Tag: Disrupt 2025

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Sequoia managing partner Roelof Botha argued that the venture industry isn’t an asset class, and that throwing more money into Silicon Valley doesn’t lead to better companies.

“Investing in venture is a return-free risk,” Botha said during an interview on TechCrunch’s Disrupt’s main stage on Monday. “Anybody who’s studied the capital asset pricing model understands the joke of that. The reason I came up with this is, if you look at the history of venture capital, it’s an asset that’s uncorrelated with other asset classes.”

“And so the thinking for many allocators was you should allocate a certain percentage of your portfolio to this and more money should flow to venture capital, but the truth is that there are only so many companies that matter,” Botha continued.

“In my opinion, throwing more money into Silicon Valley doesn’t yield more great companies. It actually dilutes that, it actually makes it harder for us to get that small number of special companies to flourish,” added Botha.

Botha noted that there are currently 3,000 venture firms in the United States, while there were just 1,000 when he joined Sequoia 20 years ago.

“When I joined Sequoia 2003 there were no mobile devices,” said Botha “Cloud computing didn’t exist. There were maybe 300 million people on the planet that had access to the internet. So the scale of the opportunity today is completely different. If you look technically at the numbers, I think for the last 20 years, there’s roughly been 380 billion-dollar-plus outcomes in the industry,” Botha said (meaning roughly 20 per year).

“That’s a significant number, but I don’t think it will continue to scale just with more money going into the industry.”

Seven years after unveiling Mirror at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018, Brynn Putnam is returning to the stage where it all began. The serial entrepreneur who turned a fitness concept into a $500 million acquisition by Lululemon will debut her latest venture at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 at San Francisco’s Moscone West in October.

Putnam’s path from that breakthrough Disrupt moment to today is a story of very smart timing. Mirror, the connected fitness device that brought boutique workout classes into homes, launched just as the pandemic created unprecedented demand for home fitness solutions. The timing proved so prescient that Lululemon acquired the company for $500 million just two years after its Disrupt debut.

Now Putnam is betting on another cultural shift — the growing desire to disconnect from screens and reconnect with family and friends in person. Her new company, still operating in stealth mode, is developing consumer gaming hardware designed to bring people face-to-face rather than isolate them behind individual devices.

“We’re about to enter a golden age of hardware,” Putnam recently told TechCrunch at one of its investor-focused StrictlyVC evenings, pointing to the convergence of mature display technologies, affordable components, and AI capabilities that make new types of interactive devices possible.

The new venture represents a shift in priorities for Putnam. Where Mirror was about individual performance and self-improvement, her latest project focuses on shared experiences and strengthening relationships. She describes it as using technology not as the primary experience but as an enabler for better human connections.

Drawing inspiration from Nintendo’s philosophy of using “withered technology with lateral thinking” — mature, affordable components combined with innovative experiences — Putnam is following the playbook that made Mirror successful. Rather than pushing technological boundaries, though, she’s focusing on creating compelling user experiences with proven hardware.

The gaming space represents a natural next step for Putnam, who built her reputation on understanding how tech can motivate behavior change. Her boutique fitness studios taught her how to create engaging group experiences, lessons she applied to Mirror’s virtual classes and now to gaming scenarios that encourage face-to-face interaction.

Lerer Hippeau, the venture firm that led Mirror’s $3 million seed round, has already participated in a highly competitive funding round for Putnam’s new company, signaling strong investor confidence in her ability to identify and capitalize on consumer trends.

The timing also aligns with a broader resurgence in consumer hardware investing. After years of focus on enterprise software and AI infrastructure, investors are showing renewed interest in consumer-facing hardware that can leverage AI and mature component ecosystems to create new categories of devices.

Putnam’s appearance at Disrupt 2025 comes as TechCrunch celebrates its 20th anniversary, and attendees can be assured we’re bringing together the biggest names in tech to share insights on the future of innovation.

