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The Origin

Ten years ago, two 18-year-olds set out to travel the world.They were surprisingly similar.Both were young, naive, and fiercely driven. If you looked into their eyes, you’d see that rare, wide-eyed curiosity—the kind a child has when watching leaves whirl in the wind.They were looking for one thing: A life driven by Freedom, Adventure, and Purpose. But as they returned to the home, they were faced with the "real world"The first one took the safe route.He followed society’s guidelines. Started studying at university and took the "Plan A" corporate job. He spent his days locked in a white cubicle in Munich, trading his daylight for a steady climb up a ladder he wasn't sure he wanted to climb.The second one took the risky route.No Plan B. He dropped out, went "full business mode," and obsessed over the grind. He ran an event agency and the second largest psychedelic retreat center in Germany. He was "making it."But five years later, they both ended up in the exact same dark room.Whether it was the cubicle or the home office, both were now alone with in front of their laptops for 14 hour days. Both were in total "misbalance." Work had become drudgery. Weekends didn't exist. Their social circles had shrunk to almost nothing.They had both become wealthier, but they had both become more detached, overworked & lonely. They had lost the very thing they set out to find:
That child watching leaves whirl in the wind.One had lost his soul to the "Safe Path."
The other had forgotten his soul on the "Hustle Path."That’s why I have founded builtbychoice.
This community is the resolution of my own failures. It is the sanctuary I wish I had ten years ago when I was stumbling through the world of business alone in front of my laptop for 14h, 7 days a week.We have built the first Private Circle for Intentional Founders who refuse to choose between their bank account and their soul. We are here to reconcile the two freedoms:1. The Outer Freedom: To create, build, and scale world-class ventures.
2. The Inner Freedom: To live led by intrinsic motivation, natural curiosity, and deep human connection.We scale our revenue while cultivating our inner selves—sharing deep talks around bonfires, deconstructing bottlenecks in masterminds, and exploring the world from our Founder Houses.
Because we have a choice how we built.And those two boys from the beginning?
I know these two intimately. Because both of them were me.I spent a decade oscillating between the "safe" and the "risky”, only to realize that neither path leads to fulfillment if you are walking it alone.A year ago, I traveled again. But this time, I wasn't looking for my purpose or a business model. I was looking for the energy I had lost. I began meeting others—conscious entrepreneurs, builders, and creators who had scaled their businesses but were starving for the same thing: a community of like minded peers connecting those two worlds.I realized that you cannot maintain an extraordinary internal world if your external circle is ordinary. You need a tribe that talks about tax optimization and KPIs in the same breath as spirituality, inner work, and purpose.This is not a group for everyone. We are a vetted, curated registry of individuals.We only accept entrepreneurs who are naturally curious, driven, and focused on scaling their business while cultivating inner peace in alignment.If you are tired of the "dark room" and ready to design a life built by choice, your seat is waiting.All the Best,
Robert Stefan - Founder of builtbychoice

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