“Hurt is going to happen.” With those five words, I was reminded once again of why we so separately need Jesus. We’re all going to fail. And sometimes, it’ll be big. And every time it will hurt.

We fret so much about wasting precious time, when the other side of that same coin says: time is always there. Experience cannot be quantified as cleanly as results or outcomes, but that does not eliminate it’s value.

Five years ago, I applied for a new job. I quickly rose to the top of the candidate pool and got that feeling– I’m going to land this job! After multiple interviews, each better than the last, I was told that it was just a matter of final details and one last interview.

The most difficult circumstance of my life thus far — spiritually, emotionally, and in fact financially — has come through the failure of a start-up in which I was an investor.

As someone who enjoys the strategy behind building an organization and its personnel, there seems to be a common denominator in the NFL coaching carousel I have observed that can explain this phenomenon.

Someone asked me once, “Why are you afraid to fail?” I remember wading through a bunch of half sentences until I admitted, “I don’t want to fail because I’m afraid of who that means I am. Basically, my identity is at stake.”

What if God is glorified by taking us to Red Sea Moments on purpose? How do you respond as a leader when you find yourself up against the wall?

Two weeks into COVID-19, when other people were losing jobs and schools were shutting their doors to complete the school year online, God spoke to me about returning to the marketplace.

I never saw it coming. I started my business part-time in January, 2000, and I completed my MBA in September of the same year. I purchased my second new construction home. Things were going well, and I could not have been happier.

None of us, including experienced business people, have led a company in such a time as this. For over 20 years, Charlie Paparelli has been an professional angel investor and entrepreneur, co-founding 12 startups and investing in twenty-three. Read his take on where we go from here…

In the Midwest, Christian entrepreneurs are searching for relief from the corrosive grind of company-building—while some faith leaders preach the gospel of crushing it. There’s a hunger among entrepreneurs to redefine what it means to be successful in tech: the enduring message is that in an industry that seems by nature to demand imbalance in the lives of those who work in it, they hope to find a different way.

“In the early days of the business, we were flying. We were growing, hiring, and making a big splash… It was the Silicon Valley dream and I was one of the few, the proud, the chosen. Pride is a funny and destructive thing. But God in His incredible graciousness dashed me hard against the rocks to break this pride into pieces.”

One of the best definitions of entrepreneurship is that of Harvard Professor Howard Stevenson (1983): “the pursuit of opportunity beyond the tangible resources that you currently control”. This short yet powerful definition has three components, and each is worth deeper consideration, particularly if you are a follower of Christ.

We could go on and on about the great, meaningful work that Pete Ochs has been doing but we rather let you hear it & see it from him yourself. We want to highlight one of our Top 10 Video Stories on him: #8 JAILHOUSE BUSINESS OF GENEROSITY “To inmates, seeing someone who had a genuine desire for them to succeed changed everything.”

The DEALMAKERS Film Series was created to entertain, inspire and connect audiences to look at faith and work differently. Their first episode features this week’s podcast guest Pete Ochs discussing his radical idea of a triple bottom line. Watch here!

The remarkable story of one gutsy contractor’s determination to end poverty in Africa. Grant Smith is not a visionary or an enthusiastic missionary. He’s a problem solver. When confronted with the desperate problems of poverty he witnessed in Africa, he did the only thing he knew how to do–business.

For over 20 years, Charlie Paparelli has been an professional angel investor and entrepreneur, co-founding 12 startups and investing in 23. On a daily basis, he mentors 10 startup founders and advises many more. Read more about his 11 thoughts on how to see failure as an entrepreneur.a

“The liars list” are aspects of businesses (your business) that you’re probably lying to yourself about. My CEO clients weren’t lying to me. But the fact that they lied to themselves was hurting the company. Did I do that when I ran my company?

In this post, Rusty Rueff shares one of his daily devotional blog posts. “It might feel like we are stuck on a treadmill that is speeding up on us and with no way off. Today, let me be encouraging that the work we are given to do on this earthly part of our journey matters.”

An article from Eagle Venture Fund looking at the questions of decision making like “Why is do so many business opportunities fail? There must be some way to predict which opportunities will succeed and which ones will fail, right?”

