From October 13-15, 2026, some of the world’s most influential investors and cleantech minds were back in San Francisco. They traded best practices for supporting startups to survive and thrive in a new competitive marketplace. It really was an outstanding panel of amazing people. It featured founders-turned-investors, Jyoti Bansal, Medha Agarwal of Defy, and Jennifer Neundorfer of January Ventures. The session was moderated by Dominic-Madori Davis, senior venture capital and startup reporter at TechCrunch.
During Bansal’s panel discussion, he stressed the need for deep domain expertise. He emphasized that having a well-defined competitive strategy is key when evaluating future investments to prioritize. He articulated that investors are keenly interested in understanding why a specific founder is uniquely qualified to lead their startup. “There has to be something unique about you,” Bansal remarked, highlighting the need for founders to differentiate themselves.
Bansal further boiled down these expectations of investors into three key questions. For one, investors want to know how big of a market this startup is trying to get a piece of. Without a big enough market, there can’t be enough potential growth to spur. It would serve an important role in helping evaluate investment opportunities.
“If the problem is interesting, there will be 20 other companies trying to solve it, so why would you win and what’s your opportunity?” Bansal continued, pointing out that understanding both competition and opportunity is vital.
Neundorfer joined Greenberg in underscoring the value of founder networks. Finally, she encouraged founders to remain plugged into these networks. This new connection could give them the capability to surface useful tools, advice, and best practices for their upcoming ventures. Further, this vital connection can continue to support the critical collaboration and innovation that exists within the startup ecosystem.
Neundorfer reinforced this by sharing her passion for startups whose goal is to empower new behaviors, not just improve current practices. This will be a key difference between the successful startups and those that take the traditional path.
Investors are looking for proof that a startup has what it takes to win in a hyper competitive landscape. Bansal emphasized the importance of showing this capability as a make or break element in drawing investment. Perhaps the greatest litmus test for investors though is still the question of whether or not a given startup has the ability to scale into a billion-dollar firm.
