by Scott Barstow

Nothing has changed me quite like having a daughter. Sure, there are all the cliches about having a gun sitting in your lap when boys come over. That’s the easy stuff. The hard stuff is instilling beliefs in your daughter that will serve her well in the face of what at times feels like overwhelming forces.

“Conservative” Christian culture institutionalizes the treatment of women as 2nd class citizens. Women can do anything they want, as long as they don’t want to run things. Take care of kids? Sure! Make sure we all have food? You bet! Hold a leadership position over a male? Um, no.

If we honestly believe that this bias, created inside the church, does not bleed over into how we act in the business world, we’re delusional. We can’t expect our daughters to, week after week at church, see only males in leadership everywhere they look, be told that’s how it’s actually SUPPOSED to work, and not carry that with them into other parts of their lives!

We’ve tried to instill in our daughter:

• You deserve to be treated with respect, as an equal in every way, to any man in every situation. Period

• God has gifted you with unique gifts, gifts that you owe back to the world. Some of those gifts are uniquely yours as a woman. You should cherish them above all others.

• When you play, play to win. And be pissed when you don’t

• There’s nothing you can’t do, provided that you’re willing to do the work

• Don’t let any man in position over you put you in a vulnerable position or abuse their power. Ever.

• Stand on your own two feet, and expect any partner in your life to do the same

The challenge for me, as she’s gotten older (she’s now nearly 18), is that I actually had to look myself in the mirror and ask: Do I really believe all of this?

I decided to regularly ask the question:

Would I be OK if someone was treating or thinking about my daughter like this?

It was shocking how often the answer was “No.” It was embarrassing. It was humbling.

So I did something about it.

• I started scheduling meetings with successful women where I live and asking questions I didn’t particularly want to hear the answers to

• I started changing my vocabulary from male-centric to more neutral

• I sought out women who were starting companies and offered my support and expertise and stopped thinking that I was doing them a favor by doing so

• I actively removed “for a woman” from my internal monologue. You know the one: “She’s a good engineer (for a woman)…” or “She’s a great founder (for a woman)”

• I studied the particular issues related to female founders in depth

• I read as much as I could find about women building amazing companies

• I started paying attention to how I treated women in meetings or professional settings and, where necessary, apologizing when I said or did something dumb

• I started intentionally scheduling female founders for my podcast, and have dedicated 2018 to interviewing ONLY female founders

• More than anything, I listened

What I’ve learned has been nothing short of remarkable. The women I’ve spoken to have been so generous with their time and helping me to understand how things really are (both the good and the bad). They’ve not treated me like an idiot (which they easily could have), but they’ve not pulled any punches either. They’ve been inspiring to be around, and some of the most humble and thoughtful leaders I’ve met.

These are the women (outside of my amazing wife) who I point my daughter to and say “This is what’s possible.”

I don’t know if my daughter will ever start her own company or be an entrepreneur. What I do know is that if she does, she’ll only ever hear one thing from me.

Go! Go! Go!

by Jeff Labarge

Great accelerators and venture funds like YCombinator and Andreessen Horowitz are designed to solve the common problems of starting a company so the founders can focus on the core new innovation. At the earliest stage, this includes things like forming a corporation, choosing a lawyer, and getting free cloud hosting. In the first few months, founders need help prioritizing what is important, focusing on the right metrics, and preparing how to pitch to investors. Later, founders need help with recruiting, building a sales organization, introductions to large companies, etc. These are challenges that nearly every founder needs help with, and investors are uniquely positioned to provide. Organizations like YC and A16Z can build these support services and share them with hundreds of portfolio companies, giving those companies a huge advantage and higher likelihood to succeed.

However, there is another challenge that many founders face that is largely unserved by anyone: how to deal with the stress, pressure, and damage to relationships that are common for founders. This is a huge problem in our community. Each year we hear about founder suicides. People talk about how being a CEO is the “loneliest job in the world”. When you read Ben Horowitz’s book, The Hard Thing about Hard Things, it almost gives you a stress ulcer just thinking about it. This is a challenge that is nearly universal to startup founders, and yet there are very few resources to help. Conventional wisdom is to talk with other founders who have shared the same experience for emotional support. This is definitely helpful, but not sufficient. Founders have a shared experience to relate to other founders in crisis, but insufficient skills, wisdom, or time to really help.

Other professions with extreme stress provide support to their organization through the position of a chaplain. The military deploys chaplains to the war zone to support soldiers during the most stressful situations. Hospitals have chaplains to talk help both patients and doctors deal with emotional and ethical challenges of death. Many universities have chaplains to help their students deal with the stress of college and a major life transition. Professional sports teams like the Warriors, 49ers, and SF Giants all have chaplains (which happen to be the same guy named Earl Smith). Even the US Senate has chaplains. These are all secular institutions, with employees from diverse religious backgrounds, yet they find enough value in the care and support of the chaplain, that they keep him or her around.

