# SaaStr Annual 2026: The Essential Guide for Founders and Execs | TradeShowIntel > SaaStr Annual 2026 brings 10,000+ founders, VCs, and B2B executives to San Mateo, CA on May 12-14. Here's your complete guide to making the most of it. URL: https://tradeshowintel.com/blog/saastr-annual-2026-essential-guide-founders-execs --- Conference # SaaStr Annual 2026: The Essential Guide for Founders and Execs May 12-14, 2026 · San Mateo, USA · 4 min read SaaStr Annual 2026 brings 10,000+ founders, VCs, and B2B executives to San Mateo, CA on May 12-14. Here's your complete guide to making the most of it. The 13th edition of [SaaStr Annual](https://saastrannual.com) is shaping up to be the densest concentration of B2B and AI decision-making power assembled anywhere in 2026. Running **May 12-14 at the San Mateo County Event Center** in California, SaaStr Annual + AI Summit 2026 brings together more than 10,000 founders, investors, and senior executives for 2.5 days of tactical sessions, live workshops, and structured networking. If your business runs on SaaS revenue, AI infrastructure, or B2B growth, this is where the real conversations happen. You can also track event details and plan your schedule on the [SaaStr Annual 2026 page on TradeShowIntel](https://tradeshowintel.com/events/saastr-annual-2026). ## Who's in the Room at SaaStr Annual 2026: Founders, VCs, and the Operators Building AI at Scale The attendee mix at SaaStr is what makes it different from most tech conferences. With **70% of attendees at VP-level or above**, this is not a crowd of early-career practitioners looking for introductions to the basics. Expect to encounter: - **Founders and CEOs** actively benchmarking their GTM strategy, pricing models, and AI roadmaps against peers who have already scaled - **VCs and investors** representing funds deploying capital into AI-powered companies, with 300+ investors attending who collectively manage $20B+ in annual investment - **CROs and CMOs** looking for sales technology, marketing automation, and revenue intelligence tools they can put into production immediately - **CTOs and AI/ML practitioners** evaluating developer tools, cloud infrastructure, and AI deployment frameworks for real enterprise workloads The CXO summit format, with dedicated tracks for customer leaders, revenue leaders, and marketing executives, means you will find clusters of senior buyers gathered around topics that matter directly to their budgets. ## What's on the Floor: 200+ Sessions and a Sponsor Expo Built for B2B Buying Conversations The **sponsor expo sits at the center of the event**, with foot traffic running from morning through evening across all three days. Networking sessions, mentoring hours, and happy hours are built around the expo, not bolted on separately. That structure keeps attendees on the floor longer than a typical conference layout. On the exhibitor side, expect a dense cross-section of the B2B software stack: - **AI and ML technology platforms** demonstrating agent deployment, model fine-tuning, and enterprise AI integration - **Sales and marketing technology** vendors targeting the CROs and CMOs in attendance with pipeline intelligence and GTM orchestration tools - **Customer success and HR technology** companies serving the operators managing post-sale growth at scale - **FinTech and developer tool providers** rounding out the infrastructure layer that SaaS companies depend on The 200+ sessions are tactical by design. Workshops on **AI agent deployment**, pricing strategy, and product building are drawn from founders and operators who have already run these plays, not analysts projecting from the outside. ## Exhibitor Strategy for SaaStr Annual 2026: Selling to Budget Holders Who Have Already Done Their Research The buyer at SaaStr is not in discovery mode. A CRO evaluating a new sales intelligence platform has likely already read the G2 reviews, checked competitor positioning, and narrowed to a shortlist. **Don't open with a product overview.** Lead with a specific outcome: what retention improvement, pipeline velocity gain, or cost reduction have your existing customers achieved, and at what ARR range? If you sell into the AI infrastructure or developer tooling space, know that **CTOs at this event are actively stress-testing vendor claims**. Bring architecture diagrams, benchmark data, and a technical team member who can go deep on implementation questions. A polished demo that can't handle a hard question about latency or security will move you off the shortlist quickly. With 3,000+ structured networking meetings built into the event, the floor stays busy. **Use the [Habsy App](https://habsy.ai/event-lead-capture?utm_source=tradeshowintel&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=saastr-annual-2026&utm_content=exhibitor_tip) to capture intent signals on every conversation in real time.** Recording a 10-second voice note about whether a founder is pre-Series B or scaling past $10M ARR, and tagging their buying timeline, means your post-show follow-up is segmented and relevant rather than a generic sequence sent to everyone. ## Visitor Tips for Getting Real Value from SaaStr Annual 2026 The 3,000+ structured networking meetings are the feature most attendees underuse. **Book your matchmaking slots before you arrive.