaling challenges including executive hiring, managing extended sales cycles, and adapting when reality diverges from plans.
Agentic AI for Startups: Automate, Adapt, and Accelerate
Anmol Rastogi (Amazon Business) and Anjali Mann (Microsoft) explore practical use cases for AI agents across operations, support, and sales, emphasizing maintaining human oversight to ensure quality.
Engineering Leadership in the Age of AI
A panel featuring Eno Reyes (Factory), Andrew Berman (Runlayer), Suraj Patel (MongoDB), and Dima Dzhulgakov (Fireworks AI) discusses how engineering founders are adapting leadership and product strategies to thrive amid rapid AI-driven change.
Zubair Ahsan (Max AI), Kanyi Maqubela (Kindred Ventures), and Varun Krishnamurthy (Assured Health) examine how AI-driven documentation and automation are reshaping healthcare intake, billing, credentialing, and patient care.
Inside Family Office Investment Strategies
Mariane Bekker (Founders Bay), Amanda Daniels (5840 Holdings), Brett Horton (Paris-Roubaix Group), and Daniel Idzkowski (I.D.I.T. Family Office) provide insights into family office mandates, due diligence, and engagement timing for startup founders and fund managers.
Corporate Venture Capital: Identifying Strategic Advantages
Nicolas Sauvage, president of TDK Ventures, demystifies modern CVCs, highlighting the subset that combines strategic alignment with financial returns and founder-friendly agility.
Startup Storytelling and the Battle for Attention
Jenna Birch (SISU), Allie Cefalo (Kleiner Perkins), and Chantelle Darby (Darby PR) share techniques for crafting compelling narratives that resonate across PR, social media, and community channels without exhausting resources.
Embracing AI for a Better Digital Future
Meghana Dhar and Matt Madrigal (Pinterest CTO) discuss pragmatic AI deployment strategies focused on user experience, safety, and transformative impacts across discovery and commerce platforms.
Being Heard in the Age of AI-Generated Content
Qianwen Chen (EchoHer), Fay Kallel (Headspace), and Chenxi Wang (Rain Capital) address how brands and creators can maintain authenticity and trust amid an influx of AI-generated media.
The Race to Power AI with Clean Energy
Mike Schroepfer (Gigascale Capital) and Garth Sheldon-Coulson (Panthalassa) reveal how breakthrough clean energy platforms are scaling to meet AI’s massive power demands, sharing lessons from research to commercialization.
Patrick Murphy (Maket), Alyx van der Vorm (Clyx), Jeremiah Owyang (Blitzscaling Ventures), and Thomas Foley (Composio) discuss real-world AI agent applications in tools, real estate, and social domains, including infrastructure and product challenges.
From Discovery to Disruption: Translating Research into Venture-Backable Startups
Pratik Nimbalkar (Plaid Semiconductors), Jared O (SirenOpt), Chon Tang (Berkeley SkyDeck Fund), and Asad Tirmizi (T-Robotics) share strategies to validate markets, obtain non-dilutive funding, and sequence milestones to bridge deep tech and VC expectations.
The Future of Deep Tech Beyond AI
SOSV investors Westley Dang, Philipp Sander, Po Bronson, and Sierra Brooks explore emerging opportunities in biomanufacturing, materials science, energy, and health, highlighting how deep tech can create scalable, world-changing companies.
FinOracleAI — Market View
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025’s extensive breakout session agenda reflects a mature ecosystem focused on pragmatic startup growth, AI integration, and strategic capital deployment. The diverse topics—from AI’s role in software development and healthcare to fundraising and M&A tactics—underscore the accelerating complexity and opportunity in the tech landscape.
- Opportunities: Capital efficiency strategies and AI-driven productivity gains can significantly reduce startup burn rates and time to market.
- Risks: Missteps in fundraising narratives or M&A readiness could derail growth trajectories and valuation potential.
- Emerging trends: Increased emphasis on deep tech commercialization and clean energy solutions to power AI infrastructure.
- Investor focus: Growing importance of family offices and discerning CVCs as critical capital sources for startups.
- Market dynamics: The blend of hands-on workshops and thought leadership sessions indicate a shift towards actionable intelligence over theoretical discourse.
Impact: This comprehensive agenda positions TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 as a pivotal event for founders and investors aiming to navigate and capitalize on evolving technological, financial, and operational challenges in the startup ecosystem.