An accelerator or a large investor is analogous to the above organizations. They are a secular organizations with many members who experience a lot of stress and difficult ethical decisions. Perhaps offering chaplain services would substantially help entrepreneurs lead healthier lives, endure hardship better, and be more likely to succeed.

Many people are open to the idea of founders getting spiritual help, but don’t think accelerators or venture funds should get involved. Shouldn’t a local church provide this? I think that a church is largely unable to provide this type of service for 2 reasons:

1. Shared experience: Anyone who has been through a startup knows that it is a unique experience. Advice from people who have not been through it is received as well intentioned, but less credible. This is why most of the partners at YC and A16Z have cofounded companies in the past. Founders want advice from other founders who have been through it recently.

2. Likelihood of reaching out for help: In the earliest stages of starting a company, YC famously advises that you should spend 100% of your time talking to users, building product, exercising, and sleeping. Anything outside the YC ecosystem feels like a distraction to be avoided. Therefore, it is unlikely someone would spend time exploring churches and seeking out pastoral services, even in times of crisis. Instead, the common pattern is to “suck it up and get through it” or “be formidable”. Sometimes people do indeed “get through it”, but sometimes the anxiety and depression crushes people. If there was an optional chaplain service to help with this inside the YC ecosystem, someone in crisis would be much more likely to get help.

There is also a financial argument for an accelerator or venture firm to have a chaplain on staff. In the early stages, two of the primary reasons that companies fail are founders giving up too early (burnout) or founder breakups. If a chaplain can help founders with emotional support or dispute resolution, it could meaningfully increase the number of companies that succeed. Enabling a few additional companies to survive to maturity would have a positive ROI. More importantly, it could meaningfully be helpful to founders.

Obviously this is a very controversial idea. Probably the success or failure of this idea depends on the individual selected for this role. He or she needs to be able to walk the fine line of respecting all religions and all the other trappings associated with mixing religion and business. However, I believe the benefits outweigh the risks. Currently, founders don’t have the tools and support to deal with the stress and ethical decisions associated with being a founder. We need an alternative to “eating glass and staring into the abyss”. A “Startup Chaplain” may be a good solution.

The above is my best argument for a formal startup chaplain. However, I myself am not totally convinced. The alternative to an official chaplain is an informally organized group of founders with a shared faith who support each other. It is possible that an unofficial group might be more effective or desirable. I am currently part of a group like this, and it is one of the biggest blessings of my life. If I had to choose between an official chaplain on staff, or my unofficial peer group, I would choose my unofficial peer group. None of us have formal training in crisis management or seminary, but we have deep credibility with each other because we are all still “in the trenches” together.

The goal of this post is not to propose a conclusion. Instead, as Kevin Kelly says, “A good question is one that generates many other good questions”[1]. I think it would be interesting if someone ran the experiment of having a startup chaplain on staff. Meanwhile, informal groups of founders like the one I’m involved with will continue to meet and support each other. Then we can compare notes about the most effective way to support founders during good times and bad.

(Editor’s Note:  This is going to be the first of several posts that we’ll highlight on chaplaincy.  We have 2 at Bandwidth and aside from talking about “why” we do what we do as leaders, and praying for our employees who are going through hard times, there is so greater impact IMO on the Spiritual health of a company).  I encourage you to check out Corporate Chaplains of America and Marketplace Chaplains to learn more.  This post by our friend Jeff was originally posted on Medium.  I also very much recommend checking out his blog “Becoming Formidable“)

[1] Kelly, Kevin (2016–06–07). The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future (p. 289). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.”

Thanks to Priscilla du Preez and Unsplash for the Cover Photo

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In this episode, Henry, Rusty, and William tackle the very difficult issue of when a coworker or a colleague feels that he or she has been wronged. 

Show Notes for Episode 14

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by Johnny Shiu

In this episode, Henry, Rusty, and William tackle the very difficult issue of when a coworker or a colleague feels that he or she has been wronged.

One of our listeners from Northern California asked the question, “How do I deal with burned relationships with former founders, employees, or colleagues, who are also Christians?”

As Faith Driven Entrepreneurs, we of course all try to keep Christ and scripture at the center of our work.  When conflict arises, what framework can we look at to help us process conflict and reach a Godly resolution?

William suggests a three part framework in this area: forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration.  It should be noted that forgiveness only takes one person, while it takes two to reconcile.  Lastly, it takes maturity to restore the relationship after tough trials, and this is a step often forgotten.

Rusty offers that it is best to address the conflict quickly while Henry suggests that we have to check our motives and make sure our actions give God glory.