“Kingdom success along the path of risk and failure.” – For many entrepreneurs, the possibility of startup glory — a huge payout, an early retirement, fame, acclaim, and the chance to transform how societies function — is worth the risk and the toil. And what if those momentous outcomes never come to fruition?

From time to time we leave the world of faith driven content to highlight a piece of wisdom from a secular author that has inordinate wisdom and application for you, the faith driven entrepreneur. Enjoy this great blog post from Marc Andreesen!

Each year, nearly 20 million people lose their jobs. That’s how this article opens, but don’t worry—it gets hopeful from there. Hear Matt Rusten from Made to Flourish explain the role of the church when it comes to unemployment and how community can and should play a role in helping people get back on their feet.

In a suburb north of Denver, Prime Trailer Leasing manages a fleet of gleaming white semi-trailers. Like the Hertz of semi-trucks, Prime owns and rents its trucks to commercial customers of all varieties. Wes Gardner, the founder and owner of Prime, acknowledges that “semi trailers aren’t glamorous,” but the work his company is doing is anything but mundane.

How much can you take? Jon Kontz shares “A sense of calling helps to weather the storms of startup life, but for risk takers like me, it can be hard to tell the difference between calling and another great idea.”

In Part Two with Chip Ingram, CEO of Living on the Edge, we continue the discussion on faith and entrepreneurship from this Pastor to Entrepreneurs. Topics include ways on keeping church relevant to the entrepreneur’s life, to how to handle failures and ways to handle power and influence righteously.

When God provides a larger-than-life vision, however, it is not for us to question it or to demand to see it all unfold in our lifetime.

God’s Kingdom is advancing where commerce happens. Much of this marketplace transformation is happening through entrepreneurs and investors.

As a Christian business owner, are you are attempting to integrate biblical principles into every aspect of your business? How about your retirement plan? Is it even possible to honor God through your 401(k) plan? If yes, how?

Business is creating a solution to a problem. The problem is that it’s the people with capital who typically decide which problems get solved.

We are excited to announce an event designed to encourage investors, fund managers, and leaders this Sept 23-24th in Dallas—the Faith Driven Investor Gathering! This event will be held at Watermark Community Church and will align like-minded capital with Faith Driven Entrepreneurs. Register here to secure your spot!

Gleaning, the Old Testament practice whereby farmers left an unharvested margin around their fields and the poor came and picked from it, was at the heart of the Book of Ruth. Was gleaning only an ancient agricultural regulation or did it also apply to how he should steward a modern-day tech business?

Theology of Work Project digs into a famous parable —“One of Jesus’ most significant parables regarding work is set in the context of investments (Matt. 25:14-30). A rich man delegates the management of his wealth to his servants, much as investors in today’s markets do.”

Rev. Dr. Helen Rhee, Professor of Church History at Westmont College & Associate Pastor of Free Methodist Church, adds to our understanding of God’s intent and absolute ownership of the created world and the ramifications for human stewardship. She gives depth to notions of “sufficient care” and “appropriate enjoyment” in a global culture of affluence.

Tim Macready, Chief Investment Officer at Christian Super, shares how the superannuation pension fund is on a journey of applying God’s Word to the way they, as Christian professionals, invest their beneficiaries’ assets. This includes learning to be better stewards of creation, looking for ways to promote human flourishing, and seeking to be redemptive in all that they do.

Robert Kim of Caprock Group shares his insights on the Faith-driven Impact Investing panel he moderated at the Social Capital Markets (SOCAP) Conference 2018. The event allowed both Robert and the panelists (Bryce Butler, Gloria Nelund, and Todd Johnson) to share about Jesus at one of the most prominent yet secular gatherings of impact investors and social entrepreneurs!

In the video clip today, Henry and panelist Tom Blaisdell discuss permanent capital as a unique and valuable approach for the Christ-centered investor. The panel as a whole highlights the importance of kingdom-minded economics as critical to faith-driven investing.

Abel Pomar, President/CEO of Evangelical Christian Credit Union, helps us see the big picture with this article. He challenges us to think bigger than ethical investing by calculating the financial impact of how we can use even something as simple as a bank account to promote God’s kingdom.

You cannot grow what you do not take ownership or responsibility over the results. If permission makes the next level possible, ownership makes the next level real. It’s taking dominion (i.e. dominating/ruling) over the area God has assigned to you.

