Alexandra Ames Leads TechCrunch Roundtable on Strategic Events for Early-Stage Startups

Alexandra Ames, founder and chief event strategist at Blueprint Lab, will open a series of focused discussions at the TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026. The event is scheduled for November 4 at the SoWa Power Station in Boston. Ames will lead a session at 10:45 a.m. that examines how early-stage companies can engage with industry events strategically. Her presentation will address how founders can define success and stretch limited resources before they can hire a full-time events team.

The summit’s agenda includes six distinct roundtables designed for detailed problem-solving. Participants are invited to bring specific questions from their own operations. The sessions cover a range of operational and strategic hurdles. Topics include vertical strategy, enterprise sales, and the use of artificial intelligence in lean teams. The format allows founders to work through shared challenges with experts and peers.

Two concurrent sessions are planned for 11:30 a.m. Chirag Shah, a partner at Define Ventures, will discuss the difficulties of entering markets with high potential but complex entry barriers. He will focus on regulated industries and sectors with complicated buyer structures. In the adjacent room, Shishir Tewari, head of enterprise data engineering at Procore Technologies, will explain how knowledge graphs and GraphRAG can improve AI reliability. His session aims to show how these tools provide stronger context for AI systems in real-world organizations.

The afternoon programming begins at 1:15 p.m. with Merve Kitapci, managing partner and CGO of ADIN.AI. She will share insights on winning major enterprise clients before a Series A funding round. Her examples include securing contracts with L'Oreal and Vodafone. Kitapci will address the challenges of long buying cycles and the need for credibility in multi-stakeholder sales environments.

Andy Tang, a partner at Draper Associates, will lead a 1:55 p.m. session for founders whose products do not fit existing market categories. The conversation will cover how to explain these unique offerings to investors and customers. The final roundtable is set for 2:35 p.m. with Linden Tibbets, CEO and founder of IFTTT. Tibbets will explore how smaller teams can increase speed and output using AI without adding headcount.

The roundtables are part of a larger program that includes sessions on the Build and Impact Stages. These main stage talks will cover product-market fit, fundraising, and scaling companies outside the Bay Area. Steve Fredette, co-founder of Toast, is among the speakers scheduled to share perspectives on founder leadership. The event also features a live pitching competition called So You Think You Can Pitch? Networking opportunities include a Braindate lounge and a closing reception presented by Fidelity Private Shares.

TechCrunch is currently offering a 25% discount on Founder Summit tickets for a limited time. A buy-one-get-one deal is also available, allowing attendees to bring a colleague at no extra cost. The event brings together founders, investors, and operators for a full day of conversations and practical sessions.