Meanwhile, for entrepreneurs and investors watching consumer tech trends, Putnam’s return to the Disrupt Stage will provide a chance to see how one of the category’s most successful recent founders is positioning for the next wave of innovation. Don’t miss it. Register now for Disrupt 2025 to see what Brynn Putnam unveils next, and save up to $668 by September 26, 11:59 p.m. PT.

The tech epicenter of the year runs October 27-29 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

For an Investor Pass that includes access to the StrictlyVC event at Disrupt — plus exclusive perks — click here to learn more and secure yours.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 hits Moscone West in San Francisco from October 27 to 29, bringing together 10,000+ startup and VC leaders for three days of bold ideas, groundbreaking tech, and future-shaping conversations. One of the most highly anticipated sessions happening on one of the two AI Stages will spotlight where AI hardware is heading next, featuring a live look at the robotics and autonomous systems pushing boundaries in real time.

AI may be reshaping software, but when it comes to robotics and autonomous systems, the big breakout moment is still on the horizon. That’s what makes this session at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 so compelling. Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi, and Jeff Cardenas, co-founder and CEO of Apptronik, are joining forces on the AI Stage to talk about what it takes to put intelligence into motion — whether it’s behind the wheel or on two legs.

AI meets real-world physics

This conversation dives into the complex systems that power autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots — and the simulation, sensors, and software infrastructure needed to scale them safely. Both Waabi and Apptronik are pushing the limits of what’s possible in the physical world. At Disrupt, they’ll walk us through the breakthroughs and bottlenecks shaping the next generation of intelligent machines.

Why this session matters

AI is already changing how we build, ship, and move — but physical deployment brings a unique set of constraints and opportunities. Expect a grounded, forward-looking discussion on how the smartest robots and self-driving platforms are coming to life, and what that means for the future of industry, labor, and infrastructure.

Catch Raquel Urtasun and Jeff Cardenas on the AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27 to 29 at Moscone West in San Francisco. Register now to join more than 10,000 startup and VC leaders and save up to $668 before prices increase on September 26, 11:59 p.m. PT.

Last year’s TechCrunch Disrupt Side Events drew hundreds of founders, investors, and operators after hours — from intimate roundtables to lively happy hours to full-on pitch competitions. Each event unlocked new opportunities for the hosts: investor deal flow, talent connections, and brand exposure with the startup community.

This year, you can do the same. As a Side Event host during “Disrupt Week” (October 25–31), you’ll tap into an audience of 10,000+ attendees, plus the broader Bay Area tech community.

Why host a Side Event?

• Visibility: Your brand featured in Disrupt 2025 Side Event listings on the event site, event app, and TechCrunch.com.
• Connections: Meet startup leaders and investors in your own environment.
• Flexibility: From panels to parties, it’s your format, your brand.

Applications are free — and spots are limited. Submit your Side Event before applications close this Friday, September 12.

Early-stage founders, take note. The Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will feature a powerhouse panel of seasoned investors sharing where their firms are placing bets for 2026 and beyond.

Joining us onstage

• Nina Achadjian, partner, Index Ventures — focused on automating overlooked industries and investing across AI, robotics, and vertical SaaS.
• Jerry Chen, general partner, Greylock — backing product-driven founders in AI, data, cloud infrastructure, and open source.
• Viviana Faga, general partner, Felicis — bringing two decades of expertise in scaling go-to-market SaaS, category creation, and brand strategy.

Together, this seasoned group of VCs will reveal the sectors and innovations capturing their attention — from AI and data to cloud and robotics — and offer insights on what the “smart money” is chasing in the year ahead. For founders, this is a rare opportunity to get a direct perspective on how the next wave of investments is being shaped.

Don’t miss it

This session is part of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, running October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco.

Save up to $668 with standard low pricing — available through September 26. Prices increase on September 27.

The Disrupt 2025 agenda is now LIVE and GROWING!