Navigating the Employee Landscape

An invitation-only gathering for founders, CEOs, and business owners leading companies generating $5M+ in annual revenue.

We are entering an era where intelligence is no longer scarce. AI can generate ideas, strategies, and outputs at scale.

The question is no longer access to intelligence. It’s what creates advantage. The Forum@535 is built around that shift. Designed as a closed-door environment, it brings together a select group of founders and executives to engage in candid, experience-driven conversations on building, scaling, and leading organizations.

The Forum explores how businesses create meaning, generate momentum, and translate both into sustained growth.

Event Agenda

3:00 PM — Arrival + Networking

3:30 PM — Welcome Remarks

3:45 PM — Keynote: BJ Kito, Intelligence Is No Longer Advantage: The Rise of XQ

The first session will focus on how intelligence, strategy, and competitive advantage are fundamentally shifting in an AI-driven world—exploring the XQ framework and what it means to operate in a landscape where traditional intelligence is no longer scarce.

4:15 PM — Keynote: Eric Lopez, Leading Across Generations

The second session turns to leadership. Eric Lopez, founder of Arrowhead Leadership Consulting and former U.S. Army infantry officer, will lead a candid conversation on leading across generations as expectations, communication, and accountability shift across today's workforce.

4:45 PM — Panel: From Regulation to Real Businesses: Building Advantage in Emerging Markets

The third session examines how advantage is built in markets where the rules are still being written. Using Connecticut's emerging cannabis industry as a case study, founders, operators, and policymakers will explore what it takes to move from early opportunity to durable businesses.

5:15 PM — Networking

Welcome Speakers

Our roster of leaders is growing. More speakers to be revealed soon.

Michael Roer

President, Entrepreneurship Foundation

President of the Entrepreneurship Foundation, championing the next generation of founders through education and business plan competitions. Previously led the Connecticut Venture Group for 15 years, connecting entrepreneurs with investors and mentoring startups through angel investor forums. Delivering the welcome address at Forum@535.

Brendan Theroux

Vice President, KeyBank

Through KeyBank, Brendan partners with manufacturers, distributors, retailers, contractors, and professional service firms throughout the Northeast. Focused on helping middle market businesses navigate growth through financial strategies supporting working capital, capital investments, and acquisitions. Serving as MC for Forum@535, guiding conversations centered on leadership, organizational growth, and the realities of scaling modern businesses.

Whitney Sanders

Visiting Instructor of Entrepreneurship, Quinnipiac University

Keynote speaker, seminar leader, and business consultant who teaches entrepreneurs and business owners how to be the best version of themselves, connecting passion to business and challenging them to level up their entrepreneurial game. Delivering the welcome address at Forum@535.

Marty Isaac

President and Managing Director, Angel Investor Forum

President and Managing Director of Connecticut's Angel Investor Forum, the state's leading angel investor organization. With investments in over 100 companies including Loom, Calm, and Coinbase, Marty brings 20 years of senior marketing and product expertise from large consumer services companies. A Wharton School of Business graduate, he specializes in identifying opportunities that combine unique product value with social impact. Delivering the welcome address at Forum@535.

Dan Bubniak

Founder, Upper Echelon

Entrepreneurial leader who scaled a family business 20x over 6 years to a national organization with 250+ employees across 35 states. Today, Dan coaches entrepreneurs and leadership teams on building better businesses and lives through EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). He founded Upper Echelon, a community dedicated to helping founders and CEOs level up through connection, events, and coaching.

Featured Speakers

BJ Kito

President & Chief Strategy Officer, Rebellion Group

Strategic advisor working at the intersection of AI, data, and human behavior. BJ has guided Fortune 50 companies and emerging ventures in building strategies that hold under real-world conditions. He played a central role in shaping the evolution of Rebellion Group into Rebel, 535, and Virtuoso.

Keynote: "Intelligence Is No Longer Advantage: The Rise of XQ"

For decades, business rewarded intelligence — better data, sharper analysis, faster execution. AI has made all of that abundant. So why do most ideas still fail? Because intelligence doesn’t create meaning. And meaning is what drives behavior.
This keynote reframes the game:

• Why the traditional model of strategy is breaking down
• The difference between information, interpretation, and meaning
• How XQ emerges as a new source of competitive advantage

XQ is not another framework layered onto existing thinking. It represents a shift in where strategy actually lives — not in outputs, but in how they are interpreted.

Founders will leave with a clearer understanding of:
• Why “good ideas” don’t move people
• Where advantage is now created
• How to begin operating with XQ immediately

Eric Lopez

Chief Executive Officer, Arrowhead Leadership Consulting LLC

Veteran-led leadership expert with 25 years as a US Army infantry officer. Eric founded Arrowhead Leadership Consulting, delivering practical, emotionally intelligent coaching that transforms leaders from battlefield to boardroom. His approach combines clear systems with human-centered leadership rooted in self-awareness, connection, and communication—helping teams step up, take ownership, and thrive at work and home.

Keynote: ""

Eric Lopez of Arrowhead Leadership Consulting will lead high-impact executive session on one of today’s most pressing leadership challenges: leading across generations. As Gen Z rapidly enters—and reshapes—leadership, many organizations are experiencing increased friction, shifting expectations, and a growing disconnect across teams. This session will challenge common assumptions about younger leaders and reveal what drives performance, engagement, and accountability across generations. You’ll walk away with clear, practical strategies to lead without compromise—strengthening alignment, elevating standards, and unlocking the full potential of every generation in your organization.

From Regulation to Real Businesses: Building Advantage in Emerging Markets

In markets where regulation, infrastructure, and consumer expectations are still evolving, building a business requires more than a strong idea. It requires navigating uncertainty in real time.

This conversation brings together operators across the cannabis ecosystem—from policy and product to logistics and brand—to explore how advantage is actually created when the rules are still being written.

For founders and executives, the lessons extend far beyond a single industry.