Strategic Sparring & Cognitive Architecture

Non-linear minds build breakthrough companies. They also break conventional operating systems.

High-stakes strategic sparring for founders and chief executives whose thinking moves faster than conventional operating rhythms. We map how your mind handles complexity, friction and decision fatigue, replacing clinical deficit models and compensatory masking with deliberate executive architecture.

Apply for Private Sparring Enterprise & Board Engagements
A spiky cognitive profile Radar chart across ten cognitive dimensions. The profile peaks well above a dashed linear norm on some axes and falls below it on others.
Spiky profile Linear norm
  • Active Research Collaborations with Top Business Schools (IESE / IE)
  • Trusted Thought Partner to 100+ Tech Founders & C-Suite Executives
  • Neuroscience-Grounded Systems & Spiky Profile Framework

Track A · Private

For Founders & CEOs Private Sparring

A confidential, retainer-based thinking partnership for founders and CEOs carrying final decision rights. Conducted in person in Barcelona or via secure remote sessions, with asynchronous access during active strategic deals or board inflection points.

  • Cognitive friction
  • Decision fatigue
  • Pattern recognition
  • Operational scaffolding

Executive work on how you lead and decide. Diagnosis and therapy stay with clinicians.

Apply for Private Sparring

Track B · Enterprise

For Organisations & Boards Workshops & Keynotes

Specialised working sessions for boards, investors and executive committees. Signature formats include a 45-minute keynote (Asymmetric Minds in the C-Suite) and half-day alignment offsites (Bridging the Founder-Board Interface).

  • Keynotes
  • Board workshops
  • Leadership offsites
  • Team design

Formats from a 45-minute keynote to a full offsite, adapted to your board or team.

Request Enterprise Proposal

01 · Executive Sparring

One-to-one strategic sparring for the person who carries the final decision.

Conventional leadership coaching assumes steady, predictable execution. High-performing non-linear leaders operate on radical spikes. Sparring provides confidential, high-velocity thought partnership directly at the level of your active strategic inflection points.

  1. The Spiky Diagnostic

    Mapping asymmetric cognitive capacity, intuitive leaps and operational friction points under extreme load.

  2. Energy Over the Clock

    Restructuring executive rhythms, high-stakes decisions and focus blocks around cognitive velocity instead of the calendar grid.

  3. Deconstructing Masking Costs

    Auditing and retiring compensatory micro-management systems that consume critical executive bandwidth.

  4. Leading Asymmetric Teams

    Designing leadership interfaces and translating non-linear strategy into clear execution for linear teams.

Confidential. In person in Barcelona, London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Zurich or remote, in English, Spanish, German or French.

Apply for Private Sparring

02 · Workshops & Keynotes

For boards, executive committees and the leaders who back them.

When non-linear talent collides with conventional governance, organisations mistake cognitive asymmetry for unreliability. These engagements align boards, executives and teams around high-performance spikes.

  • Keynote, 45 minutes

    Asymmetric Minds in the C-Suite

    Reframing ADHD, giftedness and divergent cognition as proprietary strategic advantages.

    Leadership forums, conferences, company events

  • Board alignment offsite, half day

    Bridging the Founder-Board Interface

    Preventing founder burnout, aligning board expectations and reading executive variance accurately.

    Boards, investors, executive committees

  • Enterprise Workshop

    Designing Systems for Cognitive Spikes

    Building organisational scaffolding so spiky thinkers can execute without burning out their teams.

    Executive teams, HR and L&D leaders

From a 45-minute keynote to a half-day working session, delivered across Europe in English, Spanish, German or French.

Request Enterprise Proposal

03 · The Spiky Profile Framework

A working map of cognitive range, built for decisions.

Retire diagnostic labels. Replace them with an operating map that locates breakthrough capacity, names the valleys and specifies the scaffolding each one needs.

A spiky profile, whatever you call it.

Some leaders arrive with a label: ADHD, autism, giftedness, dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia. Others never had a diagnosis and simply know their mind runs differently from the people around them. Many recognise themselves in more than one.

Neurodivergence is the umbrella term. We speak of a spiky profile or a non-linear mind, because in leadership what matters is how your mind works: where it is exceptional, where it costs you energy and what helps it run well.

A label can explain the past. For the next quarter, the useful question is what your good days and your bad days look like and what separates them.

