Gamma CEO and co-founder Grant Lee, Engine founder and CEO Elia Wallen, and GV (Google Ventures) general partner Crystal Huang will take the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 for a session titled "The Zero-to-1K Playbook: How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers Without a Marketing Budget."
The session will examine how founders use community building, product-led growth, founder-led sales, strategic outbound and word of mouth to find early customers, according to the event listing.
Lee was previously COO of ClearBrain, which was acquired by Amplitude, and CFO of Optimizely. TechCrunch reported in March 2026 that Gamma, an AI-powered visual communication platform, was approaching 100 million users after reaching $100 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025.
Wallen started Travelers Haven in 2008 and raised Engine's first outside capital in 2019. Engine has served more than 30,000 businesses and one million travellers and is cash-flow positive, and in July it acquired Options Travel, a travel management company with more than 30 years in the business, along with its group-flights product, TempoTrip.
Huang concentrates on SaaS, infrastructure and AI at GV, with a particular interest in product- and developer-led adoption strategies. She previously invested at NEA and Notable Capital and began her career in technology M&A at Blackstone, and will be a judge at this year's Startup Battlefield 200.
Disrupt runs October 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, with more than 10,000 founders, investors, operators and tech leaders expected, along with 250+ speakers and 300+ exhibiting startups.