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About
KARISMA
The story of Karisma began with a feeling.
A sense that something was missing, that behind every great founder, there was a human craving more than success.
For years, we chased freedom, meaning, and connection across cities and continents.
Until one day, we realized it wasn’t the places that changed us. It was the people.
The ones who challenge you.
The ones who see you.
The ones who make you grow.
Karisma was born from that realization and from the belief that when the right people meet, everything changes.
Chapter I: Before It All Began
After living in seven countries and traveling the world, one truth kept repeating itself:
It’s not the places that change you.
It’s the people you surround yourself with.
The right people make you grow faster, think deeper, and see life differently.
That realization hit Marc Förster Algás, a Barcelona-born creative who was then working at Oracle in Dublin.
He loved learning but hated the script: work, save, repeat.
One late night in October 2020, the idea hit:
What if there was a surf house for entrepreneurs who wanted more from life?
Founders who would live, work, and grow together in business and in life.
That was the seed of Karisma.
Not as a business, but as a belief that real transformation happens together.
It’s not the places that change you.
It’s the people you surround yourself with.
The right people make you grow faster, think deeper, and see life differently.
That realization hit Marc Förster Algás, a Barcelona-born creative who was then working at Oracle in Dublin.
He loved learning but hated the script: work, save, repeat.
One late night in October 2020, the idea hit:
What if there was a surf house for entrepreneurs who wanted more from life?
Founders who would live, work, and grow together in business and in life.
That was the seed of Karisma.
Not as a business, but as a belief that real transformation happens together.
Chapter II: The Early Days
In 2021, we tested the idea in the real world.
Fuerteventura. Gran Canaria. Croatia. Morocco.
Founders, creatives, nomads and people who didn’t fit inside normal boxes.
Days started with surf and ended with deep conversations under the stars.
Those retreats proved something we already felt:
The right room changes your pace. Your standards. Your future.
That’s when Karisma stopped being a concept and became something alive.
Fuerteventura. Gran Canaria. Croatia. Morocco.
Founders, creatives, nomads and people who didn’t fit inside normal boxes.
Days started with surf and ended with deep conversations under the stars.
Those retreats proved something we already felt:
The right room changes your pace. Your standards. Your future.
That’s when Karisma stopped being a concept and became something alive.
Chapter III: The Barcelona Chapter
Then came the crash.
In June 2022, we lost €150,000 in a single week. It was everything we had.
Marc moved back to Barcelona, broke but clear-minded, and decided to rebuild Karisma from zero.
With no investors, no office, no team and no money, he started bringing together founders who shared the same hunger for meaning and freedom.
They gathered to co-work, to connect, and to open up.
It became a space where founders could be vulnerable
Those nights were raw, honest, and healing.
Sharing wins and losses,
the pressure of building something sustainable,
the need for support through uncertainty,
and everything the human behind the business goes through but rarely shows.
It became the heartbeat of what Karisma was growing into.
By December, the idea of community became something you could touch.
We opened the first Karisma Coliving.
A five-bedroom house in the heart of Gràcia. It was cozy, chaotic, and full of life.
Founders from around the world started moving in.
The house became one of the first entry points for entrepreneurs arriving in Barcelona.
In June 2022, we lost €150,000 in a single week. It was everything we had.
Marc moved back to Barcelona, broke but clear-minded, and decided to rebuild Karisma from zero.
With no investors, no office, no team and no money, he started bringing together founders who shared the same hunger for meaning and freedom.
They gathered to co-work, to connect, and to open up.
It became a space where founders could be vulnerable
Those nights were raw, honest, and healing.
Sharing wins and losses,
the pressure of building something sustainable,
the need for support through uncertainty,
and everything the human behind the business goes through but rarely shows.
It became the heartbeat of what Karisma was growing into.
By December, the idea of community became something you could touch.
We opened the first Karisma Coliving.
A five-bedroom house in the heart of Gràcia. It was cozy, chaotic, and full of life.
Founders from around the world started moving in.
The house became one of the first entry points for entrepreneurs arriving in Barcelona.
Chapter IV: Building the Community
The coliving filled faster than we could have imagined.
