The Future of Work Social Mixer + Open Demos: Worktech, Robotics & Agentic AI
This is an official side event of the TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: the biggest tech event of the year.
Join us in downtown San Francisco for yet another edition of our Future of Work-themed social mixer + open demos! This event is an open-mic formula - just bring your laptop, join us, and step up to pitch and present your demo.
This event is optimized for making deals. We'll host a blitz round of intros on stage and give you plenty of time to mingle with investors at the demo tables. We will also as investors to come up to the stage at the end of the evening and share their discoveries of the night.
Would you like our investors to also review your deck? Deadline for submitting decks: Sunday, October 11th, 23:59 PT
The Future of Work Social Mixer & Open Demos event is independently organized and operated solely by Ontology of Value. TechCrunch Media, LLC is not responsible for the event's content, programming, speakers, venue, attendee conduct, or any incidents, injuries, or claims arising from the event. Ontology of Value agrees to indemnify and hold harmless TechCrunch Media, LLC from any liability related to the event.
Hosted @ HumanMade
HumanMade is a non-profit community-based training, manufacturing, and prototyping studio on a mission to democratize access to the tools of innovation.
It brings together makers and fabricators of all types - from entrepreneurs to hobbyists, teachers to artists, inventors to explorers and more. HumanMade provides a wide range of industrial workshops where members can take training courses and use all of our equipment to build or make almost anything.
Our Point of View
Today, building stuff is not the moat anymore. In fact, it's understanding the market and the particular pain points you are tackling, and the Go-to-Market strategy — both relate to you and your professional history as a founder.
Yes, AI might build your product and your operations, but the human is still on the receiving end of your offer: both as a decision-maker in sales and as the ultimate recipient of your work, whether it's direct sales or a chain of a hundred interactions.
Therefore, this is the "origin story" event. We'd love to hear your "why" — not just your pitch. You need to build your case: show us why everything you've ever done in your life brought you to this problem and this moment in time. And why, of all humans, YOU are the person to step forward and solve it.
When & Where
📍 HumanMade, 655 Bryant St, San Francisco
📅 Monday, October 12th, 2026 (on the eve of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026!)
🕔 5:00-9:00 PM PT
📅 Agenda:
5:00 - 5:30 PM | Networking
5:30 - 5:40 PM | Welcome from Organizers & Community Partners
5:40 - 5:45 PM | Sponsor: TechnologyWire
5:45 - 6:00 PM | Fireside Chat with Nick Linck, The Residency: "Residencies - Accelerators 2.0?"
6:00 - 6:10 PM | Workshop by Lital Cohen
6:10 - 6:25 PM | Fireside Chat with Robin P. Zander, Responsive Conference: "Anticonference: An Optimal Networking Paradigm?"
6:25 - 7:00 PM | A round of flash standup introductions 🚀 moderated by Natalie Pan, Funding Breakthrough Lab
7:00 - 8:30 PM | Open Demos
8:30 - 8:45 PM | Investors share their discoveries on stage; moderated by Nicholas Ferraro, New York Life
8:45+ | Networking; music, greetings, farewell
Special Guests
Nick Linck is the Founder of The Residency: the new paradigm in business/entrepreneurship education and in developing and funding startups .
Robin Zander is the Founder and Director of Responsive Conference: the antisystemic anticonference in HR in the world that attracts leaders in HR but feels like a hackathon (just ask Claude!)
Lital Cohen is a communication and executive presence coach at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a former national champion in Toastmasters public speaking.
She prepares founders from around the world at Plug and Play to present effectively to audiences and investors, focusing on delivery, presence, and impact.
At the event, she will share observations on how speakers show up and influence the room.
Why Should I Participate?
We are a community focused on building (and disrupting!) the future of work — sharing and promoting innovation in work tech, agentic AI, and robotics so that humans and AI can happily cohabitate in the labor market and build a wonderful economy together.
This time around, we are putting together a social mixer and demo night in one.
This isn’t your standard pitch night.
This gathering is for founders, operators, investors, and builders who want to shape how humans and AI collaborate in the workplace of tomorrow.
It’s your chance to connect authentically, get feedback for your project, talk to investors in powerful, intimate one-on-one conversations, and see where the future of work is headed.
Pitching & Demos
We will open several demo tables. Do you have a project you'd like to share? Join us on October 12 and step forward to (1) give a blitz standup pitch on stage, (2) show a demo from your laptop.
Would you like to additionally receive detailed professional feedback from the investors? Apply through this registration page as a "Pitching Startup" and link your deck while applying — it will be distributed to our network of investors.
Showcase Package - $199 (5 tickets left)
Top-priority pitch scheduled at the beginning of the pitching session
2-minute pitch on stage (including slides)
Dedicated demo table
Priority company listing on Luma
Placement of one company-provided physical poster
Media support beginning up to 2 weeks before the event and continuing through 1 week after the event
Spotlight Package - $349 (3 tickets left)
— includes everything in Showcase, plus:
Featured Company status
3-minute pitch on stage (including slides — extra 1 minute),
Feature in the press release after the event
🍀 My project is not in Worktech. Shall I still submit my pitch?
The Future of Work is a broad category, with a variety of tech projects influencing the job market, either directly or indirectly. When in doubt, just give it a try, and we will get back to you!
