by John Elliot

Two months ago, I woke up as lead pastor of Christ Community—a church I helped plant in 2011 with two of my closest friends. This morning I woke up as COO of FarmAfield—an ag tech company that is using software to create new connections between farmers and investors. At first glance, these may seem like two very different ventures and, in many ways, they are. At Christ Community, I spent my days preparing sermons, counseling congregants, and officiating weddings. In my new role at FarmAfield, I spend my time pitching investors, interviewing customers, and helping to develop software. The differences are so stark that even I wondered how much I’d be able to draw from the former as I engaged in the latter.

But it wasn’t long into my time with FarmAfield that some old, very familiar doubts came rushing back:

“Did God really call me to this? “Why is it so hard?” “Was I foolish to leave a situation that was safe and secure? “Wouldn’t someone else be more competent in my role?” “Does anybody want what we’re creating? “What if we fail?”

If you have ever tried creating something new (and I know most of you have), you can probably relate to these fears and add a few of your own. As Andy Crouch points out in his excellent book Culture Making, entrepreneurship is nothing less than “moving the horizons of possibility”. This is a noble and exciting calling, but one that often comes with its fair share of fears, insecurities, and doubts.

So how is a faith-driven entrepreneur to respond when caught in the midst of one of these psychological storms? I certainly don’t have the final answer to this question, but I will share with you three exhortations I preach to myself every morning that serve to anchor my soul. May God use them to bring you a sense of peace as you press forward in your entrepreneurial journey.

1. Be thankful for the opportunity.

No matter how difficult or discouraging the present circumstances, there are always evidences of God’s grace. I just have to stop to look for them. I regularly thank him for the lessons I’m learning, the relationships I’m forging, and the many ways he’s using this experience to shape me into Christ’s likeness. If you stop and observe, I’ll bet you too can list a number of ways God is being gracious to you in the midst of present trials. As faith-driven entrepreneurs, we get to move forward with the conviction that regardless of whether or not our venture ultimately “succeeds”, there is never waste in God’s economy. Remembering this truth regularly unleashes a tangible sense of gratitude in my spirit.

2. Be confident in your calling.

Tim Keller once shared a definition of calling I found to be refreshingly simple. “How do you know if you’re truly called to do something?” he asked. “If you’re doing it.” That answer may sound trite, but it is filled with wisdom.

As Christians, we worship a sovereign God who works out everything for his good purposes. That means there is nothing accidental about your current venture, team, or role. So go forward in confidence, trusting that—at least for today—you’re where God wants you to be doing what God wants you to do.

3. Be faithful with the day in front of you.

If you’ve been around sports at all in your life, you’ve probably heard the adage, “One game at a time.” The sentiment is so ubiquitous that the typical sports fan will roll his or her eyes upon hearing it. But in my experience with entrepreneurship, there is a lot of truth in it. Thinking about what needs to happen next month or next week or even the next day can be overwhelming, especially early on in a start-up when so much is coming at you. But something feels very different about asking the question “What does faithfulness look like today?”. Not only does this question focus my attention on the actionable steps in front of me. But it also reminds me that my job is stewarding opportunities, not manufacturing outcomes.

Benediction

As a final “benediction” of sorts, I’d like to share an excerpt from Douglas Kaine McKelvey’s Every Moment Holy. This particular passage comes from a liturgy about fearing failure and reads:

“If your greatest good is to bear in fuller measure the image of your Lord, then might not his greatest and most holy good to you come cloaked in guise of defeat and dismay? And if that is your Lord’s sacred intention, then who is to say how great a success even your failures might be, when read aright at last in the chronicles of eternity? So relinquish now all vain attempt to parse the mysteries of God’s intent. You can not think his thoughts. You can not reckon his deep purposes. It is enough to know that all he does is done in love for you.”

Photo by Harry Karoussos on Unsplash

by Henry Kaestner

One of the hallmarks of the Christian Economic Forum (CEF) is that each delegate must write a whitepaper on a topic on which they feel God has given them some level of discernment.  There are 5 topics this year: 

1. A Christian Response to Governing Authority

2. How to Start, Build And Grow a Great Company

3. Technology Trends – What’s Next and How Do we Prepare?

4. Maximizing our Investments

5. Sustainable Poverty Solutions – What Really Works?

The subject of my paper fell under category #4.  In it, I explore the concept of the search fund.  I look at the new asset class that has been the top performing segment of all private equity investments, and I explore how “searchers” cannot only deliver great financial returns, but maintain the cultural and spiritual legacy of a company.

This whitepaper is not as intimidating as it sounds….and it’s only 2 pages, but a quick summary is as follows: 

There are tens of thousands of businesses owned by baby boomers across the US (and as I’m finding out here at CEF, the baby boomer concept isn’t limited to the US…in Germany, for instance, it’s a big deal as well) who have worked to start and maintain a business that looks to honor God through loving it’s employees, vendors and customers.  They are getting older and would like to sell their business, but they fear that the culture they have created, which flows from having God at the center, will disappear. 

