I Replaced My Stolen $200 Electric Toothbrush With This $50 Oral-B One, and I Like It Even More

Startups face more exit options — and more uncertainty — than ever before. That’s why we’re bringing this essential conversation to the Going Public Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 in San Francisco’s Moscone West. Whether you’re already eyeing a liquidity event or just starting to scale, this is your chance to hear what top VCs are looking for and how to set your company up for long-term success.

Two of the best in the business — Roseanne Wincek of Renegade Partners and Jai Das of Sapphire Ventures — will break down the decision-making process, from when to make a move to how to be ready when the moment comes.

Why this session belongs on your calendar

Startups can no longer afford to treat exit planning as an afterthought. Between tighter capital markets, shifting investor expectations, and growing regulatory complexity, founders need a smarter playbook — and this conversation delivers just that.

You’ll get real talk on key timing considerations, market signals to watch, and how to structure your business for optionality, whether you’re thinking IPO, acquisition, or just keeping your head down and building. It’s a candid, high-level look at how the best founders are preparing for every possible outcome.

Meet the experts leading this conversation

Roseanne Wincek is a venture capitalist, early-stage founder, and co-founder of Renegade Partners. A veteran of IVP and Canaan Partners, she’s invested in game-changers like Glossier, MasterClass, Looker, Spekit, and Daily — and brings a sharp lens for what makes companies truly ready for scale and exit.

Jai Das is Co-Founder, President, and Partner at Sapphire Ventures. He’s led investments in more than a dozen IPOs and two dozen acquisitions, with a deep focus on enterprise tech and AI-driven SaaS. His portfolio includes Netskope, ThoughtSpot, MuleSoft, and CircleCI, among many others.

Get in the room where high-impact decisions start

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 brings together over 10,000 startup and VC leaders from around the world, and this session is your front-row seat to one of the most important conversations founders will face. Register now to get your pass for Disrupt (with savings of up to $600+) and take the guesswork out of your exit strategy.

Techcrunch event

San Francisco
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October 27-29, 2025

Meta has acquired AI voice startup WaveForms for an undisclosed sum, The Information reports. It’s the company’s latest buy to strengthen its new AI unit, Superintelligence Labs, and Meta’s second major AI audio acquisition in the last month after it bought PlayAI. 

WaveForms, founded just eight months ago, raised $40 million from Andreessen Horowitz in a round that valued the company at $160 million pre-money, per PitchBook data. 

Two of the startup’s co-founders – former Meta and OpenAI researcher Alexis Conneau, and former Google advertising strategist Coralie Lemaitre – have reportedly joined Meta. While at OpenAI, Conneau co-created GPT4-o Advanced Voice Mode neural networks. 

TechCrunch has reached out to WaveForms to find out if its third co-founder and chief technologist, Kartikay Khandelwal, will also join Meta, as well as the outcome of the deal for the roughly 14 other staffers (per LinkedIn) at the company.

WaveForms appears to have taken down its own website, but the company’s LinkedIn page describes its mission as solving the “Speech Turing Test,” which tries to measure if a listener can distinguish between human and AI-generated speech. WaveForms was also developing “Emotional General Intelligence,” which focuses on understanding individual self-awareness and management.