We are thrilled to announce that Astro Teller, the head honcho of Alphabet’s X, the Moonshot Factory, will be joining us as a featured speaker at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27-29 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The whole affair promises to be fun filled and rife with intel and insights that you won’t want to miss.
Astro Teller — whose official title is Captain of Moonshots — has been heading up X since 2010, where he oversees the company’s ambitious projects aimed at solving some of the world’s most challenging problems. On his watch, X has developed such initiatives as self-driving cars (Waymo), delivery drones (Wing), internet-beaming balloons (Loon, which was later shut dow because not everything works out), and other cutting-edge tech.
With a PhD from Carnegie Mellon and an undergraduate degree from Stanford, Teller has long been recognized for his ability to combine technical expertise with entrepreneurial acumen. He’s also much more than an executive. Teller is an author of fiction and nonfictio ; he’s an entrepreneur (he founded and sold a startup that developed a body-monitoring wearable); and he spent several years running a hedge fund before getting pulled into Alphabet.
For our community of founders, investors, students, and other startup enthusiasts, Teller’s appearance couldn’t come at a more pivotal moment. As AI reshapes industries and as the boundaries between science fiction and reality continue to blur, his insights on moonshot thinking and fostering innovation are more relevant than ever. In fact, Teller’s stance on failure — which is that it should be rewarded and quickly, making it safer to move on and succeed — has perhaps never been truer for founders navigating uncertainty.
Don’t miss Astro Teller’s insights at Disrupt 2025
We’re certainly looking forward to sitting down with Teller and hearing his perspective on how founders can think bigger about the problems they’re solving and the impact they aspire to create.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from one of the world’s foremost innovation leaders. Tickets for Disrupt are available with savings of up to $900 on select tickets. Register for yours now before Early Bird prices fly away.
