Toast President to Headline Boston Tech Event
A full-day summit on November 4 will feature leaders from Bessemer and Glasswing discussing scaling strategies at SoWa Power Station.
By Harper Laurent ·
Steve Fredette, president of Toast, will open the Founder Summit 2026 on November 4 at SoWa Power Station in Boston. The full-day event is organized by TechCrunch in partnership with Fidelity Private Shares. Fredette will speak on the Impact Stage about building a company that continuously reinvents itself. Toast has grown from a local startup into a public company, and the session will examine how the business has evolved while maintaining its core focus.
The program includes sessions on customer acquisition, team building, and pitch development. Two investor-led talks address the balance between rapid growth and strategic restraint. Kent Bennett, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, will lead a discussion on finding product market fit before scaling. He will discuss the signals founders should observe before increasing headcount or spending. Rudina Seseri, founder of Glasswing Ventures, will follow with a session on knowing when to accelerate and when to pause.
Lior Div, CEO of 7AI, will present on building companies around artificial intelligence from the start. His talk will distinguish between adding AI to existing processes and designing a company's architecture around the technology. The event also features a focus on the local technology ecosystem. Chase Garbarino, CEO of HqO, will discuss the Boston founder playbook. He will cover talent, capital, and community in the region, offering a perspective that differs from the Silicon Valley model.
Dave Balter, a venture partner at True Ventures, will lead a session on pitching. He argues that a pitch must earn the next conversation. Later in the day, founders will present live to a panel on the Build Stage. The panel will include Chirag Shah of Define Ventures and Simran Suri of Maveron. Attendees will hear investor feedback in real time during these presentations.
Other speakers include Hunter Worland of NEA, who will discuss distribution as a competitive advantage. Vineet Edupuganti, CEO of Cogent Security, will speak on building high-performance teams. Tina Tosukhowong of TDK Ventures will address hidden signals in identifying category winners. Fidelity Private Shares will host sessions on fundraising trends and enterprise relationships.
The event includes smaller roundtables and a closing reception. TechCrunch is offering a 25% discount on tickets and a buy-one-get-one promotion for early registrations. The summit aims to provide practical guidance for founders making decisions before all answers are available.
