Eight to twelve senior peers, one problem, once a month. The guest list is your target account list and the invitation is the outreach.
Most Julys since 1983, the investment bank Allen & Co has hosted an invitation-only retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho. The guest list is in effect the bank's client and target list: media and technology chief executives, plus the founders who might be its next deals.
Disney's $19 billion purchase of Capital Cities/ABC was worked out during the Sun Valley week in 1995, and the talks that led to Jeff Bezos's $250 million purchase of The Washington Post in 2013 began there (CNBC, 5 July 2016). The 2016 retreat had 303 guests. It is a retreat, not a dinner for ten, and most of its deals were between guests, but the mechanism is the play: the guest list is the target list, and the invitation is the outreach.
B2B services, consultancies and SaaS selling to senior buyers.
Executives come for peers, not pitches. In The Ortus Club's 2026 attendance data, roundtables with a curated experience averaged 76% attendance, nearly 20 points above those without (April 2026). Event teams are moving the same way: most plan more intimate events under 200 people, and only 18% plan more large events of their own (Forrester, June 2026). Co-hosting with a partner, such as a bank, a law firm or an investor, shares the guest-list work and borrows their credibility.
Vendor. The Ortus Club runs executive events and published its own attendance data (April 2026). Reported. Forrester's Q1 2026 State of B2B Events survey of more than 400 event decision-makers (June 2026).
Cost to test. A private room and a meal for twelve, often split with a co-host, plus three weeks of invitations.
Kill it if after three events fewer than half the accepted guests attend, or no follow-up meetings come out of the room.
Attendance varies widely by city and sector. A room that is mostly vendors fails. Do not sell in the room: the follow-up is the sale.
Podcast as Business Development, Trigger Outreach, Data PR
A 30-minute call first. If it fits, two calls in one week and a written growth plan you keep.