Disrupt kicks off tomorrow — check out the highlights • ProWellTech

Happy ProWellTech Disrupt eve! That’s right, tech’s OG conference dedicated to early-stage startup founders — and the ecosystem that supports them — kicks off tomorrow at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

No FOMO zone: It’s not too late to buy a pass and get in on all the action and opportunity. We’d love to see you!

Here’s a quick look at just some of the sessions, speakers and other happenings you can take in over the next three days. Have a look at the agenda for times and stage locations and then fire up your event app, build your schedule and start connecting and networking with other attendees.

Tuesday, October 18

Live on Stage: ProWellTech’s Equity: Join Mary Ann Azevedo, Natasha Mascarenhas and Alex Wilhelm for a live recording of Equity, the podcast about the business of startups. They’ll unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines and will wade through the hype to keep you up-to-date on the world of business, tech and VC.

How to Build Your Early VC Network — Turning Social Capital into Financial Capital: If you haven’t heard of Nik, Josh or Gefen, where have you been? They are founders who are not only building very interesting companies but have also taken a forward approach toward making noise on social media. We want to dive into how being a public person can help founders build a future public company. This is a panel that will be informative and lots of fun. Nik Milanović founder, This Week in Fintech, and general partner, The Fintech Fund; Joshua Ogundu, CEO, Campfire; and Gefen Skolnick, founder, Couplet Coffee.

Winning the War on Ransomware: Ransomware attacks are escalating at an alarming rate. We’ll hear from experts about what winning the war on ransomware looks like and how startups can play their part. Brett Callow, threat analyst at Emsisoft, and Katie Moussouris, founder and CEO at Luta Security.

Wednesday, October 19

The Art of Inclusivity with Kevin Hart: Financial inclusion is multifaceted: you’re fighting against homogeneous networks, deceptive warm intros and the basic need for more fluency across different demographics. There’s an art to it. Comedian and actor Kevin Hart, Mike Elanjian of Capital Connect by JPMorgan, and Robert Roman of HartBeat Ventures are joining us to talk about these very complexities. HartBeat Ventures will also chat about their work investing in the likes of Beyond Meat, Fabletics and Therabody, while JPMorgan will give us a look at how institutions are breaking down barriers. Michael Elanjian, head of digital investment banking and digital private markets at JP Morgan; Kevin Hart, founder at HartBeat Ventures; and Robert Roman, president and co-founder of HartBeat Ventures.

Acing Venture: Serena Williams is the greatest to ever play the game of tennis, and she’s already made a name for herself as a VC in the tech world. At Disrupt, Williams and her Serena Ventures partner Alison Rapaport will join us to discuss the next chapter of Serena’s career, swapping out the racket for several (hundred) inbound pitch decks. We’ll talk about their investment thesis, her plans to bring more diversity into tech, and what she brings to the table as a VC. Serena Williams, founding and managing partner of Serena Ventures, and Alison Rapaport Stillman, founding and managing partner of Serena Ventures.

From Court to Cast: Basketball stars are no strangers to diversifying their portfolios. For four-time NBA champion and Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green, that’s meant moving from the court to behind the mic. He joins us to discuss his successes on and off the court, including The Draymond Green Show podcast and the Prime Video special, “The Sessions: Draymond Green.” Draymond Green, NBA 4x champion and host of The Draymond Green Show.

Thursday, October 20

State of VC in 2022: VCs have never had so much capital socked away — with $100 billion more in so-called dry powder than the end of last year, according to Preqin — but with a tightening exit market, many are “slowing their roll” and asserting more control over deals after years of feverish dealmaking. What new terms are they introducing into deals? Where are they forging ahead — and pulling back — and why? What do founders need to know for their startups to survive and thrive in 2023 and beyond? For a clearer understanding of what’s happening on the ground right now, this will be a must-see conversation. Niko Bonatsos, managing director of General Catalyst and Caryn Marooney, GP of Coatue Management.

Steering Toward an Autonomous Future: A decade ago, Lyft launched in San Francisco as the friendly pink mustache–wearing ride-hailing service. Today, the company is the second-largest ride-hailing service in the U.S., runs a bike share business, has acquired and created and then sold a self-driving car unit — all while facing rival Uber, regulatory headwinds, lawsuits and the public market. Co-founder John Zimmer will talk about how it aims to remain competitive, what inflation and regulatory pressures may bring and where the next wave of growth will come from.

Surveillance in Startup Land: Join us for a crash course in the surveillance state — from spyware makers to location data brokers. Find out what the changing cybersecurity threat and legal landscape means for today’s data-hungry startups. Jennifer Stisa Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Maddie Stone, security researcher, Project Zero, Google.

There’s so much more to experience at Disrupt — roundtables, breakout sessions, the Startup Battlefield 200 companies exhibiting on the expo floor and, of course, the Startup Battlefield competition.

ProWellTech Disrupt starts tomorrow, October 18, and run through October 20 in San Francisco. Latecomers are always welcome. Buy your pass right now, and we’ll see you at the Moscone Center!

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