Faith Driven Entrepreneur

Today we are talking to Toby Kurth, lead pastor at Christ Church San Francisco. Toby has been a faithful voice inside the Faith Driven Movement, a friend, pastor and even Chaplain to our team. We’re excited that we finally got to have him on the show today—feels like this episode is long overdue. We’re going to hear a bit of his story, and we’re also going to dive in with him on the 5 Marks of a Faith Driven Entrepreneur, which he was instrumental in shaping. If you haven’t read those yet, we suggest you check them out, but if you want to hear more about what they are and why they matter, this episode is for you.Toby also forced us to ask a great question—what shapes your desires? Asking this is key to aligning our values and desires with the way God wants us to do business. And as Toby shared with us, when our desires match God’s desires, there’s no limit to what He might do through our work. Useful Links:The 5 Marks of a Faith Driven EntrepreneurDo You Know What Is Shaping Your Desires?I Am The Light of the

Too often we think there are just one or two roads to being an Entrepreneur. We think of the lemonade stand kid who hits it big, or maybe we think of the “accidental entrepreneurs” like Mark McLain who shared his story on a previous podcast. But not as many know about the idea of a Search Fund, where an entrepreneur enlists investors with the purpose of acquiring a company and dropping in as the new day to day leader. There's a whole unique set of circumstances with this approach that we’re going to talk about today. And what makes this episode special is that we look at this idea through the lens of brothers. Nick and Giovanni Gallo have gone about this together through their business, ComplianceLine in Charlotte, North Carolina, and their experience is one we think you’ll be fascinated to hear more about. If you’ve never heard of a Search Fund but are interested in learning more, or if you’re already familiar with this approach and eager to hear the ins and outs of how it works, today’s episode is for you.A

Today we’re talking to Norm and Scott Miller. Norm is the Chairman and Scott is the CEO of Interstate Batteries. They steward a company that for the past 6 decades has been leading its industry with outrageous dependability. You may know Interstate batteries from their logos on the side of NASCAR winners, but you may not know that they offer over 12,000 different batteries and have sold more than 300 million units. They’ve also been innovating in discovering ways for their faith to lead them in caring for their team and developing an award-winning culture. One of the growing trends in the Faith Driven Entrepreneur movement is seeing a generation of faithful leaders looking to pass the baton to the next generation. Interstate is one of the looked to brands that has gone through this recently, and today Norm and Scott are going to share what they’ve learned through the transition.As always, thanks for listening!Useful Links:An Interview with Norm Miller - RightNow Media @ WorkJack of All Trades - An Interstate

Today’s episode takes us to jail. Well...not exactly. But we are interviewing a man who owns and operates a business that is run out of a high security prison. His name is Pete Ochs, and in addition to working as founder and chairman of an impact investing company, he’s also working to make Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Kansas the best prison in America. How? Well, we’ll let him tell you…But what you should know is that Pete’s approach to business, and to life, has less to do with leadership and stewardship, and everything to do with Lordship. You’re not going to want to miss this one… Useful Links:Jailhouse Business of GenerosityInmate Confesses God’s Love at Seat KingWork as Flourishing in PrisonEnterprise Stewardship

Today we’re talking to Jon Collins, the co-founder of Epipheo—a cutting edge video production company that is passionate about getting to the heart of why things matter. The name of their company comes from the combination of the words “epiphany” and “video.” And from Jon’s story, it seems like those are the two things that have defined his life’s work.In addition to talking about Epipheo, Jon also shared with us the entrepreneurial journey of The Bible Project, an incredible work that breaks down the context of pieces of scripture in a powerful way. They’ve been viewed over 100 million times in over 200 countries around the world through the Bible App, YouTube, RightNow Media and more. Throughout this episode, Jon shared why he’s passionate about the Bible, and why devoting daily to studying God’s word is important, especially for entrepreneurs. We hope you enjoy this episode. As always, thanks for listening.Useful Links:Epipheo: Animated Video ProductionWhat is the Bible Project?The Bible Project - Generosi

