Agree Disagree Defend

Agree to Disagree

The greatest problems in leadership right now.

This Thursday, 9 July 2026, 7:45 to 8:45 PM

Trend House, Chmielna 73, Warsaw. Part of the Venture Café Warsaw Thursday Gathering. Free and open.

Come and take a side
The Premise

Everyone has a leadership philosophy, until a values-conflict or an emergency punches them in the face.

So we put four people from completely different worlds in one room to name what is actually broken, and to disagree honestly about it.

The Format

A roundtable, not a lecture.

Four panellists are handed difficult statements, blind. For each one, they take a side, then defend it in the room.

1

Agree. Say where you stand, honestly.

2

Disagree. Or take the other side, out loud.

3

Defend. Then hold your ground under pressure.

Why It's Different

It feels nothing like a panel.

It is intimate. Not a row of talking heads on a stage, a table the room sits around.

You are in it. You vote agree or disagree on every statement and share your own view.

People love it because it is honest. The format gives everyone permission to say the real thing.

From the Last Panel
It was human connection over disagreement that moved people.

Slow nodding, furrowed brows, looking away and still completely connected to the opposite view. That is what a panel should feel like.

Read the full write-up →
This Thursday's Table

Four worlds. One table.

Marcin Dakowski
Corporate Leadership

Marcin Dakowski

Advisor to CEOs. Ex-McKinsey, Allegro.

Jerzy Brodzikowski
Startups & Innovation

Jerzy Brodzikowski

GM, CIC Warsaw. Venture Café Board.

Prof. Ewa Bulska
Science

Prof. Ewa Bulska

University of Warsaw. Stanford top-cited.

Celina Kretkowska-Adamowicz
Humanitarian

Celina Kretkowska-Adamowicz

Empowering Children. Ex-Save the Children.

Past Tables

Where this has run.

Four tables in seven months, and the fifth is this Thursday. The format was introduced to G by Alex Firestine.

Agree to Disagree panellists, Venture Café Warsaw, 25 June 2026
25 June 2026
Venture Café Warsaw

Four worlds, three statements. AI, humanitarian work, mining, Silicon Valley, disagreeing honestly on what technology owes the people it never touches.

Read the recap →
Agree to Disagree at Infoshare 2026, Leaders stage
May 2026
Infoshare 2026, Leaders stage

The format on a main stage, in front of a festival crowd.

Agree to Disagree at Venture Café Warsaw, February 2026
February 2026
Venture Café Warsaw

The 250th gathering. One uncomfortable statement about inclusion, and a live lesson in why a room needs boundaries around behaviour, not people.

Read the full story →
Agree to Disagree at the ASEAN Startup Connect Summit, Phnom Penh, December 2025
December 2025
ASEAN Startup Connect Summit, Phnom Penh

The first table. Founders, VCs, and bankers on the trust asymmetry that decides who gets funded.

Coming next: Innovation Week Prague (October 2026), and the ASEAN Startup Connect Summit 2026, Phnom Penh.

Your Moderator
Galeno Chua, moderator of Agree to Disagree

Mr. G

Founder of HowLegit. Author of The 5 Spheres of Empathy. Director of ASEAN Startup Connect.

He hands out the statements and keeps the room honest, so the disagreement stays warm.

Come to the Table

Want in on the next one?

The tables are invite-only and fill from the network out. Thursday's is open to all at Venture Café. For the ones after, leave your email and I will tell you when the next table is set.

This Thursday, 9 July, 7:45 PM. Trend House, Chmielna 73, Warsaw. Free.