The idea of hiring a “first critical engineer” is to earn a serious reality check for TechCrunch from 2025-29 October in West Moscon, San Francisco.
Join Lauri Moore, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, David Cramer, co-founder and chief product officer of Sentry, and David Cramer, founder and CEO of Warp, to join the Builders Stage for an honest conversation about how developer tools shape early product development.
Moore brings deep expertise in AI, infrastructure and developer tools from both the investor and founder perspectives. Launched Sentry as an open source side project in 2012 and expanded to a platform used by over 4 million developers, Cramer offers direct insight into how the right tools and employment can accelerate product speeds without overbuilding. Lloyd, who founded Warp to reinvent the terminal with an AI-driven developer experience, adds the founder's building perspective for builders at the bleeding edge of coding workflows.
Vibe coding: Hype or a new reality?
We'll explore what today's founders actually need from their initial engineering employment, what AI-enabled touring can and cannot replace, and how GTM (to-market) and the entire product lifecycle adapts to this new world of development. Whether you're a founder or a CTO, or you're interested in whether the code is still king, this panel enters the messy, tactical details of modern startup buildings.
Stay there for big questions and even bigger answers
TechCrunch's 2025 brings together over 10,000 startup founders, VC leaders and tech innovators to tackle what's next in technology. Don't miss out on the opportunity to take part in the conversation and shape the future with the people who are building it.
Regular bird pricing will close on September 26th at 11:59pm. Secure your pass today and save up to $668.
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TechCrunch Events
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025