Founders Forum 2027School of Founders Annual Gathering
15th - 16th June 2027IESE Barcelona Campus
We believe that entrepreneurs, when guided by purpose and conscience, are the world’s greatest force for progress. Yet, starting and scaling a business remains difficult, often marked by struggle, personal sacrifice and waste. We created the School of Founders (SoF) to change this. It was born from a shared conviction that companies can be built for the right reasons, with humanity, and a higher chance of lasting success.
Entrepreneurship is a collective journey. You need peers to be successful. That’s why we invite our current students, alumni, and those interested in joining us to our annual Founders Forum – 1,5 days of insight, clarity, and belonging for scaleup founders.
Founders Forum delivers more than inspiration. It gives you tangible tools, sharp focus, and a circle of peers who get it. You’ll leave with actionable insights, clear priorities, and the confidence to move forward with conviction.
Who: +300 founders of scaleups from +50 nationalities (invitation only)
When: June 15th and 16th, 2027
Where: IESE Business School, Barcelona Campus
We bring you leading minds in scaling. Contributors participate as equals, offering advice, frameworks, provocations, and questions more than one-way keynotes.
Our goal? To dramatically increase the odds that you scale successfully and sustainably. To ensure that the people building the future don’t get lost on the way. We help you regain clarity, experience community and generate courage for the next stage of their journey.
What to expect: Not a conference, but a journey
We design the Founders Forum to help you regain clarity, experience community, and generate courage for the next stage of your journey. Rather than exposing you to eclectic content and disconnected keynotes, we use systems-based methodologies to help you uncover blind spots, align purpose with action, and shift from reactive to generative leadership.
We will guide you through a three-stage process that generates the creativity, clarity and commitment you need to grow your business.
Step 1: Attention – On day 1, we invite you to pay attention to what is really happening in yourself, your business, and the world. Where is it stuck? What ineffective patterns do you keep repeating? You’ll hear from real stakeholders in scaleups, gaining a different perspective on the scaling journey: a “view from the balcony” that can shine a light on your blind spots and generate curiosity and empathy.
Step 2: Intention – At the end of day 1 and the morning of day 2, you will be ready to gain clarity about your true intentions. You’ll see what truly matters to you and your business. Through partner walks, solo reflection, and small-group conversations, you’ll distill 2–3 key shifts that could make a disproportionate difference in your business and life. What change do you want to create in yourself or your company? What are you ready to let go of?
Step 3: Agency – For the rest of day 2, you’ll move into “creator mode.” You’ll shape ideas manually, even creating small pieces of art to illustrate the changes you want to implement. In breakout workshops, you’ll engage in in-depth discussions with peers and expert contributors. You’ll leave the Forum with several 90-day commitments to action that can significantly move the needle.
The Founders Forum is a highly curated gathering in the spirit of co-creation. We limit participation to scaleup founders to ensure depth, intimacy, and meaningful peer learning among a global group of high-caliber entrepreneurs who share the same challenges.
You’ll experience the Forum as a unique blend of community gathering, workshop, and retreat – a journey, if you will. Beyond strategic, real-world content, there will be space for meditation, journaling, deep conversation, moments of art, and a good dose of humor. These elements are not decorative. They are intentional tools to help you shift perspective, reconnect with your purpose, and design what’s next.
See last years’ videos of the Founders Forum here:
In Their Words: Reflections from Past Participants
“Founders Forum gave me the rare chance to be fully honest, with myself and with others, about what’s really going on in the company. I left with a plan, a peer group, and a sense of peace I hadn’t felt in months.” — Peter Komornik, Co-Founder, Slido
“The Founders Forum was not about more content. It was about deep transformation. The container, the people, the flow—everything was intentional and powerful.” — Ruth Puente, COO, Bdeo
“What happened over the past two days at IESE Business School was simply amazing. The #FoundersForum was an absolute blast, packed with powerful insights and honest conversations. A truly connected and empathetic community of founders, sharing from a place of vulnerability and humility. […] I came back completely recharged, full of energy, fresh ideas, and new perspectives to bring into my journey.” — Jorge Galindo, Co-Founder, 47 Degrees
“Immense thanks for curating a space where over 250 humble, values-driven founders and thought leaders came together to connect, reflect, laugh and create moments that truly matter. It was an honor to be part of this incredible community – and to feel the spark of future collaborations already igniting.” — Christina Engebak, CEO and Co-Founder, Lexidy
“The Founders Forum is like a sacred space for founders. It’s a pause. It’s a reset. It’s a reminder of why we do what we do.” — Sven Huber, Co-Founder, Fiction Express
“We founders are often trapped between the pressure to perform and the desire to stay true to ourselves. The Founders Forum is the only place I could reconcile those two realities.” — Juan de la Torre, CEO, La Machi
“Still buzzing from Founders Forum. Thank you for reminding us that great leadership starts from within. I am leaving with deeper self-awareness, fresh insights, and the clarity to act.”
— Cristina Rebel, Co-Founder, Wikifactory
