TechCrunch Disrupt 2024: Day 2

Day 2 of TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 has arrived, and the energy from day 1 is still electrifying across San Francisco! 

We’re only partway through the 250+ speakers, 200+ sessions, and 350+ exhibiting startups at Disrupt. As expected, yesterday saw over 10,000 tech enthusiasts, startup founders, and investors filling Moscone West with energy — we’re not slowing down this momentum!

Gear up for another action-packed day filled with immersive experiences. Dive in, make meaningful connections, and enjoy your time at the pulse of the tech world. The tech scene is at its finest!

It’s still not too late to join this tech mecca! Tickets remain available through the final day of Disrupt 2024. Register here to experience one of the busiest, most awaited tech gatherings of the year.

Let’s dive right in — here’s what day 2 of Disrupt 2024 has lined up for you.

Badge return for a chance to win!

Return your badge at the end of Disrupt and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win a free ticket to Disrupt 2025.

Stage Sessions

The stages are set with more industry giants. View the full agenda for times and more details.

Disrupt Stage

Startup Battlefield 200: Judge panel includes Sofia Dolfe, Index Ventures; Victor Lazarte, Benchmark; Ana Leyva, Pear VC; Shravan Narayen, IVP; Sangeen Zeb, GV; Mark Crane, General Catalyst; Erin Harkless Moore, Pivotal Ventures; Haomiao Huang, Matter Venture Partners; Andrew Schoen, NEA; and Christopher Wan, Bessemer Venture Partners

How Mary Barra Is Shaping GM’s Tech Future: Mary Barra, CEO, GM

Making Sound Investments with Ashton Kutcher: Ashton Kutcher, Effie Epstein, and Guy Oseary, Sound Ventures

Building the Next Generation of Deep Tech Startups with Tony Fadell: Tony Fadell, Build Collective

Builders Stage

How Startups Can Save the World: Areeb Malik, Co-Founder and CTO, Glacier; Hyuk-Jeen Suh, General Partner, SkyRiver Ventures; and Allison Wolff, CEO, Vibrant Planet

How to Build a Company While Protecting Your Mental Health: Andy Dunn, Co-Founder, Bonobos and CEO, Pie

How to Hire in 2025: Heather Doshay, Partner, People & Talent, SignalFire; Lauren Illovsky, Talent Partner, CapitalG; and Roger Lee, CEO, Comprehensive.io

Don’t Be a Lemming: The Anti-Hype Panel: Pegah Ebrahimi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, FPV Ventures; Natalie Sportelli, Director, Bullish; and Harry Tannenbaum, Co-Founder and President, Mill

How the Chainsmokers Bring Value Beyond Their Celebrity Status: Dan Lorenc, Co-Founder and CEO, Chainguard; Alex Pall, Producer, The Chainsmokers, and Partner and Co-Founder, Mantis VC; and Drew Taggart, Producer, The Chainsmokers, and Partner and Co-Founder, Mantis VC

Pitch Deck Teardown: Judges include Sofia Dolfe, Partner, Index Ventures; Deena Shakir, General Partner, Lux Capital; and Marcie Vu, Partner, Greycroft

SaaS Stage

So, You’re Going to Get Hacked: Advice from the Front Lines: Heather Gantt-Evans, CISO, Marqeta; and Darren Gruber, Technical Adviser in the Office of Security and Trust, MongoDB

Embracing Slack’s Evolution Under Salesforce and Vision for the Future: Denise Dresser, CEO, Slack from Salesforce

Building Enterprise AI Apps with Multi-Agent RAG Systems (MARS): Madhukar Kumar, Chief Developer Evangelist and CMO, SingleStore; Alexander Peng, Growth Engineer, SingleStore; and Swati Choksi, Senior Leader, Solutions Architecture (AWS)

What’s Next in Open Source as a Business Model?: Casey Aylward, Partner, Accel; Scott Johnston, CEO, Docker; and Rowan Trollope, CEO, Redis

Scaling Trust to Unicorn Status with Vanta’s Christina Cacioppo: Christina Cacioppo, Co-Founder and CEO, Vanta

From Salesforce to Sierra: Bret Taylor’s Journey in Tech Innovation: Bret Taylor, Co-Founder, Sierra

From Seed to Success: What VCs Want to See from Early Stage Founders: Jyoti Bansal, CEO and Co-Founder, Harness; Rudina Seseri, Founder and Managing Partner, Glasswing Ventures; and Chelcie Taylor, Investor, Notable Capital

The New Data Pipeline: Chet Kapoor, Chairman and CEO, Datastax; Vanessa Larco, Partner, NEA; and George Fraser, CEO, Fivetran

Startup Battlefield 200

The startup showdown heats up with two more rounds of Startup Battlefield 200! More ambitious startups from the selected top 20 will pitch their ideas on the Disrupt Stage in front of top-tier VCs. Brace yourself for high-energy pitches and invaluable feedback from these VCs on what it takes to make a startup successful. The ultimate winner will claim a $100,000 equity-free prize and the coveted Disrupt Cup!

