DINNER
Monday 2nd March 2026
Bayerischer Hof, Munich
18.45
Drinks reception
19.40
Opening Remarks
Uday Singh
Founder & CEO, Fast Growth Icons
19.45
Welcome Address from our Dinner Sponsor
Falk Müller-Veerse
Managing Director – Global Technology Group, Stifel
19.50
Seated Dinner
Enjoy three courses from The Bayerischer Hof’s exclusive menu
22.30
Carriages
MAIN DAY
Tuesday 3rd March 2026
The Charles Hotel
08.00
Breakfast & Networking
09.00
Host
Uday Singh
Founder, Fast Growth Icons
09.10
Opening Remarks
Ben Fletcher
Co-founder and Chair, The Mothership
09.35
The Power of Persistence: Surviving long enough to build a category-defining business
Dirk Hoerig
Founder, Commercetools
Dirk will share pivotal near‑failure moments, decisions that shaped the company, lessons learned about focus and long‑term persistence, and how he’s preparing the business to be AI‑native, plus other practical takeaways for founders and CEOs
10.00
The Planning Paradox: Plans are useless, but the planning is essential
Maximilian Wühr
Co-Founder & CEO, FINN
When your business is growing fast, every plan is wrong the moment you make it – but not planning at all is worse. In this sessions we’ll talk about: how to set ambitious targets without losing credibility, how to keep teams accountable when the world keeps changing, and why speed and focus often matter more than precision.
Expect a real-world discussion on the messiness of planning, budgeting, and decision-making in scale-ups – from “acceptable delusion” in goal-setting to the art of learning from missed forecasts.
10.25
Roundtable networking and discussion sessions
11.10
Morning Break
11.35
Managing Euphoria and Terror: Staying Sane While Scaling
Mathias Imbach
Co-founder & Group Ceo, Sygnum
How Edurino replaced trial-and-error with a repeatable growth system. Using clear metrics, daily/weekly cadences and guardrails to turn an inefficient, high-burn marketing function into a disciplined engine for consistent results.
12.00
Roundtable networking and discussion sessions
13.00
Seated founder’s lunch by the chef at the Charles Hotel
14.30
Building a senior team and succession planning: what can go wrong and how to plan for the change
Henrik Thiele
CEO, Qwello
As fast-growing companies hit scale, founders face one of the toughest transitions in business: replacing themselves in core operational roles while keeping culture, momentum, and team morale intact. In this candid sessions, Henrik Thiele shares the unfiltered story of hiring, and then rapidly un-hiring, a COO who looked perfect on paper but proved incompatible in practice. Ben and Henrik will unpack what really goes wrong when you bring in senior people from much larger organisations, how to avoid hiring for pedigree over fit, and why honesty about the messy reality of your business is essential to attracting the right leaders.
15.00
From Chaos to Clarity: Systemising Growth Marketing
Irene Klemm
Co-founder, Edurino
How Edurino replaced trial-and-error with a repeatable growth system. Using clear metrics, daily/weekly cadences and guardrails to turn an inefficient, high-burn marketing function into a disciplined engine for consistent results.
15.25
Roundtable networking and discussion sessions
Coffee served to the tables
16.25
Closing Address
Uday Singh
Founder & CEO, Fast Growth Icons
16.30
Champagne Reception
17.30
End