Boston Startup Agenda: Six Roundtables Address Enterprise Sales and AI

Six focused discussions will take place during the Founder Summit in Boston on November 4.

The event is scheduled to take place at SoWa Power Station. TechCrunch is organizing the gathering for founders, investors, and operators. The agenda includes standard programming such as live pitching and networking. Organizers have added a specific block of smaller sessions designed for detailed problem solving. These roundtables allow attendees to bring specific company challenges to the table. Participants will work through issues with experts and other founders.

The first session is set for 10:45 a.m. on the day of the event. Alexandra Ames, founder of Blueprint Lab, will lead that discussion. Her topic covers strategic event participation for early stage companies that lack full time staff. The conversation will address how to choose opportunities and define success with limited resources. Two sessions will run concurrently at 11:30 a.m. Chirag Shah, a partner at Define Ventures, will discuss entering regulated or complex markets. Shishir Tewari, head of enterprise data engineering at Procore Technologies, will examine the use of knowledge graphs and GraphRAG. He will explain how these tools can improve the reliability of AI systems in real world organizations.

Afternoon programming begins at 1:15 p.m. Merve Kitapci, managing partner and CGO of ADIN.AI, will lead that session. She will discuss how founders can secure major enterprise customers early in their lifecycle. Her examples include closing deals with L'Oreal and Vodafone before a Series A funding round. The session will address long buying cycles and the value of prominent customer logos. Andy Tang, a partner at Draper Associates, will follow at 1:55 p.m. His session targets founders whose products do not fit established categories. He will discuss how to explain these products and help investors understand the opportunity. Linden Tibbets, CEO of IFTTT, will lead the final roundtable at 2:35 p.m. He will explore how smaller teams can use AI to increase output without adding headcount. The discussion will cover hiring and efficiency within an AI enabled structure.

The roundtables are part of a larger program. Sessions on the Build and Impact Stages will cover topics such as product market fit and fundraising. Steve Fredette, co-founder of Toast, is scheduled to share his perspective. A live pitching competition called So You Think You Can Pitch will also take place. A Networking Lounge with Braindate will be available for attendees. Fidelity Private Shares will present the closing reception. TechCrunch is currently offering a 25 percent discount on tickets for a limited time. A buy one get one free deal is also available for attendees who wish to bring a colleague.