Author: TechBrunch
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Sequoia managing partner Roelof Botha argued that the venture industry is not an asset class and that pouring more money into Silicon Valley won't create better companies. “Investing in ventures is a risk with no return,” Botha said in an interview on the main stage at TechCrunch's Disrupt on Monday. “If you've ever studied capital asset pricing models, you know the joke. The reason I came up with this is because if you look at the history of venture capital, venture capital is an asset that is uncorrelated with other asset classes.” “So the thinking of…
Astro Teller, CEO of X, Alphabet's “moonshot factory” where the company develops nearly impossible things, shared what makes a moonshot and detailed the company's “fail fast” mantra at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 conference on Monday. Notable companies that started as moonshots from X's Moonshot factory include Waymo and Wing. Teller pointed out that Company X has a “2% hit rate,” which means most of what the company tries won't work, but that's OK. He said X defines a moonshot as having three specific components. The first is that we need to try to solve the world's big problems. Second, you…
In an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on Monday, Sequoia Capital managing partner Roelof Botha defended fellow Sequoia partner Sean Maguire over Maguire's controversial comments earlier this year, saying the firm believes in its partners' right to “free speech.” In a July 4 post on X, Maguire attacked New York City mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani, calling him an “Islamist” who “comes from a culture that lies about everything.” His comments sparked considerable backlash online and sparked a debate about the reputational risk for the VC firm, which has backed companies such as Airbnb, Google, Nvidia and Stripe. Immediately after the…
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is coming! If you're still on the fence about attending in person, join us for the extensive schedule of speakers, networking opportunities, workshops, afterparties, and more available here. There's still time to get your tickets! However, if you can't attend in person, checking out Disrupt Stage's livestream is the next best thing. The Disrupt Stage will feature some of the most prominent speakers and the highly anticipated Startup Battlefield 200 pitch competition. We're streaming via YouTube, so you can watch the embed below or click this link to watch live. Below is an overview of what you…
On day one today, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is at full throttle. 10,000 founders, investors, and builders flock to Moscone West to run ideas, demos, and trades nonstop. The energy is exciting, conversations are everywhere, and breakthroughs are just beginning. From the startup battlefield to the AI Disruptor 60, from space entrepreneurs to founders redefining how and when startups go public, this is where the next decade of technology is being written. Every conversation in the hallway, every roundtable, every coffee chat can lead to a new partnership or the next big company. See the list of speakers. Not registered yet?…
Despite growing rumors of an AI bubble, Sequoia Capital insists its investment approach is not influenced by market enthusiasm. “Markets ebb and flow, but our strategy remains consistent. We are always looking for outlier founders with ideas to build generational businesses,” said Bogomir Balkansky, partner in Sequoia's early investment team. Demonstrating this consistency, Sequoia on Monday announced two new funds roughly matching the size of those launched nearly three years ago. A $750 million early-stage fund and a $200 million seed fund for Series A startups. These funds were introduced after a tumultuous time for the legendary company. In 2021,…
Prominent investors Accel and Prosus are launching a new investment partnership to support Indian startups from the ground up, targeting founders building large-scale solutions that have the potential to serve the South Asian country's masses. The partnership, announced on Monday, marks the first time Prosus has invested in an establishment stage. The companies will co-invest from the early stages of startups, focusing on companies that address systemic challenges across areas such as automation, energy transition, internet services, and manufacturing. India, the world's most populous country with over 1.4 billion people, is a rapidly growing digital economy. The country has more…
The countdown is almost over – tomorrow is the day! In less than 24 hours, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will take over Moscone West. From October 27th to 29th, 10,000 founders, investors, and innovators will flock to San Francisco for three days of building, connecting, and trading. We're just days away from live demos of never-before-seen technology and high-stakes pitches where startups compete for a $100,000 prize. The stage is being set. The booth is lit up. Founders are fine-tuning their pitch. Investors are starting to erase their calendars. Once the excitement starts, nonstop conversations, demos, and trading begin. Last time…
The countdown is almost over – tomorrow is the day! In less than 24 hours, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will take over Moscone West. From October 27th to 29th, 10,000 founders, investors, and innovators will flock to San Francisco for three days of building, connecting, and trading. We're just days away from live demos of never-before-seen technology and high-stakes pitches where startups compete for a $100,000 prize. The stage is being set. The booth is lit up. Founders are fine-tuning their pitch. Investors are starting to erase their calendars. Once the excitement starts, nonstop conversations, demos, and trading begin. Last time…
New AI-powered web browsers, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity's Comet, are poised to supplant Google Chrome as the gateway to the internet for billions of users. The main selling point of these products is a web-browsing AI agent that promises to complete tasks on your behalf by clicking on websites and filling out forms. But consumers may be unaware of the significant risks to user privacy associated with agent browsing, an issue the entire technology industry is grappling with. Cybersecurity experts who spoke to TechCrunch said AI browser agents pose a greater risk to user privacy compared to…