Plus a recap from our amazing 2018 Winter edition
Last March we hosted the 2nd edition of the Unplug Retreat.
The first one was a summer hiking one (pics and video here), and so we decided to try a snow-filled adventure this time.
We invited some of the brightest minds in the European scene (as well as quite a few US adventurers!). They hailed from the following funds and firms:
Our amazing attendees hailed from some of the best funds and projects
There was skiing.
There was sledging.
There was snowshoeing.
There was sauna time.
And there were a lot of food, drinks and discussions.
So, with such an amazing experience it was a bit daunting to come up with an even better 3rd edition, but we think we made it!
đ Introducing the 3rd Unplug Retreat: 2018 Summer Hike edition
When: Sept 12â14th (after ETHBerlin)
Where: Madonna di Campiglio, Dolomites
Following from our 1st edition, this year we are going to bring you to one of the most beautiful places in all of the alpine region: le Dolomiti di Brenta.
Tuckett and Sella Refuges
We have chosen a truly representing alpine hut, built in hand carried stone and wood, fully remodeled but with its original 100+ years old floors and walls.
a view from our âwaterfall hiking pathâ
We will also be hosting you in a 4-stars superior hotel in Madonna di Campiglio, which is often referred to as âthe pearl of the Dolomitesâ.
The hike is magnificent, and when you do it with 100 other investors and entrepreneurs, it has a different flavor.
We will also have one of the biggest spas of the entire Dolomites at our disposal, Yoga teachers, professional astronomers, and licensed mountain guides.
The food will be top notch, and we promise the company will be as well.
Last September, together with a good friend, we organized the first edition of the European Venture Retreat.
It was a crazy experiment, that we organized on a whim. And we had an amazing time.
You can see the video of the event here:
and some select pictures here:
(You can see the full album on Facebook)
We had people come from almost ALL of Europe, including Malta, Romania, Finland, Spain, Switzerland and so on, representing a lot of top EU funds and many crypto organizations like Placeholder and Aragon.
People got to chat while they climbed the mountains, while they enjoyed traditional food and while they slept in 12-people rooms in their bunk beds.
It was a different experience from the usual conference, and we were really glad to hear that people really enjoyed it.
So weâre doing it again!
With Lorenzo, we decided that the experiment was successful and weâre going to continue to organize epic mountain retreats for investors and entrepreneurs, and maybe even more people.
When I was a kid, my parents used to bring me in the mountains to get nice fresh air for a medical condition I had. Since then Iâve been in love with the colors, the smell, the air, the physical activity, the sports, the views, and the culture of the mountains.
Now, I am fortunate to live all of this every single day. And it has helped me immensely to reduce stress, focus more, and think about what is really important for me and my family.
When I was in SF, one of the events I enjoyed the most was Camp YC, a weekend in the woods organized by Y Combinator. I loved the fact that it had a lot of unstructured time and that you could chat with fellow entrepreneurs around a campfire.
Given I canât attend Camp YC anymore, and I want others to enjoy all that Iâve been having for the past year, I decided to organize something like it over here.
And so, the European Venture Retreat idea was born.
What is it?
The European Venture Retreat is an invite-only weekend-long retreat in the Dolomites, with 70 investors, entrepreneurs and generally very interesting people.
Definitely not. There are no big keynote speeches or workshops or panels. Iâve grown pretty tired of all the usual formats.
This is a weekend to unplug. Itâs more like a vacation with a bunch of really interesting people.
But most of all itâs a way to create more meaningful relationships than the ones you can create at a conference.
So if itâs not a conference, whatâs the agenda like?
The main activity will be hiking, and exploring the mountains. We will also have additional activities like night-time sky exploration, yoga and meditation.
We will have a lot of relax time that will be spent to forge deep relationships with the other participants, the ones that you create when you share a room in a mountain hut and share meals.
We will network and we will also have some mini-talks if the participants are interested.
Is this a luxury 5-stars event?
Absolutely not! This is a mountaineering expedition.
Itâs the most spartan event youâll attend this year, guaranteed.
We will be in a mountain hut at 2.440m with all logistical consequences: hard to get water, little space.
We will be sharing rooms (2 people the first night, 4â8 people in the refuge), and will have two tokens for showers (use at your own discretion, or sell them to others! Probably wonât have time to create an exchange so itâll have to be OTC đ)
It will be cold outside and it will be tiring to get to the refuge. You should only attend if you want to experience a mountain adventure.
Whoâll be there?
We have invited a wide spectrum of participants, with a focus on VC investors, angels, and startup founders.
I donât think the #1 reason to come should be if thereâs a celebrity VC or founder, as I think the best and most fruitful relationships are created with unexpected people. All I can guarantee is that the people will be extremely interesting and diverse.
We donât want to have 2â3 rockstars and have all the attention focused on them, and have their and everyoneâs experience be terrible. We want to create bonds that wouldnât have been created otherwise.
I personally prefer to chat with people that are still hungry and interested in weird things, and that has also the benefit of creating a much more future-proof network.
But, we can share that we have many YC founders as well as participants from the following funds:
There will also be a solid presence of people interested in crypto-currencies.
We leave from Verona at 2030 hours on Thursday evening.
Weâll sleep in a hotel at the base of the mountain the first night.
Weâll hike to the refuge Friday am to get there by lunchtime.
We descend Sunday am, eat in a local place and aim to be in Verona by 5pm.
Plan travel accordingly!
Pricing
Iâm pretty proud of the fact that we have managed to keep the event at an amazing ââŹ389 price for early-birds. Price jumps to ââŹ499 for late tickets, if there will be any.
Iâve seen one-day events where you pay thousands of dollars, and come back with the same old boring stack of business cards and nothing more in your life.
Here, youâre just paying for your accommodation, travel and food expenses. Youâre not paying anyoneâs flight and luxury pre-conference dinner and most certainly a yearly salary to me (although BTC donations are welcome đ€).
Unfortunately space is constrained by the capacity of the mountain hut, so we can only extend so many invites. Sorry in advance if we canât accomodate everyone.