Interactive, deep-dive sessions

Join more interactive sessions tackling the biggest issues in tech today. See the full agenda for times and session details.

Roundtable Sessions

Participate in these 30-minute collaborative sessions, but remember to pre-register on the event app. Note that Expo+ Passes do not grant access to these Roundtables.

Refining Pre- and Post-Training Data Strategy for LLM Success: Ian McDiarmid, Siddharth Mall, Kaushik PS, Telus Digital

Harnessing the Power of Gen Z: Online Community Strategies for Startups: Michelle Lawson, Computer Science Girlies

Enterprise GTM Is Broken — Here’s How to Fix It: SC Moatti, Mighty Capital

Scaling Startups with Strong Leadership — Developing a Founding Team that Thrives: Clayton Bryan, Global 500

Maximizing Prospective + Existing Investor Relationships: Brent Murri, M13

Visionary Companies Embrace Innovation to Thrive in the Fast-Paced Economy: Meredith Roemer and Patrick Maroney, SAP America, Inc.

From Experimental to Essential: Achieving Reliability with AI Agents in Mission-Critical Tasks: Mike Carter, Vooma AI

AI Infra, DevOps and the Back-end Tooling Stack of the Next Generation of B2B Software Winners: Ben Fu, Justin Ouyang, Eugene Lee, Julianna Vitolo, OMERS Ventures

Is LLM the Future to AGI? Where VCs Can Look for Meaningful Investments: Gayatri Sarkar, Advaita Capital

Building Hybrid Teams of Tomorrow: Haseeb Khan, Tkxel

How to Build & Run Your Board (encore): Mike Seckler, Justworks

Consumer Social Network Effects with Vently (encore): Gargi Kand and Nicolas Khonaysser, Vently

Leverage Data Standards to Accelerate Your Startup (encore): Qi Li and Nicholai Mitchko, InterSystems

Tackle Every Challenge Head-on with Affiliate Marketing (encore): Adam Weiss, Awin

Successfully Raising Your Seed or Series A in 2024 (encore): Brian Rothenberg and Medha Agarwal, defy.vc

Breakout Sessions

Engage with a panel in a 50-minute Q&A session. This is on a first-come, first-served basis. All ticket types are welcome. See the full agenda for times and session details.

The Future of Go to Market in the AI Era: Jane Alexander, CapitalG; Chris Klayko, Databricks; Austin Hughes, Unify; and Jessica Arnold, Amplitude

Secrets to Actually Being Good at Startup PR in 2024: Turner Novak, Banana Capital; Kira McCroden, Forerunner; Emilie Gerber, Six Eastern; and Jack Randall, Aetherflux

The Art of the AI Pitch: Winning Over Investors in 2025: Alessandra Andrenacci, Dropbox DocSend; Pascal Weinberger, Bardeen.ai; Anna Chen, Madrona; and Iris Sun, 500 Global

Smaller, Faster, Smarter: How Tiny AI Is Democratizing AI Technology Starting with the Smart Home Camera: Roeland Nusselder, Plumerai; and Tony Fadell, Build Collective

Webby Talks: It’s Giving Brainrot: How Chronically Online Culture Is Taking Us from the Niche to the Nonsensical— and Why That Can Be a Good Thing: Nick Borenstein, the Webby Awards; David Mogensen, Uber; Margaret Johnson, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; and Monica Khan, Bay Area Creator Economy

Is Your AI Deployment an Advantage or an Embarrassment? Here’s How to Know: Dane Sherrets and Marten Mickos, HackerOne

Scaling Technical Startups: Navigating Growth, Positioning, and Competitive Pressure: Kevin Hu, Metaplane; and Tobi Coker, Felicis

Deep Tech in Winter: How to Win Investors in 2024: Po Bronson, Pae Wu, and Duncan Turner, SOSV

Bringing the Outside In: Connecting Startups with Large Banks to Power the Future of Finance: Matt Carbonara, Citi Ventures; Ari Tuchman, Quantifind; and Kartik Mani, Citi

The Age of Technical Engineering Founders: How They Are Driving AI Innovation: Christine Yen, Honeycomb; Anand Babu, MinIO; Prukalpa Sankar, Atlan; and Karthik Ranganathan, Yugabyte

Founder Mode: AI Startups in Learning, Health, and Autonomous Agents: Amy Kelly, Miri AI; Shronit Ladhani, LearnTube; Div Garg, MultiOn; and Jeremiah Owyang, Blitzscaling Ventures

Expo Hall

The vibrant Expo Hall is at the heart of Disrupt, bringing together attendees and startups from around the globe to showcase their innovations. Engage with these pioneers and discover their exciting breakthroughs. Doors open at 8:00 a.m.

