Choose something worth doing
The starting point is a place, route or shared activity Jakob would want to make time for anyway. The trip has to work before a programme is added to it.
Small-group journeys for founders and operators
A trip worth leaving work for.
The next Vortex chapter is being built around one or two journeys a year, usually for eight to sixteen people. We choose the place and the group carefully, handle the logistics properly and keep the schedule light.
Aldeia Pinuya · Acre, Brazil · 2023
Ten days with
the Huni Kuin.
A small Vortex group spent ten days in Aldeia Pinuya, hosted by the Huni Kuin community in their own territory. We lived in the village and followed its rhythm. That experience changed the standard for what we wanted to host after it.
VRT / 0012020 / ∞
See how it works 01 / Why Vortex
Most founder rooms are still about work.
You can move the meeting to a villa and take away the name badges. The conversation often stays the same: what do you do, who do you know, what are you building next?
Vortex starts with a more useful test. Would the trip still be worth taking if no business came from it? The place, the activity and the time together need to carry the experience on their own. Anything more intentional comes after that, and there is not much of it.
How Vortex works ↗
02 / What we are building
The next chapter
A good trip with people
you would not meet at work.
Vortex is now being developed for founders and operators carrying real responsibility for a company or team. People who can plan a good holiday but find it much harder to plan the group.
Most of the time is for the place, the activity and being there together. Some journeys may include a few guided conversations or practices. There is no programme to complete and no promise that you will come home transformed.
- 01Eight to sixteen people
- 02One or two hosted journeys a year
- 03Light structure and substantial open time
- 04Professional logistics and appropriate local expertise
Men’s retreat · Austin, Texas · 2025
03 / How it is built
The order matters
We build the trip
in this order.
Choose the group
Usually eight to sixteen people. Founders and operators provide the shared context, but the real decision is how someone is likely to be with everyone else.
Build only what the trip needs
A producer handles logistics. Local partners and qualified specialists own their areas. Jakob leads the parts that genuinely need him, then joins the experience.
04 / The work so far
The public record
Four experiences
between 2022 and 2025.
The work has included a 50-hour teacher training in Guatemala, an eight-day retreat in Mexico, ten days with the Huni Kuin in Acre and a men’s retreat in Austin. They were built for different people and used different formats. The next chapter is more specific.
experiences↗
01
Aldeia Pinuya · Acre, Brazil · 2023
Ten days in the Amazon
The Huni Kuin community hosted a small Vortex group in its own village. The days followed the community rather than a retreat schedule.
02
Austin · Texas · 2025
A private men’s retreat
A small-group men’s retreat at a private residence, co-created and co-facilitated by Jakob Gricar and Scott Seymour.
03
The earlier programmes · Guatemala and Mexico · 2022
Training and retreat work
A four-day FlyHigh Yoga teacher training in San Marcos La Laguna and the eight-day Becoming Light retreat in Estado de México.
05 / Who it is for
The shared context
Founders and operators. That is the context, not the status test.
We are building the next Vortex experiences for people responsible for a company or team. You do not need to be famous, have a large following or be interested in personal development.
We care much more about how you are with people than the size of your company. Can you take responsibility for yourself? Can you contribute without taking over? Can you spend a few days with other founders without turning every conversation into work?
If you want a mastermind, a business agenda or constant facilitation, this will probably feel too loose. If you want every hour managed like a luxury tour, it may feel too open. Vortex is being built for the people between those two worlds.
06 / The next chapter
Nothing is on sale today
Tell us what you would actually join.
We are talking with founders and operators about the trips they have already taken, what worked, what felt thin and what would be worth leaving home for.
If you want to be part of that conversation, share a little context. If a real experience takes shape that fits what you wrote, we will contact you.
Share your perspective↗