Silicon Valley · Est. 2019

Where the AI era's most important conversations happen

A community built on the philosophy of giving. One brand, two rooms, one purpose.

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"The most successful people in any room are the ones giving the most to it, building communities where everyone else does the same."

Open Future Forum is built on a simple conviction borrowed from Adam Grant's Give and Take: givers create more value than they capture. Put a room full of them together and something extraordinary tends to happen.

For those who want to be in the room with the broader AI and tech community, we run Forum Events: open gatherings in Silicon Valley where knowledge flows freely and nobody is working an angle.

For C-suite executives and board directors who need a private space to think out loud, we convene Forum Select: invitation-only dinners where candor is the currency and the expectation is that everyone gives more than they take.

Two tiers.
One philosophy.

Open Future Forum is a community of givers: people who share what they know and make introductions without keeping score. Both tiers run on the same ethos, just at different scales.

Forum Select

The private
executive community

Intimate, invitation-only gatherings for C-suite executives and board directors. The membership principle is simple: everyone in this room is a giver. You share what you know, make the introductions that matter, and leave the room better than you found it.

  • Quarterly private dinners in San Francisco & Palo Alto
  • C-suite executives and board directors only
  • By invitation or personal referral
  • Off the record, always
  • Convened personally by Murray Newlands
Inquire about membership
Forum Events

The public
community events

Open, generous gatherings for the broader AI and tech community. We believe knowledge shared freely returns multiplied. Forum Events exist to put the right people in the same room and let the generosity flow. No gatekeeping, no transactional networking.

  • Regular events in Silicon Valley and beyond
  • Open to the AI and tech community
  • Panels, fireside chats, networking mixers
  • Curated speakers and guest lists
  • Supported by leading AI companies and VCs
See upcoming events
Forum Events

The public gathering

Open community · 50–200+ people · Panels & mixers

↓   The best conversations continue here   ↓
Forum Select

The private executive community

Invitation only · 8–30 people · Private dinners

The funnel is
intentional

Forum Events and Forum Select aren't parallel tracks. They're a deliberate sequence, each making the other better.

  • 01

    Events feed Select

    Every Forum Event is a talent scout. Murray watches who asks the sharpest questions, who the other executives gravitate toward. The best people receive a quiet personal invitation to something more exclusive.

  • 02

    Select elevates Events

    Forum Select members appear at Forum Events as quiet presences. Their participation signals to everyone in the room that something more exclusive exists.

  • 03

    Murray connects both

    In both rooms, Murray is the connective tissue, bringing 20 years of relationships across media, venture capital, and operations to every conversation.

A community
of givers

Givers create more long-term value than they capture. The AI era needs more of them in more rooms.

The decisions shaping the AI era aren't being made on stages. They happen before the meeting, after the dinner, with one person you actually trust.

The most powerful network is the most generous one. A room full of givers compounds. We curate accordingly.

Public community and private intimacy are not opposites. The most exclusive rooms are built on the most open foundations.

Open Future Forum is where those people find each other and give generously, at every level.

The Convener
Murray
Newlands
Founder, Open Future Forum · Partner, IASV Seed Ventures
  • VC Partner, IASV Seed Ventures, seed-stage AI & tech investor
  • Operator Ex Turing.com, helped scale to $4B valuation
  • Media Forbes, Inc, Time, Entrepreneur, The Guardian
  • Author Online Marketing: A User's Manual, Wiley
  • Network 1.4M+ across the tech and startup ecosystem
"The most valuable thing I've learned in 20 years in this industry is that the givers always win in the long run. I built Open Future Forum to find them, connect them, and give them a room worthy of what they bring."

Murray built his career by giving without expectation: introductions, insights, platforms, time. Long before it made strategic sense.

He brings the same approach to every gathering. The unspoken rule in both rooms: lead with what you can give.

Upcoming
gatherings

View & register on Luma →

All events are managed and updated in real time on Luma. Register, get reminders, and share events directly from the calendar below.

Can't see the calendar? Open the full events page on Luma →

The room that
doesn't keep score

Forum Select is a private executive community built on a single principle: everyone here is a giver. C-suite leaders and board directors who share what they know, make the introductions that matter, and leave every conversation better than they found it.

There is no pitch, no agenda, no transaction. Membership is by invitation or personal referral. If you think you belong in this room, or know someone who does, we'd like to hear from you.

Built on the
science of giving

Adam Grant's research in Give and Take proved what the best community builders have always known intuitively: the most successful people in any field are not the best networkers. They are the most generous ones.

Givers, those who contribute without keeping score, consistently outperform takers and matchers over time, because generosity builds the kind of trust and reputation that no strategy can manufacture.

Open Future Forum was designed with this in mind. We don't just want to bring the right people together. We want to bring the right kind of people together, and create the conditions where their generosity compounds.

Give

Share what you know

Every member of Forum Select contributes their honest read of the world, without holding back for competitive advantage.

Connect

Make the introduction

The most valuable currency in this community is a warm introduction made without being asked. Murray models this in every room he enters, and it sets the tone for everyone who follows.

Return

Receive without obligation

Open Future Forum is not a quid pro quo network. When someone gives here, they do not expect an immediate return. The community as a whole holds the debt and pays it forward.

What people
ask us

What is Open Future Forum?
Open Future Forum is a Silicon Valley executive community founded by Murray Newlands. It operates two tiers: Forum Select, a private invitation-only network for C-suite executives and board directors, and Forum Events, an open event series for the broader AI and tech community.
What is Forum Select?
Forum Select is the private executive tier: intimate, off-the-record dinners for C-suite leaders and board directors in San Francisco and Palo Alto. No agenda, no recordings, no pitch. Membership is by invitation or personal referral only, convened personally by Murray Newlands.
How do I join Forum Select?
Membership is by personal invitation or referral. C-suite executives and board directors who wish to be considered can reach out directly to Murray via this site. Attending a Forum Event is often the natural first step.
Who attends Forum Events?
Forum Events are open to the broader AI and technology community: founders, investors, operators, and senior leaders. They are well-curated, not merely open-door: Murray and the team ensure a high-quality room at every event.
What is the philosophy behind Open Future Forum?
Open Future Forum is built on the principles of Adam Grant's Give and Take: the idea that givers, those who share freely without keeping score, create more long-term value than they capture. Both tiers are designed to attract and reward generous leaders who lead with what they can give, not what they can get.
Where are events held?
Primarily in San Francisco and Palo Alto. Forum Select dinners are held at exclusive Bay Area venues. Forum Events also expand to other locations as the community grows.