Andreessen Horowitz is funding a San Francisco academy, led by Udemy cofounder Gagan Biyani, that offers high school graduates a tuition-free, one-year program focused on building startups rather than academic coursework. The founding cohort of about 50 students will skip tests and homework, instead working on real projects with mentors from firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta, and receiving roughly $50,000 in computing credit plus a $5,000 travel and research budget. OpenAI's Sam Altman is named as a guest lecturer or instructor, and other tech figures, including Fidji Simo, are contributing funding.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-23
TechCrunch has three days left on its early ticket pricing for Disrupt 2026, offering savings of up to $200 before the discount expires on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The event runs October 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West and expects more than 10,000 founders, investors, and operators to attend, with features including AI-powered 1:1 meeting matchmaking and a dedicated Networking Lounge.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-23
Jotform founder Aytekin Tank describes building the online form-builder outside Silicon Valley's typical playbook, launching the product free for its first two years before introducing pricing. He says he avoided venture capital, skipped relocating to Silicon Valley, and built the company around long-term thinking and teamwork rather than rapid VC-fueled growth.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-22
Massachusetts startup Noble Carbon has built circuit breakers that dynamically adjust electricity flow to EV chargers, heat pumps, and induction stoves, letting homeowners avoid costly electrical panel upgrades. The company will present at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield in October as one of 200 competing startups, with 20 advancing to the main stage.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-22
Jeff Bezos has long attributed Amazon's rise from a small Seattle startup to a global corporate giant to a consistent two-word principle he says he repeated for three decades. He frames this mantra as the underlying operating philosophy that shaped Amazon's decisions and culture throughout its history.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-22
TechCrunch has reopened exhibitor bookings for its Disrupt 2026 conference, giving startups that missed the original deadline a final window to secure a table. The event runs October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco and is expected to draw over 10,000 founders, investors, and industry professionals. The new booking deadline is September 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT, with tables allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-22
A startup founder describes abandoning the popular tech-industry belief that extreme overwork—citing examples like Elon Musk and Marissa Mayer—signals dedication and predicts success. After personally working 18-hour days while skipping meals and sleep, the founder concluded this approach was unsustainable and shifted toward building a company culture designed for long-term thriving rather than constant survival mode.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-22
TechCrunch is offering discounts of up to $200 on tickets for its Disrupt 2026 conference, set for October 13-15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, with the reduced pricing ending September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Buyers can also get a second ticket of the same type at half price, and the event will host over 10,000 attendees along with 200 early-stage startups in its Startup Battlefield program.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-21
Benchmark's entire current partnership—Jack Altman, Peter Fenton, Chetan Puttagunta, Everett Randle and Eric Vishria—will join a single main-stage panel at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, marking the first time the full team has appeared together on the Disrupt Stage. The session, titled 'What We Believe Now,' will focus on where future startups may emerge and which founder assumptions deserve rethinking. The panel follows Benchmark's recent expansion, having raised roughly $2 billion this year across a new flagship fund and its first growth fund.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-21
TechCrunch announced another five investors joining the judging panel for its Startup Battlefield 200 pitch competition, which runs October 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West as part of Disrupt 2026. Founders selected for the contest get six minutes to pitch followed by investor questioning, with a $100,000 prize awarded to the winning startup. This group joins ten judges previously revealed for the event.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-21
Palo Alto startup ScrollEd, presenting at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield 200, has built an app that transforms text files like PDFs and textbooks into short-form vertical feeds resembling Instagram Reels or TikTok. Users scroll through AI-generated video, audio, text, and quizzes, swiping up for new topics and sideways to dig deeper into a subject. Co-founders Utsav Gupta and Rebecca Neff, both current students, bootstrapped the company after growing frustrated with unproductive doomscrolling.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-20
TechCrunch is offering discounted early registration for its Disrupt 2026 conference, with savings of up to $200 expiring September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The event, running October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, will feature over 250 speakers, 200+ sessions across six stages, and more than 300 exhibiting startups. Attendees can also access networking tools like AI matchmaking and the Deal Flow Café to connect with investors and partners.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-20
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