About this Event
⚡ Train Like the Best. Lead Like the Best.
🔥 A Special Forces Officer trains for years before they lead a team into the field.
🔥 An Olympian has a coach beside them every single day.
🔥 The best CEOs work with Executive Coaches.
They all know one thing: Leadership is a skill.
In the startup sector, many of us became leaders by starting or helping scale companies from zero.
But as leaders, we rarely step outside our companies and learn how to become better leaders (even though it might be the highest-leverage thing we can do).
EDGE is your day to do that.
We’re bringing together world-class leaders to share their exact skill sets. Learn from:
🔥 Special Forces leaders
🔥 Australian sporting heroes
🔥 Scientists on the frontier of psychological science
🔥 Executive coaches
All tailored specifically to startups.
This is a premium, full-day event for people in the startup sector who lead: founders, senior operators and investors. It’s curated and capped at 150 people.
🚀 SESSIONS
🎯 Lead Like the Special Forces with Chris Marr
Complex versus complicated leadership: the core philosophy of Special Forces leadership training.
🌏 Where You’re From Is How You Lead
Ever had feedback from a Dutch person? Or skipped over someone’s boss in Japan? Or tried Aussie humbleness with an American? Learn the 8 cultural scales that shape how we lead across cultures.
🧠 The Psychological Science of Great Founders
What are the traits of unicorn founders? Did you know Sam Bankman-Fried has an empathy score of zero? We used psycholinguistics to study over 200 traits of top founders.
🎙️ Live Executive Coaching with Dave Shepherd and May Samali
The best athletes have coaches; the best founders do too. Watch live demonstrations of executive coaching (or volunteer yourself!) and meet some of Australia’s leading startup coaches.
🏆 Putting It to the Test
A surprise challenge to apply the leadership skills from the day.
🏅 An Australian sporting hero
Meet an Australian sporting hero in a fireside-style conversation.
⚡ Networking
Join founders from pre-seed to $100M+ in revenue. Network with the investors and executive coaches who work with Australia's top founders.
🗓️ The Day
9:00 am: Coffee & Networking
10:00 am: Lead Like the Special Forces with Chris Marr
11:00 am: Where You’re From Is How You Lead + Activity
12:00 pm: Lunch
1:45 pm: The Science of Great Founders
2:15 pm: Live Executive Coaching with Dave Shepherd and May Samali
3:30 pm: Afternoon Networking
4:00 pm: Putting It to the Test: Leadership Challenge
5:30 pm: Networking & Canapes
6:30 pm: Fireside: Leadership in Elite Sport
7:00 pm: Event Concludes
👥 Featuring
Christie Jenkins (CJ). Founder and GP of Ampere. #1 in Australia and #10 in the world in 3 different sports.
Chris Marr. Co-Founder of Sonder and ThinkMD. Former Special Forces leader, sharing his core philosophy on leadership.
Dave Shepherd. Executive Coach and Former Head of HubSpot APAC, where he grew revenue from a few million to over $50 million.
May Samali Executive Coach and Fellow at the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School, with leadership insights featured in Forbes and the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
👥 Who is EDGE for?
EDGE is a premium, full-day event for people in the startup sector who lead:
- 🚀 Founders
- ⚙️ Operators
- 💰 Investors
Your tickets include full-day access to the entire schedule. All food and non-alcoholic drinks are provided. 🍽️
⚡ About Ampere
Ampere is a new Australian Accelerator. We believe that better leaders build better companies, so we invest in and coach founders on this basis. Applications open in 2027.
Ampere is founded and led by Christie Jenkins, who previously led the Techstars Accelerator, was an investor at Blackbird, and as a pro athlete was number one in the country and top 10 in the world in 3 sports.
📍 Location
Establishment Ballroom, Sydney
⚡ Partners
This event is powered by Fullstack, the accounting and R&D tax team for ambitious founders, and RunRemote, who help you hire outstanding, AI-fluent global talent. Thank you to William Buck for supporting this event.
⚡Application-Only
With only 150 places, entry is by application. We review applications within 24 hours, and your card is only charged once you're approved
To stay up to date with , you can follow us on .
Please send any questions to [email protected].
Agenda
🕑: 09:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Coffee + Networking
🕑: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Lead Like the Special Forces with Chris Marr
🕑: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Where You're From is How You Lead
Host: Christie Jenkins
🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:45 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:45 PM - 02:15 PM
The Science of Great Founders
🕑: 02:15 PM - 03:30 PM
Live Executive Coaching with Dave Shepherd and May Samali
Host: Dave Shepherd
🕑: 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Afternoon Networking
🕑: 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Putting it to the Test: Leadership Challenge
🕑: 05:30 PM - 07:00 PM
Networking, Canapes + Fireside
Event venue & nearby stays
Establishment Ballroom, 252 George Street, Sydney, Australia
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.