About Us
Organizer
Ontology of Value® by Natalia Bielczyk, PhD is a high-end career incubator and talent intelligence platform for managing careers and teams in the AI-first economy. We build lighthouses and telescopes for the leaders of the future.
Watch Natalia’s recent TEDx to learn more.
Community Partners
Synexis - AI decision infra for private markets.
Synexis is an AI-native decision infrastructure that turns months-long private-market deal funnels into minutes.
Private-market deals still rely on fragmented tools, static databases, and manual analyst workflows that take months. Every player: founders, GPs, investors, enterprises, private equity, play the guess game. Synexis replaces this with an AI-native infrastructure for real-time investment decisions. Cut through the noise.
Check today to know more: https://synexis.io/
Raising now? Want highly curated investor access? Apply to the exclusive Synexis Premium sprint program, pitch, and get direct access to funds GPs and family offices who deploy today:
Apply here: https://synexis.io/premiumfull
Funding Breakthrough Lab
Check today to learn more: https://synexis.io/
Founder? Want highly curated investor access? Book a call: https://calendly.com/paul-synexis/30min
Funding Breakthrough Lab is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pre-accelerator with a mission of creating a supportive community (24,000+ subscribers) to build a better tomorrow. We support founder success, not just startup success, by ensuring founders have access to education, networks, and resources to unlock their potential. Founded by Natalie Pan, an engineer, community builder, and executive coach. Apply for the next cohort here https://fundingbreakthroughlab.org.
Drink Sponsor:
OoMee is a marine plant beverage powered by Seabiotics™, our proprietary blend of marine plant fibers that helps naturally curb cravings. Thanks to founder Alissa Miky. Purchase them on Amazon.
B4SF by TatianaSF (Builders for San Francisco), A San Francisco community for founders, builders, investors, and startup leaders. Join us for pitch nights, founder events, curated networking, and early access to new opportunities.
TatianaSF is an OpenAI Codex Ambassador.
What Participants Say
I had the opportunity to pitch at one of Natalia’s pitch nights, and the experience proved genuinely valuable long after the event itself. It changed the way I think about pitching: the goal is not to squeeze every piece of information into a few minutes, but to truly communicate with the audience—to create energy, spark curiosity, and build an emotional connection.
Audiences may not remember every detail, but they remember how clearly and compellingly an idea made them feel. I carried that lesson into my next pitch event, and it helped me win. Natalia creates the kind of environment that challenges founders to become more engaging, confident, and effective communicators. I’m grateful for the experience and would gladly recommend her to any founder looking to sharpen their pitch.
— Heroza Zhang, Gorest Game Machine
Attending The Future of Work Pitch Night organized by Ontology of Value® was a practical turning point for our team as we transitioned from a bootstrapped operation to an investable venture. Scaling from self-funding to institutional capital requires unfiltered feedback, actual market traction, and access to people who understand active deal-making.
The event delivered substance. Hosted by Natalia Bielczyk, PhD, the room brought together pragmatic investors, builders, and professionals who are focused on execution, career growth, and asset acquisition diligence. My conversations during the demo sessions and panel discussions provided new knowledge rather than generic insights.
For founders crossing the gap between traction and venture readiness, Ontology of Value events offer a grounded platform to test your positioning, refine your pitch, and connect directly with credible partners.
— Derick Tengap, Project Iceberg
Future of Work Pitch Night #6 was an exceptional experience. I pitched along with my cofounder there and saw firsthand how thoughtfully Natalia brings people together — founders, investors, operators, and an incredibly diverse crowd. The Tesla Showroom was packed, the energy was real, and the programming was top‑tier. She creates events that are not just about startups, but about people, stories, and the future of work. I’m grateful I attended and highly recommend her events.
— Mool Tyagi, Oak and Sparrow Systems
I had the opportunity to participate in Natalia Bielczyk’s Future of Work Pitch Night, and I was impressed by the quality of the event and the thoughtful way it brought founders, investors, and other professionals together. Natalia and her team created a welcoming and well-organized environment where entrepreneurs could present their ideas, receive meaningful feedback, and build valuable relationships. Their energy, professionalism, and commitment to supporting innovation were clear throughout the evening. I would gladly recommend Natalia to anyone looking to participate in a high-quality startup and innovation event.
— Charles Yvan Beke, Haffiri Freight
Natalia did a fantastic job organizing the Future of Work Pitch Night. I had the opportunity to present AICINES, and the event was well organized with great energy, valuable feedback, and strong networking opportunities. Natalia was very supportive and brought together an excellent community of founders, investors, and professionals. I’d highly recommend her events.
— Sai Reddy, AI Cines
Previous events in the series:
The Future of Work Pitch Night #5 (Tesla Showroom, 999 van Ness Avenue): https://luma.com/yktcpve0
The Future of Work Pitch Night #5 (Tesla Showroom, 999 van Ness Avenue): https://luma.com/k0r1yhe5
The Future of Work Pitch Night #4: Social Mixer & Open Demos (LongHouse SF, 83 Minna St): https://luma.com/pgvpc0sl
The Future of Work Pitch Night #3: Social Mixer & Open Demos (Minna Gallery, 111 Minna St): https://luma.com/mgnddbk4
The Future or Work Pitch Night #2 (Minna Gallery, 111 Minna St): https://lu.ma/qzgpv6kw
The Future of Work Pitch Night #1 (JLL, 1 Front st): https://lu.ma/lrt26pot