“You are right. I have to let God paint the picture!”

Now, many years later, the picture that God painted for her is beautiful, though very different and much better than anyone could have dreamed.

Disordered words can shape and distort our very identity and our behavior at work. In some sense, we can become who we say we are, which means we need to be very careful how we describe who we are.

I believe that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. And I also believe that if we were to examine our hearts and minds, we would find we spend a lot of time and energy often seeking ways to be satisfied (outside of Jesus), looking to things on this earth for fulfillment, and searching for purpose and meaning to all our work and toil—and all our activities.

I recently realized the power of fixing my eyes on beautiful things when—on a particularly frustrating day—I hopped in my car, ready to tell God how annoyed I was by various situations, but caught a glimpse of a cluster of trees that were the perfect blend of fall colors.

Many of us entered entrepreneurial work to find a sense of satisfaction, meaning, and significance. Eventually, though, we all realize we can’t find those things there.

“Too many times, I feel like a chameleon, trying to figure out what color I must become next to play things safe and prove my worth to others. As a leader, I’m constantly shifting, not firmly planted in my convictions. I don’t understand all of the reasons I act this way, but I know this isn’t the leader I want to be.”

Though most of us aren’t bowing to statues or poles, we’d argue from personal experience that many leaders’ idol of choice is the idol of our own abilities: a good thing we are tempted to distort into the ultimate thing.

When we consider the true gospel, it seems as though, we almost exclusively view it in light of our personal lives. So we end up holding two very different, frankly, mutually exclusive gospels. It’s no wonder we struggle to integrate our faith and work.

If you do not understand who you are, you will always be looking in other places for the answer. You will take your questions of identity and self-worth to your job or your spouse or another man or woman.

Line your life up against the right guides and they’ll guide you home. Three of the guides I use to line up against are satisfaction, leverage, and maturity. Let me tell you why.

The past 2 years of my life have been a long season of learning a lot about obedience. It hasn’t always (read: rarely) been a pretty or smooth process.

Confess your sins to one another talk to each other about what’s going on in your life. And that will keep you in a place of freedom.

Standing out matters because it’s hard. Truly standing out, from the inside-out, takes more than just a new habit, lifestyle, or mindset. It takes a transformation of the heart, a supernatural act of God.

As entrepreneurs, believers and leaders, may we use the opportunity to showcase the delight instead of the disability as we create a world that embraces people of all abilities, one moment, one interaction at a time.

What’s your job? Often times the last person to have a clear job description, KPIs and defined responsibilities is the CEO. It’s easy to have a role by default rather than by design.

A faith driven entrepreneur is an active participant in the bringing about of God’s Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Despite everything I knew about where I should find my sense of identity and worth, I had found too much of it in something other than my relationship with God.

God’s gifts are the best. The Creator of Orion’s Belt does not lack anything to give you. When God gifted Abraham land “so that all of the World would be blessed,” He gave them the very best.

I have become convinced that humility is God’s secret weapon to thwart the ultimate enemy of pride and bring pockets of heaven to earth. If I can focus on how Jesus must increase and I must decrease, then God will, without fail, use me for his purposes. Easier said than done.

What would it look like if we all consult the people ‘less valuable’ to truly understand their actual and not an assumed need? What would it look like to brainstorm solutions together with people who have lower education levels and a scarcity of resources, yet hold an abundance of community connection and resourcefulness?

JD Greear dives into the connection between the amazing reality of our identity as children of God and how that identity inspires us to love our neighbors through our vocations.

Henry Kaestner and Don Flow talked to a group of people about what defines a Faith Driven Entrepreneur and Leader.

Confess your sins to one another talk to each other about what’s going on in your life. And that will keep you in a place of freedom.

CEO of Cultivate What Matters and C12 Member Lara Casey-Isaacson, shares her story of re-focusing sights and energy to grow things that matter and realizing when it’s time to prune to truly flourish.

With any change, you cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. You must change your mind and your actions.

Drew Ann Long was a mom of three who had a problem: how to navigate the grocery store with three young children, one of whom was disabled.

Jewel Burks Solomon has an impressive resume: co-founder of Partpic, managing partner of Collab Capital, and current head of Google for Startups.