  • ADHD
  • Autism
  • Giftedness
  • Dyslexia
  • Dyspraxia
  • Dyscalculia
  • Twice-exceptional (2e)

Diagnosis stays with doctors and psychologists. If you suspect a condition or feel unwell, please see a qualified professional.

Spiky Profile map across ten operational dimensions Radar chart. Spikes reach far beyond the dashed flat corporate baseline on five dimensions and fall well inside it on the other five. Systemic Synthesis: spike; Routine Cadence: valley; Crisis Hyperfocus: spike; Linear Documentation: valley; Divergent Ideation: spike; Calendar Fragmentation: valley; Rapid Pattern Recognition: spike; Repetitive Execution: valley; Associative Leaps: spike; Translation into Text: valley. SystemicSynthesisRoutineCadenceCrisisHyperfocusLinearDocumentationDivergentIdeationCalendarFragmentationRapid PatternRecognitionRepetitiveExecutionAssociativeLeapsTranslationinto Text 12345678910

Ten operational dimensions

Where leverage peaks, where friction accumulates.

Spikes High leverage

  • Systemic Synthesis
  • Crisis Hyperfocus
  • Divergent Ideation
  • Rapid Pattern Recognition
  • Associative Leaps

Valleys Systemic friction

  • Routine Cadence
  • Linear Documentation
  • Calendar Fragmentation
  • Repetitive Execution
  • Translation into Text

Dashed line: the flat corporate baseline, the uniform profile most roles, reviews and governance models are built for.

Operational contrast: every spike comes with a valley that needs scaffolding
Cognitive DimensionNatural Spike (High Leverage)Operating Valley (Systemic Friction)Executive Scaffolding Required
Systemic Synthesis Identifies non-linear market shifts years ahead. Translating intuition into step-by-step documentation feels painfully slow. Visual roadmaps and dedicated operational integrators.
Crisis Hyperfocus Exceptional clarity and decisive execution in turnaround or high-stakes ambiguity. Low-stimulation routine reporting triggers acute cognitive drag. Elimination of context-switching and full administrative delegation.
Relational Intuition Senses unspoken boardroom tensions and culture drift immediately. Absorbs emotional turbulence, risking boundary collapse and burnout. Strict energy recovery protocols and formalised governance boundaries.

The Spiky Profile is an operational map of executive cognitive load. It does not assess personality or diagnose any condition. It shows where executive leverage peaks under pressure, where cognitive fatigue accumulates and what structural scaffolding is needed to lead sustainably.

Try it on yourselfMap your good day and your bad dayA non-clinical prompt for your own AI assistant

  1. 01 / Map

    Multi-dimensional cognitive mapping across perception, synthesis and execution.

  2. 02 / Stress-Test

    Evaluating behavioural variance during funding rounds, hyper-growth and board friction.

  3. 03 / Scaffold

    Structuring roles, chief-of-staff interfaces and operating models around natural cognitive spikes.

  4. 04 / Translate

    Establishing an objective, non-clinical language for boards, investors and leadership teams.

Dr. Sven Mulfinger listening and taking notes in a conversation with an executive

04 · About

Dr. Sven Mulfinger

Executive coach, offsite facilitator and strategic advisor to founders and C-suite teams across Europe.

Sven trained as an engineer and holds a PhD in biotech engineering. He spent years building start-ups, including a venture in women's mental health, before moving into advisory work with founders and leadership teams.

Neurodisruptors grew out of a late ADHD diagnosis at 50 and a pattern he kept recognising in the founders he worked with. The research, the book and the Spiky Profile framework all come from that work.

  • Barcelona, in person across Europe and remote
  • English, Spanish, French and German
  • Lead Partner at Kuma Partners

Academic collaborations

Collaborative research alongside faculty at IESE Business School and IE Business School examining how cognitive variance (ADHD, giftedness, dyslexia) affects entrepreneurial scaling, strategic decision-making and board governance.

  • Prof. Dr. Thomas KluetterIESE Business School
  • Prof. Dr. Nicolas DeuschelIE Business School
  • Prof. Iñigo GalloIESE Business School, 2015 case study

Strategic Context

Frequently asked questions.

Key distinctions drawn from executive sparring and Dr. Sven Mulfinger's book, The Non-Linear Operating System.

What is a Spiky Profile in executive leadership?