Pitch Showcase Stage 

Head over to the Expo Hall to catch some of our exhibiting startups as they present their pitches.

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Fast Pitches, Security, Privacy + Social Networking

11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.: Belgium Pavilion Pitch Session – hub.brussels

12:45 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Pavilion Pitch Session – Silkroad Innovation Hub

1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Fast Pitches, Fintech + Edtech

3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Korea Pavilion Pitch Session — KOTRA

4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Pavilion Pitch Session — Silkroad Innovation Hub

Alongside casual interactions with other Disrupt attendees, take your networking to the next level with the Braindate app. Explore or initiate topics for more in-depth discussions. Visit the Networking Lounge powered by Braindate on level 2 for in-person meetings in 1:1 or small-group settings from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Women of Disrupt Breakfast Reception

Gather with other women for an empowering morning featuring a dynamic panel of female founders who have mastered leadership. This event is open to all women and those who identify as female. It’s first-come, first-served, so be sure to arrive early. Happening at the Deal Flow Cafe from 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Exclusive for investors

Meet and mingle with investors over coffee

Investor Pass holders are welcome to enjoy their coffee with fellow investors at the Deal Flow Cafe, which opens at 8:00 a.m.

StrictlyVC joins its first Disrupt

The StrictlyVC series makes its debut at Disrupt 2024, bringing key stories and players to VCs, LPs, founders, and operators. This session offers a unique chance for networking among investment professionals and is exclusive to Investor Pass holders. Taking place in the Deal Flow Cafe from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Speaker lineup

• Aileen Lee, Founder and Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures
• Alex Pall and Drew Taggart from The Chainsmokers, Co-Founders and Partners, MANTIS Venture Capital
• Beezer Clarkson, Partner, Sapphire Partners
• Jessica Archibald, General Partner, Top Tier Capital Partners
• Nirmal Utwani, Director of Engineering, Growth, Amplitude
• Rick Prostko, Senior Managing Director, Teachers’ Venture Growth, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
• Vlad Voroninski, CEO and Founder, Helm.ai
• Wesley Chan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, FPV Ventures

Pre- and after-hours events

Disrupt SaaS Meetup

Connect with other SaaS professionals and attendees during a happy hour after the close of day 2 at Disrupt. Present your Disrupt badge at check-in to gain entry. Must be 21 and over to attend. Venue information is available in the Disrupt app agenda.

Side Events

More than 60 company-hosted Side Events are set to happen throughout San Francisco this week, extending the Disrupt excitement. Here’s what’s happening today. For times and more details, head to the Side Events page.

Founders & Investors Run: Hosted by AQ22

Speak Easy Happy Hour: Hosted by BrainCloud

Pop Up Bubbl Lounge — The Future of Smart Startup Travel. Connecting Entrepreneurs to Build Authentic Networks on the Road: Hosted by Bubbl

Happy Hour with McDermott Will & Emery LLP: Hosted by McDermott Will & Emery

Meetup with『Shinhan Square Bridge』(S²Bridge) Startups: Hosted by SWITH

HardTech After Party @Studio 55: Hosted by Andrews Cooper

Gaming, Film & Interactive Media Tech Terrace Investors & Networking Party Overlooking San Francisco Bay: Hosted by Love Soul AI

Operationalizing Success: A Panel on Scaling Startups + Happy Hour: Hosted by Presence

Investing in Irish Technology — Pitch Night at Ireland House: Hosted by Enterprise Ireland

Propel Your Startup: After Hours at Equinix: Hosted by Equinix

Happy Hour Launch Party with Vently: Hosted by Vently

Human Approach to AI: Hosted by Quor

Immigrant Founders Networking: Hosted by OpenSphere

Meet the Media: Hosted by Zebra Public Relations

Slovak PRO Happy Hour: Hosted by Slovak PRO

SF Founders-Investors Social: Hosted by Pilot

SignalFire’s Disrupt Penthouse After-Party: Hosted by SignalFire

SVB x GenAI Collective: B2B SaaS AI Fireside Chat & Networking: Hosted by Silicon Valley Bank

The AI Growth and Differentiation Playbook — Happy Hour & Fireside Chat: Hosted by Descope & you.com

Orbis86: Founders x Funders x Builders Networking Mixer: Hosted by Orbis86

Still time to join Disrupt 2024

Thinking it’s too late to register for Disrupt 2024? Don’t worry! There are still many immersive experiences waiting for you in these last two days. Tickets will be available until the end of tomorrow. Secure yours here and be a part of this epic experience.