At Calm/Storm, we see entrepreneurship as setting sail into uncharted waters. It takes courage to leave the safety of the shore, skill to adjust your sails when the wind shifts, and resilience to stay the course when the sea turns rough. For those just embarking on their journey, the most valuable lessons come from seasoned sailors who share their experiences face-to-face, away from everyday routines - this is how we support founders, by bringing them together as a community to learn and grow.

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At Calm/Storm we love sailing, of course, that’s why our portfolio founders and supporting partners from across Europe (and beyond) gathered for a few days at Lake Attersee for our Founder Leadership & Sailing event. No laptops, no slides, just open water, open minds, and real conversations. It was a chance to reconnect with seasoned sailors - our founders - and welcome new ones aboard. Between workshops, outdoor adventures, and sailing, there were countless opportunities to share experiences, exchange ideas, and simply connect.

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Putting the team first: leading through action

What do founders understand better than anyone? Challenges. So we set our founders a hands-on test in real-world conditions: design a boat, build it, and then sail it across Lake Attersee. With guidance from our own portfolio company, Leaders21, teams had to think on their feet, pivot when plans shifted, and execute under the pressure of both time and the open water. This fun exercise was designed to explore problem solving, teamwork and reflect on them afterwards. 

Some key learnings were:

1. Understand your team: match strengths to the right tasks, whether tying sailing knots or racing for materials.

2. Ideate, build, pivot: nothing teaches you to steer quite like a cold splash into the water.

3. Trust and delegate: a boat only moves forward when everyone rows together and sometimes you need to get your hands dirty.

4. Fail fast, keep going: in the end, both boats made it safely to shore under clear blue skies.

In short, having the right team is essential not only to take on challenging tasks (and even enjoy them), but also to reflect, learn, and grow together.

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Charting our course and setting sail together

After mastering the art of building a boat (more like a raft) many stepped onto a real sailboat for the very first time. What started as the simple act of hoisting sails soon revealed something deeper: true leadership isn’t about a single hand on the wheel, but about trust in your crew. You could say, we may have all come from different ships, but we’re in the same boat now. Spending time together, especially away from work, is often underestimated, but helps in building that trust. Getting familiar with your crew makes all the difference for the journey ahead.

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Where calm meets storm in meaningful conversations

Despite the action and challenges, there were moments when we deliberately slowed down, quiet pauses to reflect, share stories over a lakeside BBQ, and later, to sit together under the shining moon and witness an eclipse. Too poetic to be true? Not this time. 

It’s exactly in these moments that space opens up to speak honestly about the challenges of balancing personal life with the demands of being a founder, whether it’s the pressure of fundraising, managing time zones with a co-founder, or navigating parenthood while running a business. Being a founder is never easy, but at Attersee, surrounded by nature and a community that is both driven and ambitious yet fully human, embracing the real struggles of life and work, it felt grounding, energizing, and somehow lighter all at once.

Laughter mingled with new friendships and still, contemplative moments reminded us that progress is not always measured in speed, but in depth. After all, isn’t true growth found in those moments where we pause, reflect, and truly listen to one another?

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Finding strength in community, the wind beneath our sails

Entrepreneurship, like sailing, is never a straight line. Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors, and calm waters don’t prepare you for the storm. But when founders gather, they realize: we’re all navigating this journey together. 

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm. At Calm/Storm, we are proud to be part of that crew and help our founders to realize their full potential. It’s easy to feel adrift in the chaos of business, but the Attersee reminded us that, whether on water or in enterprise, the journey matters as much as the destination. Ultimately, it’s the people who make the difference.

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