A Spiky Profile is a leadership framework developed by Dr. Sven Mulfinger that maps where a leader's thinking creates exceptional leverage (spikes) and where it meets friction (valleys).

It covers ten operational dimensions, from systemic synthesis and crisis hyperfocus to routine cadence and calendar fragmentation. Neurodisruptors uses it to design the roles, rhythms and support around a leader instead of asking for an even profile across every domain.

Is this about ADHD?

Partly: ADHD is one of several ways a mind can run on a spiky profile, alongside autism, giftedness, dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia.

Many leaders recognise themselves in more than one. The work focuses on how your mind operates as a leader, with or without a diagnosis. It does not diagnose any condition; that stays with doctors and psychologists.

Who is Dr. Sven Mulfinger?

Dr. Sven Mulfinger is the founder of Neurodisruptors and a Barcelona-based executive coach, offsite facilitator and strategic advisor to founders and C-suite teams across Europe.

He trained as an engineer, holds a PhD in biotech engineering and is Lead Partner at Kuma Partners. He is writing The Non-Linear Operating System with research collaborators at IESE Business School and IE Business School. Neurodisruptors grew out of his own ADHD diagnosis at 50.

Do I need a diagnosis to work with Neurodisruptors?

No: the work starts from how your mind operates as a leader, so a formal diagnosis is neither required nor assessed.

Some clients have a diagnosis of ADHD, autism, dyslexia or another profile, others suspect one and many simply know they think differently. Questions about diagnosis or treatment belong with a doctor or psychologist.

How does private strategic sparring differ from conventional executive coaching?

Conventional coaching often works on rounding out weaknesses, while strategic sparring with Neurodisruptors is a confidential thinking partnership for founders and CEOs whose minds move faster than standard operating rhythms.

Sessions focus on live decisions, cognitive load and the structures around the leader, such as roles, calendar design and board communication. It is executive work and involves no therapy.

How does private sparring work in practice?

Private sparring is a confidential, retainer-based partnership with Dr. Sven Mulfinger, held in person in Barcelona or by secure video, with direct access between sessions during critical decisions.

It starts with a confidential first conversation to check fit. Sessions run in English, Spanish, German or French. Meetings in other European cities are arranged when needed.

Is there an executive coach in Barcelona for founders with ADHD?

Yes: Neurodisruptors, led by Dr. Sven Mulfinger in Barcelona, offers confidential strategic sparring for founders and CEOs with ADHD, giftedness, dyslexia and other spiky profiles.

Work takes place in person in Barcelona, in other European cities including London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Zurich, or remotely, in four languages.

Why do non-linear leaders struggle with traditional corporate time management?

For many non-linear leaders the real constraint is energy rather than time, so a calendar of evenly spaced blocks works against how their minds perform.

Deep strategic work needs motivation, activation and physical capacity to line up. Sparring helps leaders plan around those peaks, protect them and move routine work elsewhere.

How can a board support a founder with ADHD?

A board supports a founder with ADHD best by reading uneven output as a pattern to design around, with clear roles, the right operating partner and reporting formats that fit how the founder thinks.

The half-day offsite Bridging the Founder-Board Interface works through this with boards, investors and executive committees and keeps the conversation on leadership and governance.

Is the Spiky Profile a clinical or psychiatric diagnostic tool?

No: the Spiky Profile is exclusively a leadership and management framework designed to map executive leverage and workplace friction.

It does not provide medical, psychological or psychiatric diagnosis for ADHD, autism or other neurodevelopmental conditions.

What formats are available for enterprise and board engagements?

Neurodisruptors offers two principal formats: a 45-minute keynote (Asymmetric Minds in the C-Suite) and half-day alignment offsites (Bridging the Founder-Board Interface) for boards, venture partners and executive committees.

An enterprise workshop, Designing Systems for Cognitive Spikes, is also available for executive teams and HR leaders.

Where is the research behind The Non-Linear Operating System conducted?

The framework draws on ongoing academic research collaborations with faculty at IESE Business School and IE Business School.

This research is combined with field analysis across more than 50 serial entrepreneurs and CEOs with a non-linear mind.

Request a Conversation

Start with a confidential conversation.

A confidential first conversation to assess fit for 1:1 sparring, board advisory or keynote engagements.

  • Read personally by Sven. Never shared.
  • Founders, CEOs, boards and HR leaders across Europe.

Prefer direct dialogue?

Message Sven directly on LinkedIn