Toast, Bessemer, and Glasswing Leaders Set to Speak at Boston Founder Summit

TechCrunch has announced the full speaker lineup for its Founder Summit 2026, scheduled for November 4 at SoWa Power Station in Boston. The all-day event, hosted with Fidelity Private Shares, gathers founders, investors, and operators to discuss the tough choices early companies face before having all the answers.

The agenda moves beyond standard topics like fundraising and artificial intelligence. Sessions will address finding customers, building teams, refining pitches, and developing founder leadership. The program also covers scaling companies both within and outside traditional startup hubs.

Steve Fredette, president and co-founder of Toast, will open the Impact Stage with a session titled "Building a Company That Keeps Reinventing Itself." The discussion will examine how the Boston-born public company continues to evolve as technology and market expectations shift, while staying connected to its original customer needs.

Investors Kent Bennett of Bessemer Venture Partners and Rudina Seseri of Glasswing Ventures will lead sessions on the balance between growth and restraint. Bennett will discuss the signals founders should look for before adding headcount or increasing spending. Seseri will explore how to distinguish between moments for acceleration and times when caution protects a business.

Lior Div, CEO of 7AI, will present on building a company around AI from the start, rather than adding it to existing processes. The session will cover architecture and operating models designed for AI. This follows a session by Dave Balter of True Ventures on making a pitch that earns the next conversation.

The event places a strong emphasis on the local Boston ecosystem. Chase Garbarino, CEO of HqO, will discuss the "Boston Founder Playbook," looking at talent, capital, and community outside of the Bay Area. Together with the Toast session, this highlights the possibility of building ambitious companies in the region without copying Silicon Valley.

Attendees can also watch founders present live to a judging panel that includes Chirag Shah of Define Ventures and Simran Suri of Maveron. Other speakers include Hunter Worland of NEA, Vineet Edupuganti of Cogent Security, and Tina Tosukhowong of TDK Ventures. Fidelity Private Shares will lead sessions on fundraising trends and enterprise relationships. The day concludes with roundtables and a reception, with ticket discounts available for early registration.