What happens though when it doesn’t work out – when a leader has exhausted all options, then what?  When this does occur, we have to consider a range of compassion with regards to personal relationships and practical realities – i.e. severance or letters of recommendation.  It’s also important to remember that no matter what you do to try to reconcile two people, there are sometimes unresolved feelings that cannot be worked through (at least they can’t be worked through on earth).  Ultimately, we all must patiently await the renewal of all things in heaven.

by Jeff Rutt

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine faced a debilitating economic crisis, leaving many without enough food to eat or clothes to wear. Along with others in my church, I felt compelled to respond. There were people who were hungry, who needed shelter, who didn’t have the hope of Jesus Christ. As we read in Isaiah 58:7, God has a specific idea about how we should translate our faith into action:

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Isaiah 58:7

We couldn’t turn away. So my church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, established a partnership with Pastor Leonid Petrenko and his church in Zaporozhye, a city located along the Dnieper River in southeastern Ukraine. We wanted to respond not just with money or donations but through building relationships. We greatly desired to join together as communities of faith seeking mutual encouragement.

Eager to respond to pressing needs, we began transporting containers of flour, rice, canned meat, clothing, and medical supplies. It seemed like a way we could care for the physical needs of our neighbors, following Jesus’ command that if you have two tunics, you should give one away. While I didn’t have any extra tunics in my closet, we certainly had more than enough to share.

Before long, distributing the donated food and supplies to the people of his church and community had become a regular part of Pastor Petrenko’s job.

But as we visited the community over the next three years, we began to question our approach. Was all that free flour we were shipping proving more harmful to local flour vendors than the country’s economic crisis? Were we causing businesses to suffer, or even fail? After all, why would people pay for flour when they could get it for free?

On one of our trips, over dinner with Pastor Petrenko and his family at their home, we started discussing the aid containers. He shared that people, himself included, were grateful for the generosity of our church, and that he wasn’t sure what they would have done without our help. But then Pastor Petrenko, never one to mince words, asked a question that would change the course of my life:

“Isn’t there a way you can help us help ourselves?”

In that simple question, he had articulated the doubts and questions that had been growing in my mind and heart for a while: Was our church’s approach sustainable? We were providing for physical needs, but in the meantime, we were hurting local businesses, and we weren’t really breaking through the poverty. As Michael Fairbanks, cofounder of the SEVEN Fund, puts it, we had responded out of a heart for those living in poverty, but we had yet to develop a mind for them.

Was there another way?

Following that eye-opening visit to Ukraine, I spent months praying, researching, and even attempting some new approaches. Eventually, I started reading about something called “microfinance.” At the time, this was a little known strategy for alleviating poverty that involved making small loans to people who had little access to credit but had the vision to begin or expand a business.

This was a breakthrough moment: Microfinance seemed to offer a way to put more power and dignity into the hands of the people in Zaporozhye, investing in their dreams and ideas rather than just offering traditional charity.

While there was much I didn’t know about this approach, I believed God was calling me to step out in faith. After much prayer and seeking the counsel of those around me, HOPE International was registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in May 1997, and the next year, HOPE officially disbursed its first loans to entrepreneurs in Zaporozhye.

In the years since then, God has grown HOPE in ways I could not have imagined. Since its founding, HOPE has become a global ministry, supporting microfinance institutions and church-based savings and credit associations across countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

With its unique emphasis on Christ-centeredness, HOPE has developed an approach to poverty alleviation that seeks to address not only material poverty but also personal, relational, and spiritual brokenness.

As just one example of the power of this approach, Janviere Kamana is a widow supporting five children and three grandchildren in Burundi through her flour business. Janviere heard about a savings group through the local church and began saving $3 a week. With a $100 loan from her group, Janviere bought a bulk order of cassava, a staple root crop, to grind into flour. With her increased profits, she purchased a plot of land, where she was building a home for her family. Janviere also experienced the blessing of fellowship and friendship as she learned, prayed, and celebrated with her savings group.

I started my journey giving away flour, but today I find even greater joy seeing entrepreneurs like Janviere equipped to provide flour for their own communities.

Instead of offering handouts, we want to invest in dreams, inviting people to use their God-given gifts, abilities, and resources to provide for their families and draw near to Christ. We want to continue to learn what it looks like to love God and our neighbors around the world.

by Chris Horst

(Editor’s Note.  The following post from our friend Chris Horst about refugee ministry meets faith driven entrepreneurship, was originally posted in the Denver Post.)

Millenials flock to Denver faster than almost every other city in the country. Colorado’s recreational culture, active lifestyle and surging downtown create a magnetic atmosphere for young people. But our new neighbors include more than hipsters in search of tech startups and fresh powder.

“Colorado is better than other places,” said Ah Hki, who moved to Colorado two years ago from a refugee camp in Thailand. “I found a great job and have a lot of work. Housing is expensive here, but the wages are higher here, too. And the weather is better.”

Each year, several thousand refugees make Colorado their home. When they do, a make-or-break factor in their acclimation is whether or not they can find good work.

