Human Cyborgs, Passion Economy, and More – Check Out These Disrupt Roundtable Winners – TechCrunch

Roundtable discussions are a big and popular part of TechCrunch Disrupt, and this year we asked you to vote for the topics you most want to learn about. We have already announced The first and the second Winner groups from our Audience Choice-Voting-A-Thon, and we’re back with a third wave of exciting topics.

In case you’re unfamiliar, roundtables are 30-minute expert-led discussions for up to 20 participants who share a common interest in a specific topic. The format allows for deeper conversations, Q&A, and time for attendees to network and explore collaboration opportunities.

Of course, if you want to take part in one of these great discussions, you’ll need a pass. Hot Tip: You can save more than $1,000 if you buy your Disrupt Pass before prices go up Friday, August 5 at 11:59pm PT.

These five discussion panels present a variety of topics including why true passion for your industry gives you a competitive edge, how to overcome obstacles with flat profits, how to scale products that never existed, how to gain competitive advantage and the Challenge to raise seed capital to build still proven technology.

Love what you do: Lessons from passion economics

Speaker: Robin Åström, co-founder and CEO of Wehype

In this roundtable session, Robin Åström, co-founder and CEO of Wehype, an influencer marketing platform and agency, will lead a discussion on how the passion economy has democratized the ability to monetize creativity – and at scale. He will also talk about why it is important for startup founders to be in industries they are genuinely and deeply passionate about.

Robin will draw on his experience of turning his gaming obsession into a competitive advantage. He identified and filled a gap in the gaming influencer market with co-founders he met playing Counter-Strike as a teenager.

Their love of gaming gave them the extra motivation to conquer challenges and allowed them to build Wehype into a fast growing and profitable company working with some of the biggest brands in the world including EA, Microsoft and Ubisoft.

The value of the apartment increases

Speaker: Alex Hersham, co-founder and CEO of Zencargo

Starting a business can be one of the most rewarding and satisfying things a person does, but there will always be difficult challenges to overcome. By incorporating the concept of flat wins – celebrating when you find a solution and going back where you started after a difficult time – into your operations, you can stay on track and overcome the obstacles you face.

In this roundtable session, Zencargo’s Alex Hersham will lead a discussion on how flat wins have shaped his mentality and made his mindset more resilient as a founder. Hersham touch points include:

• Define flat wins and examine the psychology behind them
• Examples of how shallow wins have shaped both his career and the success of his company
• How flat wins can create resilience not only in founders but in entire companies
• How flat wins can add value to your business

My daughter the cyborg

Speaker: Jeremiah Robison, Founder and CEO of Cionic

In a world of self-driving cars and reusable rockets, we have the technological capabilities to fundamentally transform human health. The marriage of humans with machines is the next big technological frontier, and for Cionic founder Jeremiah Robison, that mission is fueled by his daughter’s mobility issues.

Cionic, a bionic apparel company revolutionizing human augmentation, has created a soft, wearable robot that looks and feels like athletic leggings. It uses AI and functional electrical stimulation to literally move someone’s leg for them.

Attendees at this roundtable will learn where to start when innovating at the human-machine boundary, how to scale a product that’s never been seen, and a glimpse into the future of enhanced human mobility.

Competitive Advantage Awards

Speaker: Andy Rooks, the founder of Price Theory

Price is the most important tool for positioning and growing a startup, but 85% of companies (even the big ones) have suboptimal pricing strategies.

In this session, we’ll discuss how to approach value-based pricing and answer your questions about how a startup is pricing for competitive advantage and growth.

Traction vs Funding: The Chicken and Egg Problem for Deep Tech Startups

Speaker: Thomas Rouffiac, COO of Natrion

Amid the funding slowdown, EV battery component maker Natrion has raised an oversubscribed $2 million seed round in a high-risk, highly competitive industry. But it was the company’s third fundraising attempt; They initially struggled to prove to investors that the technology works when they needed the upfront capital to actually build it.

Eventually, Natrion managed to garner support — not only from industry investors, but also from high-profile investors like Mark Cuban. The team learned crucial lessons about how – and how not – to walk that tightrope.

How can deep tech startups differentiate themselves, prove their technology with limited resources and still secure strategic investors and partners? Thomas Rouffiac, COO of Natrion, will share the hacks they learned and discuss how other R&D dependent startups can do the same.

TechCrunch Disrupt will be held in person October 18-20 in San Francisco with an online day on October 21. Buy your pass before the early bird price ends Friday, August 5 at 11:59pm PTand you can save more than $1,000.

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