Today we’re in the Bay Area talking to Jena Nardella of Praxis. You may know Jena from some of her work improving clean water access around the world and her book titled One Thousand Wells: How an Audacious Goal Taught Me to Love the World Instead of Save It. Today she works on building the durability and sustainability of nonprofit organizations and leaders with Praxis and recently their team wrote a book called The Redemptive Nonprofit.We invited Jena on to share some of her story and also to walk us through some of the points from The Redemptive Nonprofit. If you lead an organization or nonprofit, you’re going to find both her story and her advice to nonprofit leaders incredibly valuable!We’re so grateful for her willingness to share from her own experience, and we hope that her entrepreneurial journey will encourage you on your own. As always, thanks for listening!Useful Links:The Redemptive NonprofitOne Thousand WellsBlood: WaterSix Commitments of a Redemptive Nonprofit

“If a man steals your farm, teach him how to farm.” We’ve all heard sermons and messages on forgiveness and turning the other cheek, but the story of Craig Deall takes these truths to a whole new level. Craig actually lived this. Under the rule of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe forced thousands of industrial farmers to give up their lands. In a moment, generations of family wealth was gone. But rather than seeking revenge or restitution, Craig chose the path of reconciliation—actually working for the very men who stole from him!Craig shared his story, starting from when he loved the land more than God—a struggle for any entrepreneur enamored with their own venture—to when that land was taken away from him. Throughout the whole journey, Craig lets us into what God did with his faith through hardship, what it really looks like to forgive our enemies, and why storing treasure in heaven and not on earth is no longer just a sermon point anymore.Talking with Craig was truly inspiring for us, and we think you’ll be glad yo

Everyone has a story about receiving a gift they had no interest in, but do any of us know if we’ve ever given a gift that someone else didn’t want? This is exactly the situation John Ruhlin wants to help you avoid. John is the author of Giftology, a book that teaches the science of “radical generosity.” He has helped countless companies boost their referrals, retention rates, and ROI, and our interview with him was a gift in and of itself!John has helped people accelerate relationships with their teams and the people they serve, and he has gifted on behalf of everyone from Forbes Magazine to Fortune 500. His principles lead to appreciative responses and oftentimes a relational and ROI impact that is well beyond what any of us could have imagined. Having been the recipients of John’s gift-giving in the past, our hosts were excited to talk to him, and we think you’ll enjoy all he had to share as well!Useful Links:Giftology PlanHow John Ruhlin Became Known as the Gifting ExpertIt’s Likely That Your Favorite Non

There are 7 million jobs in America that will go unfilled in 2019.This means that even if every unemployed person in America got a job tomorrow, we’d still have a labor gap of over a million people. So, what’s the solution? Well, Chris Chancey has some ideas that come from the value of the refugee workforce.On this episode, he shares with us the importance of the immigrant and refugee workforce—a group that is behind so many of the products we use. In addition to sharing the story of Amplio Recruiting, Chris also shared some amazing stories about the radical effect something as simple as employment can have on a person. In doing so, he makes the case that hiring refugees isn’t only a socially responsible decision but a profitable one that can have lasting spiritual impact for faith driven entrepreneurs and their employees alike. We think you’re going to love this episode. As always, thanks for listening. Useful Links:Amplio RecruitingRefugee WorkforceRefugee Workforce Book Launch Video

Last year, on a single porn site alone, people watched 4.6 billion hours worth of pornographic videos. That’s around 5,000 centuries worth of time.Clearly, sexual Brokenness is a problem. But that’s not new. What is new is how Jay Stringer, author of Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing, is helping us understand this subject. Instead of looking for new techniques of “lust management,” Jay is working to encourage people to address their sexual brokenness and the core issues surrounding it.Jay has found that facing what is difficult in our own lives helps us move down the path of healing. And if you’re an entrepreneur who wants to better handle difficulties in your professional life, you have to deal with the difficulties in your personal life. Even if sexual brokenness doesn’t sound like a primary struggle for you, the statistics Jay shares will make it clear that if you have more than one employee, odds are you know someone who is dealing with this issue. And that’s why we wanted to talk

