Building a business can feel like living inside a storm. The pace, the pressure, the late-night funding calls and big decisions that can swing your future one way or the other which is chaotic, even for the most seasoned founders. Michael Acton Smith OBE and Alex Tew know that chaos well. They built “Calm” not just while navigating the chaos, but to help millions of others find a way through it.
As co-founders of Calm, the world’s most downloaded meditation app, Michael and Alex turned a niche concept into a global wellness brand that has been downloaded over 100 million times.
Forget the polished panels. At Ideas Fest, Michael and Alex will keep it simple: just the two of them, no script, talking openly about the real highs, lows, and close calls behind building Calm. Expect honesty, plenty of insight, and probably a few stories you won’t hear anywhere else.