TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 adds M&A panel for founders

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will take place in San Francisco at Moscone West from October 13–15. Organizers have announced a limited-time ticket promotion: attendees who register by May 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT can receive 50% off a second pass of the same ticket type. This offer provides savings of up to $410, allowing founders to bring a colleague, co-founder, investor, or teammate to the three-day event.

The upcoming conference will introduce a new panel on the Builders Stage focused on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) strategies. This programming reflects a broader market trend where acquisitions and acqui-hires—acquisitions completed primarily to hire a target company’s talent—remain in vogue, particularly within the artificial intelligence (AI) scene. This trend is highlighted by recent acquisition activity from companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Databricks. The panel is designed to equip founders with a playbook for creating optionality, understanding how strategic buyers evaluate young companies, and navigating the legal and operational realities of the acquisition process.

The panel brings together three industry experts representing the buyer, legal, and investor perspectives:

• Aklil Ibssa, Head of Corporate Development and M&A at Coinbase: Ibssa leads the cryptocurrency exchange’s acquisition and investment strategy, helping identify where the company should buy, invest, partner, or build. He has overseen more than 14 acquisitions and nearly 50 early- and later-stage investments. As one of the first corporate development hires at Coinbase, he contributed to an M&A program that has completed more than 40 total acquisitions.
• Lindsey Mignano, Founder of Mignano Law Group: Mignano brings legal and structural expertise, representing emerging technology companies, venture-backed startups, and venture firms as outside general counsel. Her practice covers early-stage financial and structural milestones, including SAFE notes (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), priced rounds, bridge financings, buy-side and sell-side acquisitions, and acqui-hires.
• Karl Alomar, Managing Partner at venture capital firm M13: Alomar backs seed and Series A software founders across infrastructure, fintech, and developer productivity. As the former COO of cloud infrastructure company DigitalOcean, he helped scale the business from its first product to roughly $250 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and an eventual Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange, with its valuation peaking around $15 billion. As a founder, his previous company China Export Finance reached approximately $140 million in revenue before its acquisition in 2010, and Clearview Networks was acquired in 2000.

Why it matters

This panel addresses the growing trend of early-stage M&A, particularly in the AI sector, by providing founders with a practical playbook for navigating acquisition strategies and legal realities.