Startups don’t build themselves. The Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, taking place October 27–29 at San Francisco’s Moscone West, is where investors, operators, and founders come to talk tactics — the nitty-gritty of getting something off the ground and making it work. This year, we’re bringing some of the sharpest minds in the game to the stage, including legendary investor Elad Gil, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, and Flexport founder Ryan Petersen. If you’re looking for real-world insights from people who’ve actually built and backed category-defining companies, this is where it happens.

Whether you’re wrestling with your first term sheet, building a GTM engine that actually converts, or wondering if AI should be your next hire, the Builders Stage has answers. Expect candid conversations, fresh strategies, and no-fluff advice from the folks who’ve been through the fire — plus audience Q&A during every session, so you can get your toughest questions answered, live.

Scale smarter with actionable insights from the leaders sitting front and center on the Builders Stage. Register now and save up to $675 on your ticket.

A first look at the Builders Stage agenda

See what’s locked in so far below and stay tuned. The Disrupt 2025 agenda is only getting bigger, with more top names and bold conversations on the way.

Raising Smart

A Conversation with Investor Extraordinaire Elad Gil 

Before most of the world had experienced ChatGPT, Elad Gil had already written seed checks to startups like Perplexity, Character.AI, and Harvey. That’s on top of early bets on companies like Airbnb, Airtable, Anduril, Brex, Checkr, Coinbase, Deel, Figma, Flexport, GitLab, Gusto, Instacart, Notion, Opendoor, Pinterest, Rippling, Square, Stripe… you get the idea.

Gil, who has also founded multiple companies like Mixerlabs (bought by Twitter) and Color Health, always seems to know what’s next. And he’s already working on the next things coming for AI and investing.

Building What’s Next with the Minds Behind Twitter and Meta
Adam Bain and Dick Costolo, co-founders and managing partners, and David Fischer, partner, at 01 Advisors

Join these three powerhouse investors from 01 Advisors for an insider fireside chat on what it really takes to build, scale, and fund early-stage startups today. From product to growth to fundraising, you’ll get candid advice and fresh perspectives from industry veterans shaping the next wave of tech success.

Seed Money Secrets Every Founder Should Know
Gabby Cazeau, partner, Harlem Capital, Marlon Nichols, co-Founder and managing general partner, MaC Venture Capital, and Maria Palma, partner, Freestyle Capital

Raising your first round is tough, but far from impossible. This panel brings together experienced investors to break down what it really takes to close a seed round. From crafting the right pitch to ensuring you are greenlighting the right partners, get actionable advice to turn investor interest into capital.

How to Raise a Series A in 2026
Sangeen Zeb, general partner, GV, and more speakers to be announced

In this unfiltered panel, top VCs reveal what really gets them to offer a term sheet with a healthy valuation — from metrics that matter to the pitch mistakes that kill deals. Learn how to position your company for its first priced, institutional investment.

What VCs Really Want to Hear in Your Pitch
Medha Agarwal, general partner, defy.vc, Jyoti Bansal, CEO and co-founder, Harness, and Jennifer Neundorfer, general partner, January Ventures

Investors hear hundreds of pitches, but only a few stand out. Hear directly from VCs on what they love, what makes them cringe, and the subtle signals founders often miss. This panel reveals insider tips to help you craft a pitch that grabs attention, builds trust, and wins the right checks.

Rethinking Startup Capital Without VCs
Erik Allebest, co-founder and CEO, Chess.com, Kay Makishi, Lupoff/Stevens Family Office, and Gale Wilkinson, managing partner, VITALIZE Venture Capital

VCs aren’t the only game in town. Join us as we explore alternative fundraising paths with an angel investor, a family office vice president, and a founder who bootstrapped to success. Learn how to tap into capital that aligns with your vision, keeps you in control, and gets you to the next stage on your terms.

Preparing Now for Your Later Stage Raise
Lila Preston, head of growth equity, Generation Investment Management, Andrea Thomaz, CEO and co-founder, Diligent Robotics, and Zeya Yang, partner, IVP

Raising later-stage rounds takes more than luck — it’s about strategy from day one. Join these three exceptional VCs as they share how to build metrics, storytelling, and relationships that position your startup for future funding success. Learn the key moves that set you up to close bigger rounds with confidence.

Where VCs Are Placing Their Bets in 2026
Nina Achadjian, partner, Index Ventures, Jerry Chen, general partner, Greylock, and Viviana Faga, general partner, Felicis 

Curious where the smart money is heading next? This panel brings together top VCs to share their 2026 investment priorities, emerging sectors, and what innovations are catching their eye. Early-stage founders, this one is for you! Get a rare glimpse into the trends and technologies that could shape your business in the year ahead.

