Announcement of the second set of judges for Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023
In less than two months, 20 of the world's most impressive startups will be competing in the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 September 19-21 in San Francisco. Which companies will enter the finals, and which standout startup will win the Disrupt Cup and the $100,000 capital-free prize?
Obviously we don't know the answer, but we do know who each of the contenders will have to impress to win the day. We've already announced our first batch of VC judges, and now we're ready to reveal the next installment of top investors ready to put these founders to the test.
But first: buy a Disrupt pass before August 11 and you'll save up to $600.
It pays to be in the room. Watching founders' pitches and hearing questions posed by investors is a great way to improve your own pitch. You'll learn the criteria VCs use to determine whether a business is viable or not, what specifics they look for, what motivates them, and what drives them to schedule a meeting.
Without further ado, here is the second batch of Startup Battlefield judges.
Marc Bhargava, Managing Director, General Catalyst
Marc Bhargava is part of GC's fintech/crypto investment team. He focuses on early-stage investing in crypto and fintech, as well as crafting the creative strategy. Additionally, it contributes to GC's growing AI efforts.
Bhargava's four main focus areas include security and data infrastructure; starter tools platforms that make it easy to build software - especially financial services - for businesses; the intersection of fintech and crypto; and build from zero to one.
Before joining GC, Bhargava spent years as a founder-operator with a focus on new fintech, AI and crypto technologies. He co-founded Tagomi, one of the first institutional prime brokerages for digital assets. (Coinbase bought Tagomi in 2020.)
As an angel investor, Bhargava has worked closely with the founders on sales, distribution and fundraising, investing in early-stage fintech, crypto and AI tools/startup companies. Previously, he worked at Airbnb, Castanea Partners and McKinsey, focusing on business operations and investment analysis.
Bhargava received his MBA from Harvard Business School and is a graduate of Harvard College.
Miles Grimshaw, General Partner, Benchmark
At Benchmark, Miles Grimshaw focuses on products for investing in applications and infrastructure software. Most recently, he led Glide's A-Series, a no-code application development platform.
Prior to Benchmark, Grimshaw was a general partner at Thrive Capital, where he led investments in companies including GitHub, Slack, Segment, Airtable, Benchling, Lattice, Mapbox, Monzo and many more. Grimshaw currently sits on the board of Benchling, Glide, Lattice, Monzo and Supergreat. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Yale University.
Charles Hudson, Founder and Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures
Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first round of institutional investment for the most promising software and hardware companies.
Hudson was previously a partner at SoftTech VC, where he focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications and marketplaces. He has also supported SoftTech portfolio companies on business development and corporate issues.
Hudson was also co-founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile game startup. Prior to co-founding Bionic Panda Games, Hudson served as Vice President of Business Development for Serious Business until the company was acquired by Zynga.
Earlier in his career, Hudson was senior director of business development at Gaia Interactive, an online hangout and virtual world for teens. He also worked at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a product manager for IronPort Systems, a vendor of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems.
Danielle Lay, Partner, New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Partner at NEA, Danielle Lay invests in consumer e-commerce and social infrastructure...
In less than two months, 20 of the world's most impressive startups will be competing in the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 September 19-21 in San Francisco. Which companies will enter the finals, and which standout startup will win the Disrupt Cup and the $100,000 capital-free prize?
Obviously we don't know the answer, but we do know who each of the contenders will have to impress to win the day. We've already announced our first batch of VC judges, and now we're ready to reveal the next installment of top investors ready to put these founders to the test.
But first: buy a Disrupt pass before August 11 and you'll save up to $600.
It pays to be in the room. Watching founders' pitches and hearing questions posed by investors is a great way to improve your own pitch. You'll learn the criteria VCs use to determine whether a business is viable or not, what specifics they look for, what motivates them, and what drives them to schedule a meeting.
Without further ado, here is the second batch of Startup Battlefield judges.
Marc Bhargava, Managing Director, General Catalyst
Marc Bhargava is part of GC's fintech/crypto investment team. He focuses on early-stage investing in crypto and fintech, as well as crafting the creative strategy. Additionally, it contributes to GC's growing AI efforts.
Bhargava's four main focus areas include security and data infrastructure; starter tools platforms that make it easy to build software - especially financial services - for businesses; the intersection of fintech and crypto; and build from zero to one.
Before joining GC, Bhargava spent years as a founder-operator with a focus on new fintech, AI and crypto technologies. He co-founded Tagomi, one of the first institutional prime brokerages for digital assets. (Coinbase bought Tagomi in 2020.)
As an angel investor, Bhargava has worked closely with the founders on sales, distribution and fundraising, investing in early-stage fintech, crypto and AI tools/startup companies. Previously, he worked at Airbnb, Castanea Partners and McKinsey, focusing on business operations and investment analysis.
Bhargava received his MBA from Harvard Business School and is a graduate of Harvard College.
Miles Grimshaw, General Partner, Benchmark
At Benchmark, Miles Grimshaw focuses on products for investing in applications and infrastructure software. Most recently, he led Glide's A-Series, a no-code application development platform.
Prior to Benchmark, Grimshaw was a general partner at Thrive Capital, where he led investments in companies including GitHub, Slack, Segment, Airtable, Benchling, Lattice, Mapbox, Monzo and many more. Grimshaw currently sits on the board of Benchling, Glide, Lattice, Monzo and Supergreat. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Yale University.
Charles Hudson, Founder and Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures
Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first round of institutional investment for the most promising software and hardware companies.
Hudson was previously a partner at SoftTech VC, where he focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications and marketplaces. He has also supported SoftTech portfolio companies on business development and corporate issues.
Hudson was also co-founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile game startup. Prior to co-founding Bionic Panda Games, Hudson served as Vice President of Business Development for Serious Business until the company was acquired by Zynga.
Earlier in his career, Hudson was senior director of business development at Gaia Interactive, an online hangout and virtual world for teens. He also worked at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a product manager for IronPort Systems, a vendor of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems.
Danielle Lay, Partner, New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Partner at NEA, Danielle Lay invests in consumer e-commerce and social infrastructure...
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