An Open Future Forum community

The CEO Executive Forum

Off the record. By invitation. A private forum for founders and chief executives.

What It Is

A room built for
the chief executive seat

The CEO Executive Forum gathers founders and chief executives of high-growth companies. It is part of Open Future Forum, and it runs on the same principle: everyone in the room is a giver.

There is no sales agenda, no formal presentation and no recording. The conversations are the ones a chief executive cannot have with their team or their board, held with peers who understand the seat.

"The conversations a CEO needs most are the ones they cannot have with their team or their board."
  • 01Private dinners across Silicon Valley
  • 02Founders and chief executives only
  • 03Small rooms, 10 to 25 guests
  • 04Off the record, always
  • 05Membership by invitation or referral
  • 06Part of Open Future Forum
How We Gather

Dinners are the heart.
These bring people back.

The private dinner is the center of the forum. Around it, members gather in a handful of settings built for the way founders and chief executives actually connect.

Format

Panel events

Sharp, off-the-record sessions on the questions founders and chief executives are working through right now.

Format

Wine tasting

Smaller, relaxed gatherings where the conversation runs long and the introductions stick.

Format

Golf

A full day with a small group of peers, the kind of time that builds real trust.

Format

Sailing

A signature Open Future Forum setting on the bay, where the room opens up away from the office.

Format

Giants games

Private boxes at Giants games, a relaxed room for members and their guests.

Format

AI training

Practical working sessions on how AI is changing the company and the questions on the CEO agenda.

Upcoming

Forum
gatherings

See all Forum Events →

Gatherings are announced through Open Future Forum. Register, get reminders, and find the next room on the Forum Events page.

Upcoming CEO Executive Forum dinners and gatherings are listed with all Open Future Forum events.

View Forum Events
Who Belongs Here

The informal
selection criterion

The forum is built for founders and chief executives who make the room better. The question is simple: does this person give more than they take?

Members are identified by how they show up, long before any invitation is extended. If the answer is yes, a personal note follows.

  • ✓Founders and chief executives
  • ✓CEOs of high-growth companies
  • ✓Operators scaling through the AI shift
  • ✓Leaders who mentor and open doors
  • ✓Givers, always givers
The Philosophy

Built on
Give and Take

Like every Open Future Forum room, the CEO Executive Forum runs on Adam Grant's Give and Take: the most generous people in the room create the most value over time.

Give

Share what you know

Members offer their honest read of the business, the board, the market, without holding back for advantage.

Connect

Make the introduction

The most valued act in the room is a warm introduction made without being asked.

Return

Receive without obligation

This is not a quid pro quo network. The room holds the debt and pays it forward.

Membership

Ready to be
in the room?

If you think you belong in the CEO Executive Forum, or know a founder or chief executive who does, we'd like to hear from you. Membership is by invitation or referral, reviewed personally by Murray Newlands.

Request an invitation Follow on LinkedIn See upcoming events
Common Questions

What people
ask us

Who qualifies for the CEO Executive Forum?
Chief executives and founder-CEOs of companies at scale. The qualification indicators used for the CEO Private Dinner Series are $10 million or more in ARR, $10 million or more raised, or a valuation above $100 million. These are indicators of fit, not an automatic entitlement to a seat: every application is read on its own terms and most are declined.
What types and stages of companies are represented?
A mix of venture-backed and self-funded companies, mostly post-product and post-revenue, ranging from growth-stage private businesses to public companies. AI is the most common sector, though the room is not limited to it. Chief executives at that scale share a set of problems regardless of industry, which is what makes the table work.
What leadership issues are discussed?
The decisions a chief executive cannot delegate. Recurring subjects include who owns the AI mandate and who signs for it, what return is being promised and on what timeline, funding AI against headcount, what the board should be told and when, executive team design, and the parts of the job that are hard to say out loud anywhere else.
How are CEOs and founders selected?
By invitation, referral or direct application, reviewed individually. Selection weighs seniority, what the person is currently working through, and whether they will contribute to the conversation rather than work the room. The CEO dinners are the most selective in the network: demand runs several hundred registrations against 10 to 25 seats.
What happens at a private CEO dinner?
10 to 25 chief executives and a conversation the room carries for the evening. There are no panels, no slide decks, no name badges and no recordings. A host opens with a question rather than a presentation, and the table works it. More on the format.
How is confidentiality protected?
Discussions are private and off the record. Nothing is repeated, attributed or published outside the room, and there are no recordings or transcripts. The rule is enforced socially rather than by contract: people who break it are not invited back, which in a room this small is enough.
How does the CEO Executive Forum differ from a large conference or networking event?
A conference is built around a stage and an audience; this is built around a table and a conversation. Nobody is presenting, nobody is selling, and the room is small enough that every person speaks. What you get is not contacts but a handful of peers who know what you are actually dealing with. Forum Events are the open, larger format.
How can a CEO or qualifying founder request an invitation?
Apply directly, or ask someone already in the community for a referral. A useful application says what you run, roughly what stage it is at, and the decision you are currently working through. Apply here, and see the CEO AI Leverage Report for the questions this room works on.