Scaling Smart

Building in a Time of Uncertainty
Ryan Petersen, founder and CEO, Flexport

Uncertainty is the new normal, but it’s also an opportunity. In this fireside chat, Ryan Petersen, CEO of global logistics unicorn Flexport, shares his hard-won insights. With $2.3B raised, Flexport’s shipping technology intersects international business and policy, giving Petersen almost prescient economic insights. He’s been vocal about everything from tariff policy to AI. He’s also experienced personal volatility, famously leaving his CEO role and then returning less than a year later. Founders, take notes: this is how you build when the rules keep changing. 

How to Nail Product Market Fit
Rajat Bhageria, founder and CEO, Chef Robotics, Ann Bordetsky, partner, NEA, and Murali Joshi, partner, ICONIQ

Building a product is hard. Building one that customers are chomping at the bit to get, that’s priced right, and delivers on its promises is even harder, and it’s always messy. But once you hit the holy grail of product-market fit, your startup is on a fast track to growth, funding, and traction. Hear from a founder who’s lived it and two investors who’ve helped many others get there. This panel breaks down how to test smarter and iterate with intention so you can stop guessing and start growing.

How Much Salary and Equity Should You Really Offer Early Employees?
Randi Jakubowitz, head of operations and talent, 645 Ventures, Rebecca Lee Whiting, fractional general counsel for early-stage startups, Epigram Legal P.C., and Yin Wu, CEO and founder, Pulley

Early hires shape your startup’s future, but only if you can attract and keep them. This panel dives into building equity and benefits packages that compete with big tech without breaking your burn rate. Hear real-world strategies to align incentives, boost retention, and build a team that scales.

With Vibe Coding, Do Early Stage Startups Still Need to Hire 10x Engineers?
David Cramer, co-founder and CPO, Sentry, Lauri Moore, partner, Bessemer Venture Partners, and a speaker to be announced

Vibe coding products have completely changed the speed, cost, and technical skill needed to build products, from prototypes to shipping. This is especially true for early stage startups. Some makers of these products have even declared that no one needs to learn to code anymore. If so, that means startups don’t need to fill their early rosters with the famed 10x coders. But how much of that is hype and how much is reality? Our panelists will dive into how the developer tool world is changing and what comes next. 

Should You Hire AI as Early Employees?
Caleb Peffer, co-founder and CEO, Firecrawl, and more speakers to be announced

Most startups today are using AI in some capacities: vibe coding prototypes or new features, deep research via their favorite chat before sales calls. Many are also building AI products, or at least including AI options and features. So, should you embed AI at the root operations of your businesses, like hiring AI agents instead of humans for sales? For customer support? To automate your billing? Learn how to pick the right use cases, build smarter workflows, and get the biggest impact with limited resources.

Do Startups Still Need Silicon Valley?
Anh-Tho Chuong, CEO and co-founder, Lago, Heather Doshay, partner, head of talent, SignalFire, and David Hall, managing partner, rise of the rest seed fund, Revolution 

While Silicon Valley is still the startup capital, how important is access to it anymore? This panel debates whether founders must plant roots in the Valley to succeed or if opportunity is so strong elsewhere that they don’t need it. Hear perspectives from investors and founders redefining what it means to build, scale, and fund a company in today’s decentralized tech world.

Building a GTM Engine that Actually Works
Max Altschuler, founder and general partner, GTMfund, and more speakers to be announced 

A killer product needs a killer go-to-market strategy. This panel breaks down how early-stage startups can build a GTM function that drives growth, wins customers, and scales efficiently. Hear from founders and GTM experts on hiring, messaging, sales tactics, and the key metrics that prove your approach is working.

Want to see more?

Not only will you gain invaluable insights from these tech giants live at Disrupt 2025 alongside 10,000+ startup, tech, and VC leaders this October, but you can also save up to $675 on your pass today. Register here to lock in your savings.

It’s been over four years since Spotify first announced its plans to launch a lossless audio tier that has yet to arrive.

After numerous leaks and teases from company execs, we know better than to start hoping that the long-delayed service could be finally nearing arrival.

But newly added references in the music app’s code suggest the lossless service is at least still under development and could even be getting closer to launch.

According to technologist and reverse engineer Chris Messina, a number of references to “lossless” have popped up in Wednesday’s build of the Spotify desktop app.

These code snippets mainly refer to help cards that would appear to inform the end user about what the lossless tier offers and how to use or troubleshoot the service.

For instance, one card says, “Lossless music, now in premium,” while another describes it as the “best sound quality on Spotify for music in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz.”

Some of the cards warn users that particular songs aren’t available in lossless or when their device has bad connectivity, which could affect playback. Another notes that lossless music is “best enjoyed on devices compatible with Spotify Connect and/or wired devices.”

