From surf camp to community of founders, our story
Kreator Letter #9. The founder letter I write for our Karisma community. The raw journey and the learnings.
October 2020.
That’s when the spark for Karisma hit me.
But let’s rewind a bit.
Four years ago, I was living in Dublin, working a sales job at Oracle.
It wasn’t my passion, but I knew it would help me build skills and give me the time to figure out what I really wanted.
Before that, I’d spent a half a year traveling through Brazil, Australia, and Southeast Asia, meeting incredible people who changed how I saw the world.
It wasn’t the places that blew me away —it was the people.
Digital nomads, backpackers, and entrepreneurs, each living on their own terms.
That made me realize I wasn’t cut out for the typical 9-to-5, but I wasn’t sure where to even start.
When I moved to Dublin, I lived with Giacomo and Max —two entrepreneurial minds who were always pushing me to think bigger.
We’d spend nights brainstorming, bouncing ideas, and challenging each other to take action.
Then one late October night, something clicked and Karisma was born.
At first, it wasn’t some grand vision of a community for entrepreneurs.
Nope.
My first concept?
A surf house in Portugal. (Yup, that’s where it all started 😅 )
Back then, I wasn’t thinking about building a community around entrepreneurship or personal growth —those were just things I wanted for myself.
Karisma was my way of unlocking that, by building something that gave me the freedom to learn and grow alongside others.
But here’s the thing...
nothing ever goes according to plan.
I didn’t plan for Karisma to become what it is today.
The colivings, the community, the events —it all evolved because I stayed open to pivoting.
The truth is, we’ve pivoted more times than I can count, and each time we did, Karisma became a little more itself.*
Looking back, it’s crazy how it all came together.
But that’s the point —you don’t need a perfect idea or plan.
You just need to start.
Each step, each pivot, every failure shapes the journey.
That’s how Karisma was born—from a late-night convo, a surf camp idea, and a lot of unexpected turns.
If I’ve learned one thing, it’s this: take action, even if it’s messy.
That’s how dreams become reality.
Life is good,
Marc
P.S. Here’s a little something for you. Giacomo and I sent this image with our boss to our whole Oracle department to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Life’s short. Let’s have fun with it :)