Entrepreneurs know what it’s like to be uncomfortable. Yet, there’s something in modern/Western Christianity that expects comfort. We often act as though God has called us to a life of comfort and ease, not one of stress and sacrifice. But as Casey Crawford points out, Jesus didn’t exactly live an easy life! And this is just one way he gave us a great perspective alongside a paradigm shift in this podcast episode.As you’ll hear, Casey came out of the gate firing, and we hope you can keep up with him for the whole episode. He covers stress and Christianity, the role of money in the life of a believer, and what it was like to start a mortgage company amidst the financial crisis of 2008. And every one of these topics was covered with his passion and enthusiasm, which we think makes this episode a great one.We loved having Casey on the podcast and are so grateful for the way he rejuvenated us just by discussing what he cares about. And as you listen in, we think that the passion with which he shared his story mig

On today’s episode, we invited Max Anderson to come in and help us tackle a difficult yet important topic—depression among entrepreneurs. Max is an entrepreneur and a writer. Each week, he writes something called The Weekend Reader, where he explores one big idea from culture with a handful of suggested articles. Recently, he dove into how depression affects entrepreneurs, and what he found was staggering—entrepreneurs are anywhere from 2-10x more likely to suffer from mental challenges. It’s a topic that’s extremely important, yet remarkably under-discussed, so we thought that with Max’s help we’d push the conversation forward today... Our hope in bringing this topic to light is that if you, or someone you know, is suffering from depression, that you could take the necessary steps to get help. We know this isn’t easy, and we also know that it’s not necessarily a fun topic to talk about. But it matters. And we’re grateful to Max for bringing this topic to our attention and for also helping us talk about it We

Our friend Frank Chen is the final guest in this 4-part series on the Faith Driven Investor. And he stopped by to talk about how he’s helping entrepreneurs change the World at the Silicon Valley Venture powerhouse of Andreessen Horowitz. As Frank describes it they are “helping entrepreneurs build software companies that are eating the world” (he’ll give you a little more info about what that means in our interview). Frank Chen is a self proclaimed former product and user experience design junkie with specialties in venture capital, artificial intelligence/machine learning, fund raising, product planning, product launches, product development process, enterprise software, UX design, Web hosting, and managed services. With a breadth of expertise like that, you can see why we were excited to have him on the show! But even after all of that, Frank let us in on what his heart as an investor looks like. He pulled aside the curtain a bit and let us see that investors aren’t so much the terrifying titans up on the hi

We’ve got a good one for you today. Nathan Sheets is CEO of Nature Nate’s Honey, and he was also involved with I Am Second,and E3, and you’ll hear a bit of all of those stories. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When we sat down to talk to Nathan, we had no idea how deep he was going to take us. Right away, he opened up about the ups and downs he has gone through with a level of candor that we couldn’t even believe. If you’re looking for what life as an entrepreneur looks like—and we mean, really looks like—Nathan Sheets has a no holds barred take on the entrepreneurial journey. Image management is a struggle that everyone faces, but it’s one that we rarely address. And for entrepreneurs, this issue is especially acute. Because as an entrepreneur, you have to look like you have it all together, right? You’ve got employees and shareholders relying on you—the leader. That type of pressure creates a situation where it’s all too easy to want to hide behind a manufactured version of ourselves. And Nathan She

Faith-Based Employee Resource Groups. This term may be new to you, or it may be something you’re already participating in. Either way, this episode is for you. Christeen Rico is leading the conversation around ERGs, and what she shared in our conversation was both informative and insightful. If you don’t know, ERGs are groups within companies that foster community and conversation among like-minded people. Companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, Toyota, and many more are creating these types of groups, so we’re grateful that Christeen dropped by to give us the inside scoop. If you’re an entrepreneur looking for ways to foster faith-based conversations within your business, Christeen will tell you exactly what it takes to form these groups. Or, if you’re an investor looking to get involved with companies that already have ERGs, Christeen will help you understand why these groups are important and how they add value. Apart from that, Christeen was also a fun person to spend time with, and we think you’ll find t

