Ocean11 2026
A weekend of riding and discussion: what matters after AI, and how we weigh the duration of our investments against the pace of AI progress. Everything you need is here. Our agenda, the logistics, the discussion topics, and the whole crew joining the trip.
Vilnius, then the coast
Three days. Culture and ideas in Vilnius on Friday, then the coast: an 80 km ride from Palanga to Nida, dinner across the lagoon, and the Great Dune on Sunday.
Who is riding
Seventeen around the table, founders, investors and operators, plus the host. Each crew member brings a different perspective, knowledge and superpower to supplement the crew.
The rest, handled
The host has booked the hotels (except Nida SPA, which you booked yourselves), the bikes, the transfer to Palanga, and the dinners. All you need to do is not miss your flight and bring your good spirits. Any questions, DM Rokas (host).
Getting there
Where you stay
Transfers
What to bring
- Comfortable clothing for dinners and activities. Casual, hiking style.
- Business casual for Friday. We meet a university rector, so no sneakers there. No formal shirt needed.
- Swim trunks. The Baltic Sea, and every hotel has a good spa.
- A windbreaker or light rain shell for the ride. Not clipless? Sneakers or hiking shoes are fine.
- Running shoes for the morning run. The sunrise is worth it.
- Health insurance valid in Lithuania, in case of a spill on the bike.
- Ideally no phone, no calls. We want you present.
House rules
- Good & positive spirits. Open-mindedness, kindness, no ego, a smile.
- Show up on time. Respect each other's time. Whoever is late buys the drinks.
- Leave the noise at home. Everything else is handled.
Things worth arguing about
No agenda, no panels. One question over Friday dinner, everyone; the fifteen below are breakout groups for the road, Palanga to Nida. You are in three, drawn so you never share a group twice. Each group has a captain, the highlighted name, who convenes it and keeps the argument honest. Debriefs roll through the weekend, then once more, all together, on Sunday. Rate the ones you care about and follow the ones you want in.
Ratings save automatically, and only the host sees the totals.
Why?
It started on a long walk in St. Moritz with Hampus, at Winterfest Europe. Hampus is the reason this trip is happening at all, so thank him when you see him.
For those who know me well: I like to convene people. The best learning happens when we debate, disagree, and challenge each other. And over the past few years I have come to believe the best conversations happen outside, in nature, not in closed boardrooms. It is the balance of philosophy and a sharp mind, the first-principles thinking that being outdoors unleashes. A walk, a run, a ride: that is what triggers the deep bond, the real conversation, the moment an idea becomes obvious or the missing piece of the puzzle appears in front of you.
Life is about exploring. About the journey. But most of all it is about the group you take that journey with, and how you show up, not only for others, but for your older self. Because that is the only thing that truly matters. You will only remember the moments that made you stop, turn around, or sprint. Not the ones you walked past without noticing the surroundings had already changed.
Ocean11 has two meanings. Like the movie, it is about gathering an A team.
In the film there were eleven people. It aired in 2001, the year we crossed into the 21st century. And here in 2026, a quarter of that century has slipped past in plain sight. We are speeding into the future, already closer to what we thought would wait for us in the next one. The world has no shortage of problems, but the opportunities look far bigger. Oh boy, what a time to be alive.
A word on the group. The whole idea of Ocean11 is the team. Each person brings something the others do not have, and the group compounds it: a win made of many wins. Different views, different upbringings. That is what builds character, perspective, resilience, and real respect for an opposing opinion even when you disagree with it. Think of the great company diasporas: PayPal, then Palantir, Google, Meta, Anduril. Each seeded a network, but the origin is always the same: very smart people gathered around one cause. Our cause this weekend is the quality of the conversation.
I count each of you in that company. High on openness and directness, no patience for BS, high urgency, high agency. Driven, ambitious, and always giving back to the people around you. And each of you reads the world differently, which is exactly what makes Ocean11 the right name, like the movie itself.
We are not here to make friends. We are here for the love of a good discussion. But I will bet you my house: you will make friends anyway. :)
I love water and forests. They bring peace and joy, and frankly, peace is what we need more of right now, not less. So water is not a nice-to-have here. It is a hard condition.
And eleven carries one last meaning. The boat to Saturday dinner seats exactly eleven, and it is the largest one we can hire here. That is the real bottleneck. Note to self: next year, find a place with bigger boats. :)
We are less than a week away now (yay!). I could not be more excited for this trip, and for the conversations we are going to have.
Nida is a special place to me, to my family, and to our closest friends. It is a bit of a rough diamond, out in the wild. Not many people know it, or have ever been. It is a constant reminder that nature can be preserved when we do less, not more.
When you get there, you will notice how little has been built, and the genuinely unique setting: a lagoon on one side, the Baltic Sea on the other. Nida also sits beneath one of the tallest drifting dunes in Europe, which we will climb, and the whole spit is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Those of you flying in will see it first from the sky, then again from the bike: two very different experiences.
The place carries deep Germanic history. Thomas Mann, one of the greatest German writers of the last century, kept a summer house here. If time allows, we will visit the museum that was once his home.
A few of his words on first discovering the Curonian Spit:
I am sure you will enjoy your short stay, and might even come back one day, with friends or family.
See you on the water.