Over the past 34 years, 50,207 refugees have made Colorado their home. Nationwide, up to 70,000 refugees — people escaping their home countries for fear of persecution because of their religion, race or some other cause — arrive each year, and several thousand become Coloradans.

Since 1980, the largest numbers of refugees journey to Colorado from Vietnam, Russia, Burma and Somalia. When they arrive, government support provides a short window for them to find steady employment.

That’s where James Ruder steps in.

“I want to hire as many refugees as I possibly can,” said Ruder, owner and CEO of L&R Pallet in Denver. “It’s been so refreshing to have these guys here. I have the best team of employees I’ve ever had.”

In a sprawling warehouse sandwiched between Stapleton and Aurora, L&R constructs 10,000 pallets each day. Nearly everything Coloradans buy, eat and wear arrives or departs on pallets. Many of these pallets make their way through the L&R shop floor. Some are constructed there from scratch. Many more are rebuilt, repaired or remanufactured by the L&R team.

Ruder’s parents, Larry and Dorris, founded the company in their basement in 1974 — long before Pinterest made pallet wood the material du jour. Larry worked at Coca Cola and saw the expanse of pallets the company used each day. So he and Dorris took out a $500 loan to buy a truck. They began buying and selling pallets. Today, the company employs over 100 people.

Several years ago, Ruder began hiring refugees to work in his company. Ruder credits his Christian faith as the motivating reason he began investing in Denver’s refugee population.

“All of us are refugees to this country at some point,” said Ruder. “If these people need refuge and God wants to make my company a place for them, that’s exciting.”

Today, nearly half of Ruder’s workforce are refugees. These craftsmen, builders and forklift drivers hail from places like Congo, Thailand and Burma. Ah Hki serves as an assistant supervisor on the shop floor.

“My agency, Lutheran, told me about L&R,” said Hki. “I believe our company is the best. My friends at other companies talk to me about their jobs. But everyone says our company is the best.”

In partnership with Lutheran Family Services and other resettlement agencies, the Colorado Department of Human Services helps to serve the incoming refugee population. Hillary Prag coordinates refugee service agencies, like Lutheran, and training schools like Emily Griffith Technical College. And she works with businesses like L&R to advocate on behalf of Colorado’s refugee population.

Refugees often come to Colorado with impressive work experiences; many were doctors, engineers, and lawyers in their countries of origin.

Many of Ruder’s new employees do not speak English. As a result, they have had to move away from written instruction manuals to more hands-on demonstration. Pallet construction is physically demanding work, often involving powerful machinery.

“The immigration process for refugees — leaving one’s home country to Colorado — strips people of really important parts of their identity,” said Prag. “Having a good job is just as important for refugees as it is for all of us. [We all need] to have the dignity of identifying ourselves with what we do.”

But navigating the American work landscape can be challenging. Companies willing to be creative in how they hire, onboard and train their employees often find the extra work is entirely worth it.

“[L&R] is very in tuned in to showing their staff that they respect them and that they believe in them,” said Prag. “They believe refugees bring talent that is good for their company.”

Some training materials now feature illustrations alongside the text. Ruder is also launching English language courses at the request of his staff. He hopes to one day offer citizenship courses and GED classes to further support his employees.

Moo Lu and his family moved from Burma to a refugee camp in Thailand when he was 12 years old. They lived at the camp for a decade before immigrating to the United States. He lived in Washington and Iowa for a few years before moving to Colorado one year ago. He is now married and has worked at L&R since moving to Aurora.

“Of course I like working here,” said Lu. “I like it here…I hope to make this company successful and to work with peace.”

Because of the unique challenges facing many refugees, L&R also contracts with a chaplaincy service that avails professional chaplains to all L&R employees. These chaplains speak the many languages of Ruder’s staff members and ensure all his employees have access to personal care, crisis support, and to a confidential, safe person to discuss any challenges they might have. Many of the refugees working at L&R cite the chaplains as a valuable support system in helping them acclimate to life in Colorado.

Ruder believes hiring refugees has been the best decision he’s made. It’s required his company to adapt, but it’s a decision Ruder believes has benefited his company’s bottom line. And, it has improved the corporate culture. His employees have welcomed and celebrated the new members of the team.

Each day, many new neighbors stream across Colorado’s borders. They come from all over the world. Some come for the mountains. Others come for the lifestyle. But all come seeking refuge. In a nondescript warehouse in northeast Denver, many of these new neighbors have found a place of refuge in a surprising place. They’ve found it at a pallet company.

“L&R is part of a new wave,” said Prag. “This unorthodox workforce could be such a surprising ticket for success for employers in Colorado who want to push the boundaries of what’s possible for their businesses. It takes risk. It takes courage.”

thanks to Jordan Koons and Unsplash for the cover photo