Imagine you’re walking into a car dealership to buy a new car. Now, most people don’t associate that thought with a pleasant experience—there’s negotiation, uncertainty, and the inevitability of a big purchase. But Don Flow and Flow Automotive set out to change this idea, and in doing so, they created a business founded on values and principles that manifest themselves in these words: exercise faith, live love, and bring hope. That sounds better! In this episode, Don Flow opened up a fire hydrant of business wisdom and counsel ranging from what it means to create a covenant with your customers, how you can be the type of business that causes others to rejoice at your success, and why you should show respect before you earn respect. We could go on and on about the things we loved from this conversation, but we think it’s best you listen for yourself. Enjoy! Useful Links: Driving Trust: Don Flow Video Story 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award: Don Flow In Search of Excellence Book

Today’s episode takes us to Silicon Valley to connect with Trae Stephens. You may have seen Trae on CNBC, or you may know him as one of the Partners at Founders Fund. It was an honor to have Trae on to share about his experiences—everything from his time in politics working for Congressmen and in Embassies to now working alongside Peter Thiel. Trae also shares about his life as a Christ-Follower and how it shapes his view of the investing world. In particular, Trae outlines what it means for an entrepreneur to be an outlier. He describes the difference between business ideas that fit into a certain pre-existing category and those that break every mold out there. He also shares cautionary advice about what not to do as an entrepreneur. His perspective as a venture capitalist is helpful to listen to for both investors and entrepreneurs alike. But this podcast doesn’t stop there. As you know, we’re always approaching the conversation of entrepreneurship and investing from a faith-driven perspective. Trae is no e

Today’s guest, Sanyin Siang, is the executive director for the Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE) at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a professor with its Pratt School of Engineer. She is an advisor for Google Ventures (GV), Sports Innovation Labs, Duke Corporate Education and author of The Launch Book: Motivational Stories to Launch Your Idea, Business, or Next Career. If that list isn’t enough to get you to press play on this episode, you should also know that she has over 1 million followers on LinkedIn. Yet, while that is something we felt eager to point out, she shared how she has had to learn to hold on loosely to that following, which was some advice all of us in this busy social-media-driven world needed to hear. In our conversation, she shared why she recently took some time to write her own obituary. Turns out she realized that what she wants to be remembered for isn’t her professional success, or even her number of followers—it’s something bigger and more important than

When we first learned about Apartment Life it sounded too good to be true. The work they do in apartment complexes improves their overall financial performance, grows their online reputation, and strengthens their resident retention rates. With benefits like these, it’s no surprise that they’re taking off, now serving over 3 million residents from coast to coast. In this episode, Pete Kelly explains just how they do it. We believe this podcast is especially valuable to you for two reasons. One, you get to hear about an incredible business venture in Apartment Life. There’s no doubt you’ll be hearing more about them in the future, and we’re glad we get to share about them early on in this podcast. And two, you get to hear the heart behind the business. Pete Kelly is one of those business leaders who puts his heart into what he’s doing, and it shows in this interview. We’re excited for you to hear about Apartment Life and the potential they have in the real estate market. But even more so, this podcast gives yo

Join us outside of Austin, Texas where we are connecting with Mark McClain. Mark likes to refer to himself as an accidental entrepreneur. He didn’t grow up as the lemonade stand kid but has since gone on to start two different companies. Today, he leads SailPoint, an identity management business started in 2005 that is publicly traded with a market cap around $2 Billion and 1,200 team members across 33 different companies. Today, you can hear Mark share his powerful story of being an “Accidental Entrepreneur” and find out how that path might be more common than you think. Mark McClain’s entrepreneurial journey is a unique one. But if you find yourself in a startup or new venture that you didn’t anticipate starting a few years ago, Mark’s story will be both helpful and encouraging. He will be the first to tell you that he didn’t envision himself as a creative entrepreneur. Yet, when he found himself frustrated by the difficulty of creating change in mid-size and large organizations, his desire to create sparke