Enter the searcher.  The searcher is someone who wants to be a CEO. He or she is typically younger, with an MBA, and at least 5 years of operating experience.   They seek to become an entrepreneur through acquisition, a concept referred to in the trade as ETA.  They may not yet have the funds to purchase the company themselves, so they raise a “search fund” to go and find a company.

I explain a bit more in the paper.  Know of someone that fits into the profile of a searcher or of someone who is looking to sell their company? There are several, larger funds that look to be a clearinghouse for such transactions by matching the seller with the searcher.  Housatonic and Pacific Lake are some of the biggest. Sovereign’s Capital is one that is particularly focused on working with faith driven founders and searchers.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

by Henry Kaestner

I have the great honor and blessing of being able to attend the Christian Economic Forum this week in St. Moritz.  It’s a time to gather with friends and colleagues from around the world to endeavor to understand how we as followers of Jesus might participate, and even innovate, in the world’s financial markets.    I’ll likely blog on that a bit later this week.  In the meantime, I want to share something that I thought is particularly striking:  The Swiss National Anthem:

When the morning skies grow red
And o’er their radiance shed, 
Thou, O Lord, appeareth in their light. 
When the Alps glow bright with splendour, 
Pray to God, to Him surrender, 
For you feel and understand, 
For you feel and understand, 
That he dwelleth in this land. 
That he dwelleth in this land.

In the sunset Thou art nigh
And beyond the starry sky, 
Thou, O loving Father, ever near. 
When to Heaven we are departing, 
Joy and bliss Thou’lt be imparting, 
For we feel and understand
For we feel and understand
That Thou dwellest in this land. 
That Thou dwellest in this land.

When dark clouds enshroud the hills
And gray mist the valley fills, 
Yet Thou art not hidden from Thy sons. 
Pierce the gloom in which we cower With
Thy sunshine’s cleansing power
Then we’ll feel and understand
Then we’ll feel and understand
That God dwelleth in this land. 
That God dwelleth in this land.

As you spend time this summer on vacation with your family, especially if your in the mountains, my hope is that you will do as the Swiss do.  That you will look to the skies and the peaks and worship….not the creation, but the Creator.

by Johnny Shiu

In this episode …

… Henry, Rusty, and William tackle questions from our valued listeners.

Marty asks, “how do we keep a Christ-centered attitude while growing a business?”  For Henry, It’s about identity. It’s almost impossible when the goal is solely financial success.  We should seek God first. If there’s frustration at work, it’s an opportunity to pray to God.  Rusty brings a tactical point of view, and recommends starting the day prepared.  Spending time with God is top priority.  We should boot up with God first in order to avoid crashes, or at least minimize them.  William reminds us that we can’t forget our first vocation; we are beloved children of God.

Our friend, Mike, asks “As a founder, how do i shift work responsibilities over to new employees as I get overwhelmed and simply can’t do it all anymore?”  For Rusty, it goes back to trust.  His litmus test for delegating work is to 1) assess if he himself is good at it; 2) is it routine? and 3)  does he like to do it?  If so, he will typically delegate those tasks to empower his teammates even though it seems counterintuitive.  This allows for employees to grow in his/her capacity which is of paramount importance if you want a long-term employee.

Adam, asked “how do we make remote team-members feel engaged and offer them a meaningful culture?”  Rusty admits that this is one of the hardest questions. In many ways, culture creates itself.  Rusty recalls that at Electronic Arts they had employees all around the world.  Rusty sat with the CEO and proposed that they create a one page roadmap for team members to provide a clear picture of the company’s values.  This way everyone could align with the most important goals of the company. Rusty is happy to share his framework with anyone.

Rick asks “how do we offer to pray for someone at the workplace?  What about corporate prayer?”  Recalling his own experience, Henry offered that at Bandwidth he would conduct a corporate prayer at picnics and dedicate them to families.  In the first 8 years, when an employee was in a crisis Henry would offer to pray for him but he slowly realized that a Corporate Chaplain was a better approach.

Henry also shared a story involving an American Express executive.  She was in the legal department.   She got permission from higher ups to do a corporate prayer.  Eventually, she had 150 people in the lunch room meeting to pray.  The AE executives came back and asked her if she and her group would serve as a focus group to see how the Christian community would respond to certain products and services.  What an incredible witness within a larger organization.

Rusty mentioned that he thought it would be an incredible testimony to have a corporate prayer, so we wrote ONE!!!

Finally, in responding to Jeffrey’s question on seeking out a Christian business networking group, Henry and William shared about the “Inklings,” a group of Christian entrepreneurs here in Northern California who would gather together to encourage each other in a positive way.

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… Henry, Rusty, and William tackle questions from our valued listeners. 

Show Notes for Episode 16

by Henry Kaestner

Monday video…..This is a quick one. If you don’t yet know that we’re a huge fan of chaplaincy here at FDE, well, you likely know now 🙂

This video highlights the work of Corporate Chaplains of America.  Find out more about them and other workplace ministries at our Resources section.