Essential Takeaways on Effective Pitching: Medha Agarwal, Jyoti Bansal, and Jennifer Neundorfer at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Elevate your pitch for maximum effect. Investors encounter numerous pitches, yet only a few leave a lasting mark. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, gain valuable insights from Medha Agarwal, General Partner at defy.vc; Jyoti Bansal, CEO and Co-Founder of Harness; and Jennifer Neundorfer, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of January Ventures, as they share what captures their attention, what puts them off, and the often-ignored cues that founders should recognize. This candid panel will reveal insider tactics to help you foster trust, stand out, and secure appropriate funding. Join over 10,000 startup, tech, and VC leaders from October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco for impactful discussions like this.
Register here to take advantage of early pricing with discounts of up to $675 on tickets before rates increase.
Championing Founders Through Every Challenge
As a General Partner at Defy, Medha Agarwal is fortunate to aid extraordinary entrepreneurs from their initial spark to hyper-growth phases. With her experience of launching her own startups and working alongside founders, she has faced the highs and lows of building companies—often within the same hour. Understanding that this role can be one of the most taxing and isolating, she believes founders need dependable partners to help them tackle any challenge, big or small. Agarwal aspires to be that trustworthy companion.
Before her tenure at Defy, she spent seven years as a partner at Redpoint Ventures, focusing on early-stage fintech, vertical SaaS, marketplaces, and healthcare. She had the privilege of working with pioneering companies such as Whatnot, Tend, Proper Finance, LiveKit, and Anvyl—founders who imparted invaluable lessons to her.
Leveraging Software Innovation for a Better Tomorrow
Jyoti Bansal is an accomplished entrepreneur who is passionate about the transformative power of software. He co-founded Harness in 2017 to automate and simplify software delivery processes, serving as its CEO. In 2018, he co-founded Traceable, a leading API security platform, along with the venture firm Unusual Ventures. Bansal initiated AppDynamics in 2008, an application intelligence company that he successfully guided to a $3.7 billion acquisition by Cisco in 2017.
As an award-winning leader, Bansal has been recognized as Forbes’ “Best Cloud Computing CEO to Work For,” San Francisco Business Times’ “Best CEO,” and Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year™ for Northern California,” among various other accolades.
From Operator to Investor: Empowering B2B Innovation
Jennifer Neundorfer is an operator-turned-investor who has dedicated the last decade to early-stage startups. As the Managing Partner at January Ventures, a pre-seed venture capital firm, she invests in B2B startups that utilize software to disrupt traditional industries. Neundorfer established January Ventures to transform the venture capital scene and champion ambitious founders, regardless of their background or connections. Prior to January, she co-founded Flashstarts, an accelerator for software startups outside Silicon Valley.
Unlock Savings and Discover Insights at the Event
The Disrupt 2025 agenda is now live and ready for you to explore! Check out the nearly finalized speaker lineup for the Builders and Going Public Stages. Stay tuned as we enhance the schedule with sessions on AI, Space, and Disrupt Stages, as well as roundtable discussions and breakout sessions. Register now to save up to $675 before prices go up.
