Toast President Fredette Joins Boston Founder Summit Lineup

Steve Fredette, president, co-founder and director of Toast, is set to appear on the Impact Stage at TechCrunch's Founder Summit 2026, a one-day event scheduled for Nov. 4 at SoWa Power Station in Boston. The summit is hosted with Fidelity Private Shares. Fredette's session is titled "Building a Company That Keeps Reinventing Itself."

The program includes investor-led discussions on growth timing. Kent Bennett, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, will lead "Finding Product Market Fit Before You Scale," covering signals founders should see before adding headcount or raising spend. Rudina Seseri, founder and managing partner of Glasswing Ventures, will address "When to Scale and When to Hit the Brakes," examining when restraint protects a business. Lior Div, CEO and co-founder of 7AI, will present "Built for AI From Day One," contrasting AI bolted onto an existing process with a company built around it from the start.

Local building is also on the agenda. Chase Garbarino, CEO and co-founder of HqO, will take the Impact Stage for "The Boston Founder Playbook," covering talent, customers, capital and community outside the Bay Area. Other sessions include Hunter Worland of NEA on distribution as a competitive advantage, Vineet Edupuganti, co-founder and CEO of Cogent Security, on building 10x teams, and Tina Tosukhowong of TDK Ventures on signals that identify category winners. Fidelity Private Shares will contribute sessions on fundraising trends with Kristen Craft and on enterprise relationships with Evan Schnidman.

Pitching sessions are scheduled for the afternoon. Dave Balter, a venture partner at True Ventures and CEO of Edisyl, will lead "Your Pitch Has to Earn the Next Conversation." A later session, "So You Think You Can Pitch?", will put founders on the Build Stage to present live to a judging panel. Balter will be joined by Chirag Shah, a partner at Define Ventures, and Simran Suri, a principal at Maveron.

The day also includes roundtables, networking and a closing reception presented by Fidelity Private Shares. TechCrunch is offering a 25% ticket discount and a buy-one-get-one deal for registrations ahead of the event.