NextGen Accelerator 2026
Ticket sales close 11:59pm SGT, Tuesday 20th October
Thinking about joining your family business—or already finding your way in?
Join fellow MBA students, family business next-gens and experienced practitioners for a day of practical insights, honest conversations and peer learning. The NextGen Accelerator is designed to help you navigate the transition into the family enterprise and build the skills, confidence and relationships needed to lead.
Explore strategy and leadership, stewardship and governance, conflict resolution, family dynamics and the realities of your first year in the business. Hear from INSEAD and IMD faculty, family business advisors and alumni who have lived the journey themselves.
You’ll leave with practical tools, fresh perspectives and a stronger peer network to support you from NextGen to NowGen.
Date: Wednesday 28th October
Time: 8:30am to 4pm (event will commence punctually at 8:45am)
Location: INSEAD Asia Campus
Price: $80 for INSEAD students, $100 for non-INSEAD students
Seats are limited. Register via Luma and transfer payment by 11:59pm SGT, Tuesday 20th October to confirm attendance.
Description: FirstName_Surname_NxtGen
Wise: @chieng8 | Revolut: @schieng
Programme | Wednesday 28th October
8:30 – 8:45am | Registration and coffee
8:45 – 9:00am | Welcome with Steven Chieng and Alejandro Michel, FBC Co-Presidents
9:00 – 10:30am | Strategy and leadership with Professor Bala Vissa (INSEAD)
The family name gets you in the door; credibility is earned. How to build the right mindset, find your leadership style and execute with an established management team.
10:30 – 10:45am | Morning break
10:45am – 12:00pm | Conflict resolution with Professor John Lee, Chartered Arbitrator and Certified Mediator (WIPA)
How to spot tension before it surfaces, challenge without fracturing relationships, and make difficult conversations safe.
12:00 – 1:00pm | Lunch tables and networking
Themed tables with peers on the same journey, from trusts and wills to when the current generation won't let go.
1:00 – 2:30pm | Stewardship and governance with Dr Marleen Dieleman (IMD)
What does it mean to inherit something you're expected to grow? A constitutional and legal lens on pay, in-laws, non-working family and separating family from business.
2:30 – 2:45pm | Afternoon break
2:45 – 3:45pm | Lessons from the journey: NextGen to NowGen panel (panelists to be confirmed)
Leaders who've made the leap share the candid version: imposter syndrome, generational clashes and making the transition seamless.
3:45 – 4:00pm | Closing remarks with Steven Chieng and Alejandro Michel
Speaker Profiles
Professor Bala Vissa is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise and The André and Rosalie Hoffmann Chaired Professor of Family Enterprise at INSEAD. His research explores entrepreneurial leadership in emerging economies, from first-generation founders to next-gen leaders of mature family businesses, including how family boards, top teams and family offices are structured. He is a sought-after speaker and advises entrepreneurial companies and professional investors.
Professor John Lee is an Adjunct Professor at Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia, and a Master Mediator with the Singapore Ministry of Law. He supports families and family businesses across China and ASEAN on governance, succession and cross-border dispute resolution. He was previously CEO of China-Singapore Jilin Food Zone, a Temasek Holdings joint venture, and is an INSEAD alumnus.
Dr. Marleen Dieleman holds the Peter Lorange Chair in Family Business at IMD. Her research focuses on the governance, strategy, and transformation of emerging market enterprises, in particular family business groups in Asia. She is an award-winning teacher who was recently selected into the Thinkers50 Radar List 2026. She is also a speaker and panelist at conferences, and works with Asian families as a consultant and board member, especially on family governance. She is based in Singapore.