Lilian Radke reduced turnover from 85% to less than 14% all while being a young mom of little kids doing a business she was told was a “mans world” and winning small business of the year in Massachusetts for 2018 and woman owned enterprise of the year for new England in 2018.

Sara shares her story of being welcomed into her neighborhood, and her team’s work to build a venture that aims to create generational change for its neighbors within a six-block radius.

I never saw it coming. I started my business part-time in January, 2000, and I completed my MBA in September of the same year. I purchased my second new construction home. Things were going well, and I could not have been happier.

“When things get hard, remember God is with you and equips you to work. Remember that He calls you to ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go’ (Joshua 1:9). Remember the joy you feel when you see others realize that their work has dignity because God allows us to be His representatives.” Katie Adkins, founder of Adkins Talent Solutions, shows us how our work is ultimately fueled by our faith and our “why”. Every now and then we need to remind ourselves of the “why” of our work.

Our most recent podcast guest, Diane Paddison, founded 4Word, a nonprofit mentorship program and community for professional Christian women. In this post, she recounts her experience mentoring someone whose life looks almost nothing like hers. Diane felt God’s call to connect with Lopez Lomong, a South-Sudanese, two time Olympian, male athlete. Though she thought they were an unlikely pair, the experience of mentoring Lopez has enriched her life beyond belief.

She never became a high school choir director, but at Popeyes, Cheryl Bachelder has become a conductor of people. Her personal commitment to Jesus’ model of servant leadership has transformed the culture of a corporation. The impact of her faith can be felt throughout the company—from the executive offices to the restaurant’s front counter in the words “How may I serve you?” That’s music to Cheryl’s ears.

She might not be the person you would expect to see seated at the top of a company in a male-dominated industry. But Dina Dwyer-Owens, Executive Chairwoman of the Dwyer Group, is very comfortable at the helm of a company operating across the fifty United States and seven other countries around the world. She earned the position and re-earns it, every day in every way.

In today’s short video, from the WorkMatters FUSE Forum, Shelley Simpson suggests leaders try integrating their work, family, and faith in order to live and work more authentically throughout her career at J.B. Hunt.

“Our cultural obsession with passion as a prerequisite for work threatens to cut vocational formation off at the head. In other words, if we insist on using passion as a measure for what we ought to do—or worse, proverbially prostrate to passion as if it were the holy grail of work—we will stunt the rate at which we try things, iterate, and reflect. Trying things, iterating, and reflecting are some of our greatest tools for learning about how God is forming us and fitting us for this world.”

In this Monday’s video, we take a look at Weifield Electrical’s amazing work to end poverty in Denver — through its hiring. The company offers 4 years of job training and a long career to those out of the penal system. A win for the company’s own workforce development but as Karla Nugent (Partner and Chief Business Development Officer) emphasizes — it’s a second chance for someone to get their life back on track!

How did Jesus spend his last hours before the cross? He ensured His “Executive Leadership Team” had vision, clarity, and line of sight on essentials and prayed for their cross-functional unity!

Faith-based enterprises transforming economies intuitively makes sense but its potential has yet to be realised. Why is this the case?

Whether it’s in your culture alignment, marketing effectiveness, or simply in increased profitability, we’re dedicated to helping your business to reach new heights.

You may be surprised to learn that situation analyses including market reports and competitive assessments are not just modern-day inventions and practices endemic to the business world. They are not new to God. He designed them!

Are you more wired as an enterprise leader or an entrepreneurial leader? Read more on why both types of leaders are needed in most successful organizations.

As a Christian business owner, are you are attempting to integrate biblical principles into every aspect of your business? How about your retirement plan? Is it even possible to honor God through your 401(k) plan? If yes, how?

After working with literally thousands of leaders and companies, I’ve discovered there are three stages for any business or enterprise growth. Don’t think days and weeks; instead, think growth and maturation.

Early on in a start-up’s life, one must be prepared to iterate…a lot. To think you have got it right on the first try is naive. You don’t have it right. You will need to duck, dodge, and weave your way into the right business model and solution for your target customer. Enter the “good idea fairy.”

Have you ever looked up the definition of pivot? What if I shared with you that we as leaders are the “Pivotman/woman” for our organizations?