** The system fills up, and the founders who get face time with relevant VCs or tool vendors are the ones who treated the meeting scheduler like a product, not an afterthought. If you're a **product manager or CTO evaluating AI tooling**, the workshop tracks are worth prioritizing over the main stage sessions. The hands-on sessions on AI agents and GTM orchestration are built around implementation, and the instructors are operators who have shipped these systems in production. You will leave with a clearer framework for your own rollout than any keynote will give you. After a full day of conversations, business card stacks become useless fast. Scan each card immediately using the **[Habsy App](https://habsy.ai/business-card-scanner?utm_source=tradeshowintel&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=saastr-annual-2026&utm_content=visitor_tip)**, add a quick note about what you discussed, whether a VC mentioned a specific thesis or a founder flagged a partnership angle, and you'll have an organized, searchable contact list by the time you leave the expo floor each evening. ## Why SaaStr Annual 2026 Belongs on Your Calendar Few events compress this much relevant B2B and AI decision-making into a single venue over 2.5 days. The combination of structured investor access, tactical AI workshops, and a sponsor floor designed to keep conversations flowing makes SaaStr Annual 2026 a genuinely high-signal environment for founders building companies, executives buying tools, and investors sourcing deals. The density of senior buyers means every hour on the floor has real commercial potential, provided you show up prepared. Visit [saastrannual.com](https://saastrannual.com) to register and review the session tracks before May 12. Before the event, set up your contact capture workflow with **[Habsy](https://habsy.ai/habsy-platform?utm_source=tradeshowintel&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=saastr-annual-2026&utm_content=closing_cta)**. The platform lets team leads see every contact captured across the group in real time, track which high-value prospects still need follow-up, and compare lead quality against other events over time. If you're bringing a team to San Mateo, configure your shared dashboard before you land. ## Frequently asked questions ### Where exactly is SaaStr Annual 2026 held? SaaStr Annual 2026 is held at the San Mateo County Event Center, located at 1346 Saratoga Dr, San Mateo, CA 94403. The venue is in the San Francisco Bay Area, making it accessible from San Francisco, San Jose, and surrounding cities. ### How many exhibitors are at SaaStr Annual 2026? Specific exhibitor counts for SaaStr Annual 2026 have not been published, but the event attracts hundreds of sponsors across B2B software, AI and ML platforms, sales technology, marketing technology, and developer tools. The sponsor expo is positioned at the center of the event to maximize floor traffic across all three days. ### Is SaaStr Annual 2026 the 13th edition? Yes, SaaStr Annual 2026 is the 13th edition of the conference. It runs May 12-14, 2026 at the San Mateo County Event Center in California. ### Who organizes SaaStr Annual 2026? SaaStr Annual 2026 is organized by SaaStr, the B2B and SaaS community founded by Jason Lemkin. More details and registration are available at saastrannual.com. ### How do I register for SaaStr Annual 2026? Registration for SaaStr Annual 2026 is available at saastrannual.com. It is recommended to register early as the event draws over 10,000 attendees and structured networking meeting slots fill up ahead of the conference. ### Is SaaStr Annual 2026 a B2B or B2C event? SaaStr Annual 2026 is strictly a B2B event, described as the world's largest B2B and AI community conference. Attendees are predominantly founders, VCs, and senior executives, with 70% at VP-level or above. ### What industries are represented at SaaStr Annual 2026? SaaStr Annual 2026 covers B2B software, SaaS, AI and machine learning, cloud computing, sales technology, marketing technology, customer success, HR technology, FinTech, and developer tools. The event is specifically focused on companies building or scaling AI-powered and SaaS products. ### How do I capture leads at SaaStr Annual 2026? With 3,000+ structured networking meetings happening across the event, using a dedicated lead capture tool is the most reliable way to stay organized. [Habsy](https://habsy.ai/event-lead-capture?utm_source=tradeshowintel&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=saastr-annual-2026&utm_content=faq) lets you log contacts in real time, add voice notes with intent signals, and gives team leads a shared dashboard to track follow-up across the whole group. ### Does SaaStr Annual happen every year? SaaStr Annual has run annually for 13 editions as of 2026, though the organizers have not formally confirmed a fixed annual cadence beyond the current event. Check saastrannual.com for updates on future editions. ### Are there investor meetings available at SaaStr Annual 2026? Yes, SaaStr Annual 2026 includes access to 300+ VCs who collectively invest $20 billion or more annually in AI-powered companies. Structured matchmaking meetings are built into the event format, and founders are advised to book those slots in advance as they fill up quickly.