Jeff Lawson has already helped build a company with more than $4 billion in revenue and 300,000 customers worldwide. After scaling Twilio into a public company, his next challenge reaches well beyond software: bringing fusion power to the grid as co-founder and CEO of Inertia.
It’s a striking change in direction. It also raises a question worth exploring: How much of what makes someone a successful software founder carries over when the next business depends on lasers, manufacturing, and major engineering milestones?
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Lawson will explore that transition in “How Twilio’s Founder Is Tackling the Power Problem.” The fireside chat joins the Smart Systems Stage, where you’ll find the tech infrastructure programming, which includes climate and energy tracks, examining what changes when an experienced entrepreneur takes on a capital-intensive deep tech company.
Join us October 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, alongside 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech decision-makers. Get a closer look at the company-building decisions behind an ambitious energy venture. Register now and save up to $200 on your pass before rates increase on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Save up to 30% when you register as a group of four or more.
A $450 million raise is only the beginning
In February, Inertia announced a $450 million Series A, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from GV and other investors. The funding supports the development of powerful laser systems and the mass manufacture of fusion fuel targets — key steps in the company’s plans to turn laboratory science into grid-scale energy.
The ambition is taking physical shape. In July, Inertia opened a 50,000-square-foot headquarters in Livermore, California, with facilities for developing fuel-target manufacturing processes and laser technologies. The company also announced that it had recruited leaders from businesses, including Apple, Corning, and Waymo, to help build its manufacturing and supply-chain capabilities.
Want to learn more about raising major capital for your startup? Grab your Disrupt pass to lean in on Lawson’s onstage conversation. Save up to $200 before September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
What you’ll leave with when you lean in on this session at Disrupt
Lawson’s experience spans more than one successful technology business. Alongside co-founding Twilio, he worked in early product leadership at Amazon Web Services and was the founding CTO of StubHub. His career brings a perspective shaped by building products, teams, and companies across different markets.
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, the focus turns to how that experience informs Inertia’s approach to talent, timelines, fundraising, and difficult engineering questions. It’s a conversation about applying hard-earned experience without assuming that the methods that worked in software will translate unchanged to fusion energy.
Consider the leadership questions underneath that transition. How do you build the right team when the expertise required extends far beyond your own? How do you set credible milestones while keeping an ambitious mission moving forward?
For founders, those questions offer a useful way into the discussion. For investors, they provide a lens through which to view the relationship between technical progress, capital, and commercial potential. Register here to save up to $200 on your pass before prices go up on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Looking beyond the breakthrough headline at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
The appeal of this session isn’t simply hearing a familiar founder explain an unexpected next move. It’s the opportunity to examine the work behind a company whose ambitions require scientific expertise and business execution to advance together.
Whether you’re building in climate technology, developing a hardware product, or leading a startup through unfamiliar territory, Lawson’s journey offers a different perspective on what it means to scale.
Make the conversation part of your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 experience, then connect with founders, investors, and operators across the event’s stages, exhibition floor, Startup Battlefield, and networking opportunities.
Big ambitions make headlines. The decisions behind them build companies. Join Jeff Lawson at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and hear what comes next. Register here to join this session and 200+ other sessions led by 250+ tech leaders. Savings of up to $200 end on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Get up to 30% off on group passes of four or more.
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