2026 Firebrand Unconference
About this Event
Ready to be part of what Kitsap builds next?
Firebrand brings together the founders, business owners, innovators, and creators actively shaping Kitsap’s economic future.
Some are building companies rooted in our downtowns and neighborhoods. Others are developing new technologies, manufacturing physical products, advancing ideas in health and life sciences, pursuing government markets, or building businesses that don’t fit neatly into any existing category.
They may be building in very different ways, but many are navigating the same questions:
- Where do we find the right people, knowledge, and capital?
- How do we build something ambitious without losing ourselves in the process?
- What makes it easier—or unnecessarily difficult—to start and grow here?
- And who still doesn’t see Kitsap’s entrepreneurial community as a room meant for them?
Unlike a traditional conference, Firebrand doesn’t begin with a predetermined list of answers. The agenda is shaped by the people in the room and the questions they are genuinely trying to work through.
What to Expect
Throughout the day, you’ll have opportunities to:
- Kick off the day with a thought-provoking opening
- Have candid, founder-only conversations about the realities of building and growing
- Exchange ideas and experiences across industries
- Dig deeper into the topics and challenges that matter most to you
- Connect over a shared community meal
- Bring founder insights into conversation with people positioned to help change the conditions around them
- Build relationships with other people creating, testing, and growing something in Kitsap
Come ready to speak honestly, listen generously, and help make room for what Kitsap can build next.
Who Should Attend
Firebrand is for people actively building, testing, and pursuing something—from experienced business owners and growth-stage founders to technology innovators, manufacturers, creatives, researchers, and emerging founders actively testing an idea.
Firebrand is designed for:
- Founders and business owners actively building or growing a company
- Product, manufacturing, technology, and life sciences innovators
- Creatives and Main Street entrepreneurs bringing ambitious ideas to life
- Founders exploring investment, acquisition, government markets, or other growth pathways
- Researchers, inventors, and emerging founders turning ideas into ventures
- Entrepreneurs who want to build from Kitsap but haven’t yet found their community here
Ticketing Structure
Register early and save—every Pass includes the complete Firebrand Unconference experience.
- Early Bird Unconference Pass: $70
Available September 20 – October 3 - Firebrand Unconference Pass : $80
Available October 4 – 31 - Last Change Unconference Pass: $90
Available November 1 – 18
The Firebrand Unconference is designed exclusively for current business owners and leadership team members.
Keep the Conversation Going at the After Party
Your Firebrand ticket also gets you 50% off your ticket to the Firebrand After Party.
Your discount code will be displayed on your confirmation page and included in your confirmation email after you register.
is igniting Kitsap's collective imagination, one entrepreneur at a time.
Matchstick Lab collaborates with regional, national, and international partners to deliver education, investment, and storytelling resources that unlock the full potential of Kitsap’s entrepreneurs and celebrate the region’s distinct heritage, talent and ingenuity.
Thanks to fiscal sponsorship through the Kitsap Community Foundation, Matchstick Lab operates as a 501(c)(3), ensuring accessibility and support for startups, small businesses, and social enterprises. Learn more at matchsticklab.co.
Our sponsors make Firebrand possible, creating room for founders to tackle real challenges, build valuable relationships and connect with the people who can help move bold ideas forward.
Thank you for backing the people building what’s next in and from Kitsap.
Interested in seeing your logo here?
Check out the Sponsorship Opportunities!
Agenda
🕑: 08:45 AM - 09:15 AM
Arrival + Founder Signal Wall + Voting
Info: Grab some coffee and breakfast bites, meet the room, and start shaping the day. Add your voice to the Founder Signal Wall and vote for the conversations you most want Firebrand to make room for.
🕑: 09:15 AM - 09:30 AM
Welcome: This Room Is Ours to Build
Info: Firebrand starts with a simple premise: the people in the room should shape what happens in it. We’ll set the stage for the day, introduce Room to Build, and talk about what it means to show up with honesty, curiosity, and generosity.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Opening Spark: Room to Build
Info: A little fuel before we hand the room over to you. Our opening speaker will challenge us to think bigger about what we’re building, what’s changing around us, and what might be possible when we make room for something new.
🕑: 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM
You Built the Agenda
Info: The votes are in! We’ll reveal the four conversations founders in the room chose to have—and introduce the facilitators who will help keep them moving somewhere useful.
🕑: 10:15 AM - 11:20 AM
Unconference Round One: Founder Deep Dive
Info: Choose your room and dig in. Four founder-driven conversations will get beneath the surface of the challenges, opportunities, ideas, and questions that matter to the people actually building businesses.
🕑: 11:20 AM - 11:35 AM
Break + Connection Time
Info: Refill your coffee, find the person who said something you want to hear more about, or simply reset. Some of the best Firebrand conversations happen between the conversations.
🕑: 11:35 AM - 12:00 PM
Field Notes from the Edge
Info: Kitsap entrepreneurs are building more—and in more places—than we sometimes realize. Hear three quick founder stories that stretch our picture of what entrepreneurship here looks like, what it takes, and where it could go.
🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
The Community Table
Info: Good food. New people. No presentation competing for your attention. We’ll gather around a shared lunch, mix up the tables, and make room for the kind of conversations that happen when we actually sit down together.
🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:15 PM
Choose Your Next Room
Info: Round two means a new conversation. Pick one of the topics you didn’t explore in the morning and bring your perspective into a completely different room.
🕑: 01:15 PM - 02:25 PM
Unconference Round Two: Choose a Different Conversation
Info: Same four big questions. Completely new mix of people. Choose a different topic and see what emerges when new experiences, industries, business stages, and perspectives collide.
🕑: 02:25 PM - 02:40 PM
Break + Connection Exchange
Info: Before the day gets away from you, capture the names, ideas, and connections you want to keep. This is your chance to turn “we should talk after this” into something that actually happens.
🕑: 02:40 PM - 03:15 PM
Founder Synthesis: What We Want Carried Forward
Info: What did we hear today that shouldn’t stay in this room? Founders will decide together which ideas, challenges, questions, and opportunities we want Kitsap’s broader ecosystem to understand—and what belongs only to us.
🕑: 03:15 PM - 04:00 PM
The Listening Room
Info: Now we widen the room. A small group of investors, educators, civic leaders, and ecosystem partners will join us—not to pitch, present, or provide answers, but to listen to what founders want them to understand and explore what could happen next.
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:25 PM
From Here: One Move Forward
Info: A good conversation is only useful if something comes from it. Before we leave, we’ll turn the day toward action: one introduction, experiment, commitment, or next move you can carry forward in the next 30 days.
🕑: 04:25 PM - 04:30 PM
Closing
Info: A quick close, a big thank you, and then we’re not done yet. We’ll wrap the Unconference and make our way into the Firebrand After Party.
🕑: 04:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Take a Breather + Keep Connecting
Info: Take a minute. Grab your things, follow up on that conversation you weren’t quite finished with, or simply recharge after a full day. Then head downstairs as we open the doors and expand the room for the Firebrand After Party.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 83.66