We realized once again while hosting experiences inside the coliving that the magic wasn’t in the walls. It was in the people inside them.
Every week, founders gathered for dinners, brainstorms, and moments of deep connection.
In 2023, we experimented with something new: a coworking partnership with GroundInn.
It became a six-month test to create a base for a community in Barcelona.
In collaboration with Club Caramel we turned the coworking into a space for founders who were grinding hard to build something meaningful.
That same year, Stavros Koutsangelas joined Karisma.
As an experienced marketer and founder, he brought a new wave of energy and direction to Karisma.
During his own journey, he realized that the quality of life and the people around you mattered more than the quantity of success.
So he decided to leave his comfort zone and search for something that aligned with his values.
After joining one of our experiences, he felt what so many founders feel when they walk into Karisma for the first time:
The feeling of belonging, meaning, and alignment.
Stavros helped shape the brand, sharpen the storytelling, and build the first real systems behind Karisma.
And once we started showing what was actually happening
The result spoke for itself.
Within 2 years, we hosted over 200 experiences around business and personal growth becoming Barcelona’s most influential community for founders.
We realized once again while hosting experiences inside the coliving that the magic wasn’t in the walls. It was in the people inside them.
Every week, founders gathered for dinners, brainstorms, and moments of deep connection.
In 2023, we experimented with something new: a coworking partnership with GroundInn.
It became a six-month test to create a base for a community in Barcelona.
In collaboration with Club Caramel we turned the coworking into a space for founders who were grinding hard to build something meaningful.
That same year, Stavros Koutsangelas joined Karisma.
As an experienced marketer and founder, he brought a new wave of energy and direction to Karisma.
During his own journey, he realized that the quality of life and the people around you mattered more than the quantity of success.
So he decided to leave his comfort zone and search for something that aligned with his values.
After joining one of our experiences, he felt what so many founders feel when they walk into Karisma for the first time:
The feeling of belonging, meaning, and alignment.
Stavros helped shape the brand, sharpen the storytelling, and build the first real systems behind Karisma.
And once we started showing what was actually happening
The result spoke for itself.
Within 2 years, we hosted over 200 experiences around business and personal growth becoming Barcelona’s most influential community for founders.
Chapter V: The Birth of Selekt
By mid-2024, our community had grown to over 350 active members.
It was exciting. the city was alive with Karisma energy.
But behind the momentum, we started to feel something shift.
We were growing fast, maybe too fast.
Our membership model was simple: affordable access for founders to join events, meet people, and be part of the movement.
It worked at first.
But soon, the reality became clear.
The community was getting too big, the experiences too surface-level.
We were missing the intimacy, the depth, the real transformation that Karisma was built on.
So we took a step back.
We asked ourselves what we truly wanted to create?
Not just for everyone who jumps on a hype, but for the founders who were ready to go deeper.
That’s when the idea for Karisma Selekt was born.
A private, highly curated membership for founders who had already built success, but wanted to grow beyond the business.
To grow as leaders, as humans, and as the creators of their own lives.
We reached out to sixteen founders we deeply admired.
People who had been part of our journey since the early days.
With a clear vision and a simple offer.
And eight days later, it sold out.
For the first time, we had real savings in the bank.
It felt like a turning point, the moment we could finally invest back into what we were building.
So we decided to create an app: a digital home where our members could connect, access experiences, and grow together.
We put months of work, passion, and energy into it.
But the closer we got to the launch date, the more we realized it wouldn’t work out.
The app failed to capture what made Karisma special.
The human connection.
That failure became a huge lesson for us.
And it opened the door to the most exciting chapter so far.
It was exciting. the city was alive with Karisma energy.
But behind the momentum, we started to feel something shift.
We were growing fast, maybe too fast.
Our membership model was simple: affordable access for founders to join events, meet people, and be part of the movement.
It worked at first.
But soon, the reality became clear.
The community was getting too big, the experiences too surface-level.
We were missing the intimacy, the depth, the real transformation that Karisma was built on.
So we took a step back.
We asked ourselves what we truly wanted to create?
Not just for everyone who jumps on a hype, but for the founders who were ready to go deeper.
