skip to content
Back to journal
LisbonMarch 2025

An offsite that didn't feel like one

Twelve founders, four days, a quiet house in Alfama. We replaced the conference room with a kitchen and the agenda with a rhythm.

We were briefed for a leadership offsite. We delivered something closer to a residency.

Twelve founders moved into a house in Alfama for four days. Mornings were unstructured — coffee on the terrace, walking, reading. Afternoons were one long working session, in a room set with mineral water, fresh fruit, no slides. Evenings were dinners at the same long table, with one different guest from the city each night — a chef, a poet, an architect.

Field Notes — 07

The strategic work, when it happened, happened with more presence than any quarterly offsite we'd ever sat through. The slowest day produced the most decisions.

Designed for a venture firm. Twelve founders. Four days. One quiet house.