Circolo Presents · Calma 2222
Step away
long enough to return.
Cal · Ma / Noun / Stillness, Presence
Eleven founders. Five days. One Village in Bali.
18th – 22nd August 2026
II · A Letter
Dear Visionaries,
You move fast. You build things the world hasn't seen before. You make decisions that shape markets, teams, and futures.
But there is a truth we rarely say out loud, the faster you run, the harder it becomes to think clearly.
Calma was created for founders and funders who are constantly building, solving, and deciding. It is not about slowing down for the sake of it. It is about creating the space required to return sharper, calmer, and more deliberate.
— Circolo
III · Calma
"The moment between breaths where clarity emerges."
Cal · Ma / Noun / Stillness, Presence
A universal word for what high-performers rarely give themselves permission to feel. Not absence of drive but rather the ground it grows from.
Stillness · Clarity · Acceleration
IV · Why Calma
There's a pace at which clarity becomes impossible.
Most founders know this feeling even if they rarely name it. The decisions keep coming, the momentum builds and somewhere between the growth and the pressure and the responsibility of it all, the space to think clearly quietly disappears.
It isn't a failure. It's simply what sustained acceleration does to any high-performing system. The body and mind are no different from any other engine: they need to be brought in, recalibrated, and sent back out as the very thing that makes the next level of performance possible.
Calma creates that space.
Five days away from the redline, in the company of eleven people who understand what it takes to build something real. The space to map what's next from stillness, rather than momentum.
This is what Calma is for and it may be the most important five days of your year.
V · A Curated Micro Cohort
18th – 22nd August 2026
A private gathering for builders. We curate rooms with the right people, in the right places, at the right time.
Eleven participants. Nothing more.
VI · What Makes Calma Different
Designed for Those Already at the Top.
Designed around the whole person.
Every element from the conversations held in the morning to the cold plunge taken in quiet is shaped with one intention: to help you step out of autopilot and return to yourself.
A room of eleven.
When a room is this small and this carefully considered, something shifts. Guards come down, conversations find their way to places they rarely do in larger, louder gatherings. What gets said here tends to stay with people for years.
Honest exchange, not curated performance.
The sessions at Calma are conversations between people who have built things, navigated hard seasons, and arrived at their own hard-won truths. What you'll find is candour and the particular relief that comes from finally being in a room where it's safe to speak plainly.
A rhythm that restores.
Days at Calma move through different registers — adventure, reflection, deep conversation, stillness woven together so that each one prepares you for the next.
VII · The Location
A sanctuary built for exactly
this kind of reset.
Grun Uluwatu · Bali
Nestled among the treetops of Uluwatu, Bali, Grun Uluwatu is where architecture meets the wild. Floor-to-ceiling views of the Indian Ocean. Private treehouse and ocean-view villas surrounded by jungle. The kind of place that starts the reset before the first session begins.
Recovery spaces include cold plunge pools, saunas, and quiet corners engineered for exactly the kind of recalibration Calma is designed around. The ocean, the trees, and eleven people willing to go somewhere real.
VIII · Gallery
Calma 2025
A glimpse from last year's room.
IX · The Circle
Who should apply?
Entrepreneurs and funders seeking to reset and recharge.
Leaders curious about balancing performance with well-being.
Growth-oriented individuals who value honest conversations and meaningful connections.
For those who understand that sometimes the best way to move forward is to pause.
X · Hosts
Who holds the room
The room is only as good as
those who hold it.
Trent Barnes
General Partner — Primal Capital
Over years of working closely with founders, Trent kept arriving at the same conclusion: the limiting factor is rarely the business, it's the human running it. He's a co-founder of digital-asset trading firm ZeroCap and a general partner at alternative-assets manager Primal Capital, where he backs founders from early to growth stage.
Alongside his investing runs a fascination that's shaped him just as much: for over thirteen years he's worked one-on-one with founders, athletes, and performers, on clarity, decision-making, and how they hold up under pressure.
A certified NLP practitioner and Ericksonian hypnotherapist, grounded in stoic philosophy and shaped by extreme sports and performance psychology, he calls the practice human acceleration: upgrading and optimising the human operating system.
Cristina Ventura
Founder — Ventura X Ventures
Cristina Ventura is an investor, board advisor, mentor, and global ecosystem builder with deep expertise across luxury, technology, innovation, and investment. As General Partner at White Star Capital, a global technology investment platform with $1.5B in AUM, she works closely with founders, family offices, institutional investors, and strategic partners globally. Through Ventura X Ventures, she personally invests in more than 30 companies and multiple funds.
Her leadership journey spans some of the world's most respected organizations, including Prada Group's Hong Kong IPO, led Apple's expansion in Hong Kong and South China while building a team of more than 1,500 professionals, and later drove innovation, investment, and strategic partnerships across Asia's leading luxury lifestyle ecosystem Family Business.
A passionate advocate for leadership, lifelong learning, and value creation, Cristina is Alumni of Harvard Business School, Stanford, MIT, IESE GEMBA, CEIBS, INSEAD, and Kauffman Fellows. Multiple case studies based on her leadership journey have been published by HBS and IESE. Today, she mentors founders, CEOs, family offices, and next-generation leaders globally, guided by her mission to connect human capital, catalyse growth, and create value for future generations.
Alvaro Daza
CEO — Circolo.life
Alvaro Daza is a global experiential architect and founder of Circolo.life. His work sits at the intersection of architecture, hospitality, cultural strategy, and frontier innovation — designing experiences and environments that create influence, trust, and measurable business momentum.
Known for entering high-stakes situations where vision is strong but execution is fragmented, Alv architects the full system: narrative, stakeholder alignment, spatial design, and strategic continuity.
XI · Inclusions
Arrive. Immerse.
Everything else is taken care of.
Four nights and five days of accommodation in a private room
Airport transfers, on arrival and departure
All meals, refreshments, and ceremonies
Founder-led sessions and printed materials
Recovery access: cold plunge pools, sauna, and movement spaces
Post-retreat summary and contact list
XII · What Participants Gain
Sharper. Calmer.
More deliberate.
Mental clarity and renewed energy
Space to reset and think clearly about both life and business.
Practical insights from experienced founders
Honest conversations that move beyond theory into what truly works.
Meaningful relationships
Connections built in an environment of trust and openness — eleven people who get it.
Personal commitments
Clear next steps to lead and build with greater intention.
XIII · The Investment
18th – 22nd August 2026
Per seat · all-inclusive
Accommodation, all meals, sessions, transfers, and activities. Flight in not included.
By application. Reviewed personally by the Circolo team. Payment requested only after acceptance.
Limited to 11 seats · 2026 cohort · 18th – 22nd Aug 2026
XIV · Inquiries
Quietly answered.
Why only eleven seats?
+
Depth requires intimacy. More than eleven and the room changes.
Who decides who gets in?
+
The Circolo team reviews every application personally. Group chemistry is everything.
What happens after I apply?
+
A short call within five business days. If it's a fit, we send a seat offer and payment instructions.
Is the USD 2,222 refundable?
+
75% refund up to 60 days before arrival. 50% refund up to 45 days before arrival. 30% refund up to 30 days before arrival. Non-refundable inside 30 days.
What's not included?
+
International flights to Bali, visa fees, travel insurance, and personal expenses.
XV
"Sometimes the best way to move forward is to pause."