Beyond the Hustle: Inner Growth as a Founder’s Superpower

What if the biggest barrier to your startup's success isn't your product or pitch—but your own inner state?

Join Matthias Schmitt, founder-turned-coach and Entrepreneur Magazine–featured speaker, for a transformative session that goes beyond the standard startup playbook. From co-founding a €20M wealthtech platform and building Europe’s largest student winter festival, to experiencing burnout at 29 and embarking on a journey through meditation, indigenous wisdom, and trauma-informed coaching, Matthias reveals how inner growth became his ultimate advantage.

This session dives into the silent struggles many founders face—imposter syndrome, work-life imbalance, and the pressure of tying self-worth to startup performance. Matthias shares how nervous system regulation and trauma-informed leadership tools can unlock clarity, resilience, and sustainable success. He’ll explore how to maintain momentum while cultivating self-awareness, and why personal growth isn’t a distraction from building—it’s the foundation.

Whether you’re just starting out or navigating a high-growth phase, this conversation will help you rethink success—starting from the inside out.

Opening Remarks @ 9:30am PT

Join us for opening remarks with Dina Wagner, Head of Member Success at Founders Network, to get the latest updates from the Network and opportunities for getting involved.

Keynote Speaker @ 9:40am PT

Matthias Schmitt is a transformational coach, seasoned entrepreneur, and keynote speaker known for helping founders and executives unlock peak performance without sacrificing personal well-being.

He has co-founded three successful ventures, including Wealthpilot, a B2B2C FinTech SaaS platform serving over 100,000 customers and raising over €20M, and Skigaudi, Germany’s largest winter festival brand for students. With deep experience leading sales teams, scaling operations, and navigating high-stakes growth, Matthias knows firsthand the pressure founders face at every stage of the journey.

But after reaching the top, he burned out. That pivotal moment sparked a personal transformation that led him to study indigenous wisdom traditions, meditation, NLP, behavioral science, and trauma-informed nervous system coaching.

Today, Matthias coaches high-performing leaders and delivers impactful keynotes across Europe and the U.S., inspiring audiences to redefine success, lead with self-awareness, and scale sustainably. His signature keynote, “Emotional Mastery: The Secret Key to Peak Performance Without Burnout,” offers actionable strategies for resilience, clarity, and meaningful growth.

Whether he’s working with startup founders post-exit or advising executives on leadership transformation, Matthias helps people turn success into significance—starting from within.

Stage-Based Roundtables @ 10:30am PT

Complimentary Ticket:

Are you a full-time tech founder? Be our guest! We’re making our events available to tech founders everywhere. Enjoy a complimentary ticket to come learn from fellow tech founders, partners and investors. Already used your complimentary guest pass? Request an invite to see if you qualify for membership.

About Founders Network:

Founded in 2011, Founders Network offers lifelong peer mentorship to over 600 tech startup founders globally. Our platform, programs and high-touch service facilitate authentic experience sharing, warm introductions and long-term professional relationships. Additional benefits include over $500k in startup discounts and promotion to 2,000 newsletter readers. Members are located in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, London and other tech hubs. Each month our Membership Committee admits a new cohort of full-time tech founders who are nominated by an existing member. Learn more about us here

Confidentiality Policy

All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity. Read more about our Privacy Policy here.