Science & Technology

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Day One With Astro Teller, Vinod Khosla and Startup Battlefield

Today marks the first day of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, and before we dive into our packed agenda, remember that it’s not too late to get a ticket for our entire three-day event: You can watch the Disrupt Stage programming right here, and we’ll be broadcasting the following sessions for anyone to watch live. Stay tuned…

Published

5 months ago

October 27, 2025

CYBER TECH TV

Today marks the first day of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, and before we dive into our packed agenda, remember that it’s not too late to get a ticket for our entire three-day event:

You can watch the Disrupt Stage programming right here, and we’ll be broadcasting the following sessions for anyone to watch live. Stay tuned for Tuesday and Wednesday when we’ll be broadcasting the rest of our Disrupt Stage sessions.

Opening remarks, Startup Battlefield Session One: 10-11:45am
Our first round of Battlefield finalists will deliver their pitches live on stage in front of a lineup of judges featuring Allison Baum Gates of SemperVirens, Cathy Friedman from GV, Seven Seven Six’s Katelin Holloway, Precursor’s Charles Hudson and Nicolas Sauvage of TDK Ventures.

The Self-Driving Reality Check: 11:15-11:45am
Tekedra Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo, takes the stage to talk about where AVs actually stand, what it’s taken to get to real deployments, and why the race isn’t just about tech, it’s about trust.

Startup Battlefield Session TwoL 1:30-2:45pm
The second lineup of Battlefield competitors take to the stage, where they’ll be vetted by our panel of judges featuring Eryk Dobrushkin of Index Ventures, Nvidia’s Jen Hoskins, Insight Ventures’ Thomas Krane, DXV’s Jon McNeil and Katie Stanton of Moxie Ventures.

What Sequoia Sees Coming Next: 2:45-3:15pm
Roelof Botha is among the most influential VCs of the modern era, and this is your chance to hear how today’s most ambitious founders are navigating AI, geopolitics, and a shifting capital landscape.

Moonshots, AI, and the Future of Alphabet: 3:15-3:45pm
Astro Teller leads the lab where Alphabet incubates the nearly impossible, and he’s going to provide a rare look into what’s succeeding within X, how their “fail fast” mantra is faring, and his perspective on, you guessed it, AI.

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4 Comments

@Budulai89

October 28, 2025 at 2:06 am

First

Reply
@mugume

October 28, 2025 at 3:28 am

Miraqules yeah!!!!!

Reply
@r.m8146

October 28, 2025 at 1:51 pm

At this point, not implementing Waymo all over the world is negligence. Millions of deaths would be avoided.

Reply
@AlmanLui

October 28, 2025 at 8:35 pm

6:33:06

Reply

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Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.
TechCrunch Disrupt: If you’re thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we’re back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type.

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

Chapters:
00:00 We grew too fast
02:30 What Anjuna actually does
04:45 Scaling the team quickly
06:10 The market crash hits
09:40 Handling layoffs with empathy
12:10 Supporting employees the right way
15:30 Why culture matters in crisis
20:50 The hiring mistake founders make
27:40 When to scale your sales team
34:40 Rebuilding after layoffs

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