BOSTON, MA — This year’s TiECON East, the region’s premier conference for entrepreneurs and innovators, is taking an unexpected and groundbreaking turn. For the first time, the event will feature a Cross-Disciplinary Forum titled “Artists as Entrepreneurs”, offering a fresh lens on what it truly means to build, lead, and create in today’s world.
The session will take place on September 26, 2025, from 1:50 PM to 2:50 PM at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, part of a full-day event expected to draw over 500 founders, investors, technologists, and creative leaders from across the country.
While TiECON East has long been known for its focus on venture capital, startups, and scaling, this year’s theme—”The Heart of Entrepreneurship”—marks a deliberate pivot. The new programming emphasizes mindset, creativity, and values, recognizing that the entrepreneurial journey is as much about vision and courage as it is about revenue and metrics.
“Entrepreneurship is a creative act—just like art,” said Atul Dhir, Co-Chair of TiECON East. “With this session, we’re opening a new conversation. It’s a new lens on the inner journey of the creator. The artist and the founder are closer than we think—they both begin with nothing but an idea, and they both must lead with courage, resilience, and imagination.”
The “Artists as Entrepreneurs” forum will bring together choreographers, performers, architects, designers, filmmakers, and even leaders from the culinary arts, to discuss what it means to create under pressure, navigate uncertainty, and rally others around an original vision.
Panelists will explore the shared DNA of artists and entrepreneurs:
- The courage to take risks in public
- The discipline to transform abstract ideas into tangible form
- The capacity for deep collaboration
- And the resilience to thrive amid failure, feedback, and scrutiny.
“We believe founders can learn just as much from a theater director as from a venture capitalist,” Dhir added. “If you’ve ever built something from scratch—whether a performance or a product—you know that the real challenge is not just execution, but belief. This session is about reigniting that belief.”
The forum promises not just talk, but an experience—blending performance, storytelling, and reflection. Attendees will hear first-hand how artists work across mediums, push creative boundaries, and maintain purpose in the face of rejection or change. These are not just inspirational stories; they are playbooks for sustainable innovation.
The decision to include artists reflects a broader ethos behind this year’s conference, which Dhir describes as a return to the soul of entrepreneurship:
“In an age of hyper-automation and relentless scaling, we want to ask: What does it mean to build something that matters? That lasts? That moves people?” Dhir said. “This is a chance for founders to step back from KPIs and rediscover the joy, the humanity, and the artistry of entrepreneurship.”
The “Artists as Entrepreneurs” session is expected to be one of the most talked-about segments of the event and is emblematic of the wider shift TiECON East is embracing: a recognition that visionaries are not born in boardrooms alone—they emerge from every corner of creative life.
TiECON East 2025 is the annual flagship event of TiE Boston, held in collaboration this year with TiE New York. As the largest gathering of entrepreneurs and innovators in the Northeast, the one-day conference convenes leaders across tech, business, academia, and the arts to explore the future of entrepreneurship.
For full agenda details and registration, visit: tieconeast.com
Session Highlight: “Artists as Entrepreneurs: A Cross-Disciplinary Forum”
Time: 1:50 PM–2:50 PM | Date: September 26, 2025 | Location: Sheraton Boston, Boston, MA