In addition, Reddit user u/bendotlc noted that other changes were seen in the latest version of the mobile app, where the code now mentions lossless: “Say hello to the best sound quality on Spotify. Listen to high-fidelity music in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz.” The Redditor claims the feature is actually present in the app, but is currently disabled. (TechCrunch confirmed these claims with data provided by Appsensa, see below.)

Of course, code references don’t mean the lossless feature is coming anytime soon.

As we’ve seen in previous years, leaks and code references have appeared before, and yet the high-quality audio tier never arrived.

When asked directly about lossless and other plans for premium tiers on recent earnings calls with investors, Spotify execs, including CEO Daniel Ek, would only hint that the company was investing in premium products for “super fans.” They wouldn’t give a time frame on when these or any other higher-quality streaming options would finally launch.

Most recently, Spotify Chief Business Officer Alex Norstrom told investors on the Q1 2025 call that Spotify was still investing in more premium tiers.

“Now, with regards to higher tiers, we see great potential in them as we’ve mentioned before,” he said. “So creating higher tiers around new offerings is something we are working towards as it really opens up new opportunities to delight users,” Norstrom said at the time.

When Spotify first announced its plans for Spotify HiFi, as it was then called, in 2021, it said that the service would offer users music in “CD-quality, lossless audio format.” It had run tests of a lossless option in the years before this, however.

Eventually, Spotify pointed to licensing issues as the reason for its delay in launching.

In what could be promising news on that front, the streamer signed new deals with labels including Warner Music and Universal Music Group in early 2025, which could pave the way for the lossless tier — or so music fans hope.

Bloomberg also reported earlier this year that a premium Music Pro tier would launch later in 2025, which would include high-quality streaming, remixing, and other features.

Spotify declined to comment on this report.

Updated after publication with additional data from Spotify’s mobile app.

OpenAI researchers say they’ve discovered hidden features inside AI models that correspond to misaligned “personas,” or types of people, according to new research published by the company on Wednesday.

By looking at an AI model’s internal representations — the numbers that dictate how an AI model responds, which often seem completely incoherent to humans — OpenAI researchers were able to find patterns that lit up when a model misbehaved.

The researchers found one such feature that corresponded to toxic behavior in an AI model’s responses — meaning the AI model would lie to users or make irresponsible suggestions, like asking the user to share their password or hack into a friend’s account.

The researchers discovered they were able to turn toxicity up or down simply by adjusting the feature.

OpenAI’s latest research gives the company a better understanding of the factors that can make AI models act unsafely, and thus, could help them develop safer AI models. OpenAI could potentially use the patterns they’ve found to better detect misalignment in production AI models, according to OpenAI interpretability researcher Dan Mossing.

“We are hopeful that the tools we’ve learned — like this ability to reduce a complicated phenomenon to a simple mathematical operation — will help us understand model generalization in other places as well,” said Mossing in an interview with TechCrunch.

AI researchers know how to improve AI models, but confusingly, they don’t fully understand how AI models arrive at their answers — Anthropic’s Chris Olah often remarks that AI models are grown more than they are built. OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic are investing more in interpretability research — a field that tries to crack open the black box of how AI models work — to address this issue.

A recent study from independent researcher Owain Evans raised new questions about how AI models generalize. The research found that OpenAI’s models could be fine-tuned on insecure code and would then display malicious behaviors across a variety of domains, such as trying to trick a user into sharing their password. The phenomenon is known as emergent misalignment, and Evans’ study inspired OpenAI to explore this further.

But in the process of studying emergent misalignment, OpenAI says it stumbled into features inside AI models that seem to play a large role in controlling behavior. Mossing says these patterns are reminiscent of internal brain activity in humans, in which certain neurons correlate to moods or behaviors.

“When Dan and team first presented this in a research meeting, I was like, ‘Wow, you guys found it,’” said Tejal Patwardhan, an OpenAI frontier evaluations researcher, in an interview with TechCrunch. “You found like, an internal neural activation that shows these personas and that you can actually steer to make the model more aligned.”

Some features OpenAI found correlate to sarcasm in AI model responses, whereas other features correlate to more toxic responses in which an AI model acts as a cartoonish, evil villain. OpenAI’s researchers say these features can change drastically during the fine-tuning process.

Notably, OpenAI researchers said that when emergent misalignment occurred, it was possible to steer the model back toward good behavior by fine-tuning the model on just a few hundred examples of secure code.

OpenAI’s latest research builds on the previous work Anthropic has done on interpretability and alignment. In 2024, Anthropic released research that tried to map the inner workings of AI models, trying to pin down and label various features that were responsible for different concepts.

Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are making the case that there’s real value in understanding how AI models work, and not just making them better. However, there’s a long way to go to fully understand modern AI models.