As DC Startup and Tech Week enters its 11th year, the companies founded and grown in the DMV ecosystem are facing a new kind of challenge:
How should they think about growth in the age of AI? What does scale look like when everyone can build software overnight? And how can growing companies identify the next challenges they’ll face so they can have a plan?
More so than ever before, the playbook that got you here will not get you there.
More so than ever before, the playbook that got you here will not get you there.
Closing that gap is what this year’s Growth Track at DC Startup and Tech Week is built for. Running Oct. 19 to 23 across five venues in Washington DC and Northern Virginia, the Growth Track focuses on the decisions founders face after traction: funding, sales leadership, enterprise positioning, AI operations, regulated markets, PR, partnerships, IP, exits and international expansion. Every session is led by operators, investors and advisors who have actually done the work, not just studied it.
The week is deliberately practical.
Monday at Convene DC opens with sessions on turning IP into a competitive advantage and on building a sales organization that runs without the founder. Tuesday at the MLK Library Conference Center is the busiest day, with hands-on workshops on selling upmarket, moving from scattered AI tools to repeatable AI operations and scaling inside regulated industries, plus candid panels on founder PR and on what kills good products before they scale.
Wednesday is Partner Day, when the Growth Track will be running at the Chief Clubhouse. The focus turns to the fundraising playbook female founders are rewriting, human connection inside high-performing teams and partnerships that last. Thursday at International Square takes on the endgame of exit strategy and non-dilutive capital, and Friday closes at Convene Arlington with what it really takes to scale internationally.
Programming is only half of it. The Growth Track is also built for the connections that move a company forward, the introductions and relationships that outlast the week itself. As this year’s Growth Track Lead, our team at Vannadium hosts the sessions and works to connect growth-stage founders with the right people in the room, so a few days at a conference turn into real momentum afterward.
Whether you are raising your next round, hiring your first sales leader or weighing an exit, the Growth Track is a chance to learn from people a few steps ahead and to meet founders walking the same path. We will see you there.
Growth Track sessions
Monday, Oct. 19 · Convene DC
- Protect, Leverage, Scale: Turning Your IP Into a Competitive Weapon (Panel)
- Let Go to Grow: Building a Sales Team That Doesn’t Need You (Panel)
Tuesday, Oct. 20 · MLK Library Conference Center
- Selling Upmarket: Positioning to Win Bigger Clients (Workshop)
- From AI Tools to AI Operations: Turning Disconnected AI Experiments Into Repeatable Workflows (Workshop)
- The Regulated Road to Scale: Turning Complexity Into Opportunity (Workshop)
- Your Story, Their Audience: PR Playbooks for Growth-Stage Founders (Panel)
- The Graveyard of Good Ideas: What Kills Great Products Before They Scale (Panel)
Wednesday, Oct. 21 · Chief Clubhouse, 14th & K (Partner Day)
- How Female Founders Are Rewriting the Fundraising Playbook (Fireside Chat)
- Building Human Connection Inside High-Performing Organizations (Presentation)
- Connections that Scale: Building Partnerships to Last (Panel)
- The Human Element (Panel)
Thursday, Oct. 22 · International Square
- Build to Last or Build to Sell? Exit Strategy for Growth-Stage Founders (Panel)
- Fund Without Giving Away the Farm: Non-Dilutive Capital Unlocked (Panel)
- The Agentic Edge: How AI Agents Are Rewriting What Growth Looks Like (Presentation), led by Rick Gilchrist.
Friday, Oct. 23 · Convene Arlington, Rosslyn
- The World Is Your Market: What It Really Takes to Scale Internationally (Panel)