In a business world that prioritizes productivity, speed, and profits, Christians may feel like Monday through Friday belongs to the world while Sunday belongs to God. But Scripture beckons Christians toward a more holistic lifestyle. “Whatever you do,” Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “do it all to the glory of God.”

When we (C12 Group) first began to release information, resources and guidance on playing offense in regards to COVID-19 in February there were some reports of “what’s the big deal, it’s not effecting my city, business, industry.” Those delusions are quickly fading. As a global economy, human race, and universal Church everyone is and will be effected in one way or another.

“Creativity must be accompanied by a process to uncover and test the best ideas… With the surplus of good ideas, we knew we needed a process to help us systematically prove out the ones that would solve real problems, and help us avoid expending valuable resources and talent with nothing to show for or learn from at the end.” In this video, we hear from Kevin Miller, C12 Vice President of Marketing, who describes how C12 developed its Innovation Sequence.

Chris Horst and Claire Stewart share their Christianity Today article “The Christian Roots of the Fair Trade Movement” with us. Beneath the buzzwords around sustainability, transparency, and ethical sourcing we find something far more important than consumerism: Christ-centered love for our neighbors.

What does stewardship look like in our lives today? What does it look like in our businesses? Unfortunately, many Christians today only associate the idea of stewardship with sermons, church budgets and building programs. The idea of biblical stewardship is much more expansive. It is where the concepts of faith, work, and economics intersect.

C12 Member, Todd Stewart, and CEO of Gulf Winds Intl, decided a 50% employee engagement rate was not acceptable within his freight and shipping company. He and his Key Player executive team purposed to engage each employee by listening to their needs and delivering exceptional employee care.

Originally published by WRAL TechWire — Bandwidth , a Triangle-born provider of communications-related services that has grown into a venture with global reach, might be riding high at the moment after recently hitting the $2 billion valuation mark. But as its founder and CEO David Morken can attest, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. He credits one thing for getting him through: his Christian faith.

The Lion’s Den, with their conferences in Dallas and Birmingham, have been partners in the Faith Driven Entrepreneur movement for more than 5 years.  Think “Shark Tank” meets the Kingdom of God and you have a sense as to what happens at these events.  This video is about building your business for God and creating a culture that is Christ based.

From time to time we leave the world of faith driven content to highlight a piece of wisdom from a secular author that has inordinate wisdom and application for you, the faith driven entrepreneur. Enjoy this great blog post from Marc Andreesen!

Originally published by Fast Company— When entrepreneur Chris Chuang moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a job, he expected to be there for two or three years at the most. Instead, he wound up staying and built a successful tech company.

This article was from a collection of whitepapers compiled for attendees of the CEF’s 2018 Global Event. We share Darin’s whitepaper in anticipation of 2019 CEF whitepapers launching soon! Read Darin Owen’s view on how to start, build, and grow prosperous companies.

“There are other ways of writing about the stages of business development. I’ve done it myself, but I find quantifying it in this way—0 to 1, 1 to 5, and 5 to 50—makes sense to a lot of my clients. It works in any industry, any style of corporate culture, and every market I can think of.”

Originally published by Fast Company— Corrie Conrad, Head of Social Impact at Sephora, shares about Sephora Stands Together (financial support to Sephora employees), Classes For Confidence (workshops for women trying to reenter the workforce) and Sephora Accelerate, its startup incubator.

C12 shares their video on Gary Archer’s story. He shares on the impact of working with a workplace ministry group that encourages and challenges you in your walk with the Lord and how it integrates with your business. 

We understand that we are created in God’s image, that he was a creator and a designer and therefore we are the same.  As entrepreneurs we inherently get this at some level, but I think that we are well served by tapping in to this Biblical truth regularly as we look for an encouragement in our work.  No one does a better job of this, in my opinion, than Jerry Bowyer. 

Originally published by FORBES — The Millennials, who were born into the age of information, have been described as lazy, narcissistic, entitled and unable to stay in one job, but also as the most purpose-driven and potentially the most entrepreneurial of all previous generations. Why?

Today, we share a high-caliber podcast series from NPR! How I Built This with Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world’s best known companies & movements and the innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists leading them.

Jon Kontz shares his insights on hiring the right people (as individuals and as part of a team) using tools like The Team Dimensions Profile 2.0 but also by simply knowing the momentum and scarcity of resources based on the size of your own company.