Wed 18 Nov12:45–1:15pmFounders Stage
Rewiring the Founder Playbook: Welcome to Founders Stage - Day 1
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About This Session
Hard Decisions behind Companies that Last.
Capital. Customers. Control. Growth. Exit.The rules have changed. What must a company get right to keep building in 2027?
The founder playbook is being rewired. Capital comes with harder terms. Enterprise buyers can build, wait or buy. AI can make a product look brilliant - and make it easier to copy. Growth no longer guarantees a path to liquidity.
Rewiring the Founder Playbook brings founders, investors, enterprise leaders and policymakers together for the conversations that usually happen behind closed doors: how to protect equity when financing gets hard; what evidence earns a term sheet; whether a customer will share risk; what makes a moat real; and when an acqui-hire or asset sale is the smartest decision a founder can make.
Across the three days, the Founders Stage will be anchored by flagship Founders Peak talks - the personal stories behind the pivotal decisions - alongside candid, future-facing practitioner conversations on the capital, customer, policy and exit choices that will determine who is still standing in 2027.
These are not retrospective success stories or generic startup panels. Each session asks one question: what must be true in 2027 for this company to earn the right to keep building?
- When
- Wednesday 18 November12:45–1:15pm, Singapore time
- Where
- Founders StageHall 2, Singapore EXPO
- Access
- Premium Premium sessionWith a Delegate, Executive, Startup, Policy, Academic or Media Pass.Compare all passes
Speakers
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Navin Suri
Senior Advisor
Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)
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Sagari White
Head of Startups & Signature Programmes
Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)
More Capital Rewiring Sessions
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1:15–1:50pmWed 18 NovFounders StageHall 2, Singapore EXPOPremium
Capital Rewiring
What Will the Strongest and Weakest Moats Look Like in 2027?
Founders StageHall 2, Singapore EXPOPremium
About this session
Rapid advances in foundation models and automated engineering have flattened traditional competitive moats. McKinsey's 2026 State of AI report found nearly a third of enterprises now choose to build functionality in-house with AI agents rather than buy it, the clearest signal that a product-level moat alone no longer holds. Defensibility is consolidating around regulatory licenses, proprietary data integrations, and entrenched distribution. This session challenges investors to evaluate the structural integrity of modern technology moats: which advantages endure, and which are eroding under platform pressure. Source: McKinsey & Company, The State of AI 2026.
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1:50–2:00pmWed 18 NovFounders StageHall 2, Singapore EXPOPremium
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2:00–2:10pmWed 18 NovFounders StageHall 2, Singapore EXPOPremium