That’s when the idea for Karisma Selekt was born.
A private, highly curated membership for founders who had already built success, but wanted to grow beyond the business.
To grow as leaders, as humans, and as the creators of their own lives.
We reached out to sixteen founders we deeply admired.
People who had been part of our journey since the early days.
With a clear vision and a simple offer.
And eight days later, it sold out.
For the first time, we had real savings in the bank.
It felt like a turning point, the moment we could finally invest back into what we were building.
So we decided to create an app: a digital home where our members could connect, access experiences, and grow together.
We put months of work, passion, and energy into it.
But the closer we got to the launch date, the more we realized it wouldn’t work out.
The app failed to capture what made Karisma special.
The human connection.
That failure became a huge lesson for us.
And it opened the door to the most exciting chapter so far.
Chapter VI: Focus, Team, Vision
Around that time, we collaborated with a wellness resort in Montenegro.
Together, we brought 100+ founders from across Europe for a four-day experience of business, growth, and well-being.
It was a wild, beautiful moment.
One of those projects that felt like a dream coming true.
It was also the time we wanted to launch the app.
We were building fast, expanding in every direction, saying yes to everything that felt exciting.
Opportunities kept hitting us from all sides: new partnerships, new locations, new projects.
But coming back to Barcelona after Montenegro, we realized one thing.
We were running like headless chickens.
Jumping on every opportunity that came our way.
We needed to slow down, breathe, and ask ourselves what we truly wanted to build.
This is when Dory Benvenisti entered the story.
Dory first joined us as a speaker at one of our Founder Talks.
He later became a Selekt member, sharing his own story and experiences with the community.
A serial entrepreneur and founder of OpenWeb, Dory had built multiple successful ventures and lived what most people would call the dream.
But in his 40s, he began questioning what success really meant.
He realized he had been chasing validation on the outside: growth, exits, recognition, while what he was truly searching for was alignment on the inside.
His story resonated deeply with us.
Because it mirrored the journey of Karisma itself.
Our conversations with Dory grew longer, deeper, more real.
And at some point, it just made sense.
He became part of the story we were already writing.
Bringing two decades of experience, a calm presence, and a shared vision of what real success looks like.
Together, we began rebuilding Karisma from the inside out.
Selekt was more than just a new chapter.
It was a return to the essence of why Karisma existed in the first place.
Today, Karisma is led by Marc Förster Algás, Stavros Koutsangelas, and Dory Benvenisti — three founders with one shared mission:
Oo help entrepreneurs become the best version of themselves.
Together, we brought 100+ founders from across Europe for a four-day experience of business, growth, and well-being.
It was a wild, beautiful moment.
One of those projects that felt like a dream coming true.
It was also the time we wanted to launch the app.
We were building fast, expanding in every direction, saying yes to everything that felt exciting.
Opportunities kept hitting us from all sides: new partnerships, new locations, new projects.
But coming back to Barcelona after Montenegro, we realized one thing.
We were running like headless chickens.
Jumping on every opportunity that came our way.
We needed to slow down, breathe, and ask ourselves what we truly wanted to build.
This is when Dory Benvenisti entered the story.
Dory first joined us as a speaker at one of our Founder Talks.
He later became a Selekt member, sharing his own story and experiences with the community.
A serial entrepreneur and founder of OpenWeb, Dory had built multiple successful ventures and lived what most people would call the dream.
But in his 40s, he began questioning what success really meant.
He realized he had been chasing validation on the outside: growth, exits, recognition, while what he was truly searching for was alignment on the inside.
His story resonated deeply with us.
Because it mirrored the journey of Karisma itself.
Our conversations with Dory grew longer, deeper, more real.
And at some point, it just made sense.
He became part of the story we were already writing.
Bringing two decades of experience, a calm presence, and a shared vision of what real success looks like.
Together, we began rebuilding Karisma from the inside out.
Selekt was more than just a new chapter.
It was a return to the essence of why Karisma existed in the first place.
Today, Karisma is led by Marc Förster Algás, Stavros Koutsangelas, and Dory Benvenisti — three founders with one shared mission:
Oo help entrepreneurs become the best version of themselves.