You can learn a lot from a great founder session. But sometimes the conversation that changes what you do next happens five minutes after it ends. And with the event happening tomorrow, there is another reason to make sure you are in the room: the format is designed to help founders learn in different ways throughout the day.

On November 4, TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 brings founders and investors together at SoWa Power Station in Boston for one day of practical learning, candid conversations, live pitching, smaller roundtables, and networking.

The Build Stage focuses on the decisions founders make while they are still shaping, testing, and growing the business. These sessions get into the mechanics behind building a company, from distribution and fundraising to team building and pitching.

Hunter Worland of NEA opens the conversation on why distribution can become a startup’s next competitive advantage, especially when strong technology alone is not enough to win customers.

Kristen Craft of Fidelity Private Shares brings a current view of fundraising trends, helping founders understand how the capital environment is shifting and what that means for the way they approach their next raise.

The stage also gets tactical about building high-performing teams and sharpening the story you tell investors, customers, and potential hires.

Dave Balter of True Ventures and Edisyl takes on a deceptively simple question: Does your pitch earn the next conversation?

The value of the Build Stage is straightforward: these are lessons founders can take back to their companies immediately.

If the Build Stage is about creating momentum, the Impact Stage is about what happens once that momentum becomes real.

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