George Washington Carver, a Faith Driven Entrepreneur

Born in 1864, George Washington Carver was a son of a slave but was given the opportunity to study and become a scientist. He would begin each day and ask God to reveal secrets to him about plants and vegetables. It is reported that once Carver prayed, “Mr. Creator, show me the secrets of your universe.” “Little man, you’re not big enough to know the secrets of My universe, but I’ll show you the secret of the peanut,” was the reply. When he went to his lab, God downloaded to him over 300 uses of the peanut including various kinds of foods, oil, paint, ink, soap, shampoo, facial cream, plastics, and many other products.

PrayerHenry KaestnerAugust 22, 2018Danny KimComment

Podcast Episode 20 - What is the Lifeblood of the Business? Vic Ho (Co-founder and CEO of Fivestars)

This week we are honored to sit down with the man, the myth, the legend, Vic Ho, Co-founder and CEO of Fivestars. Vic is a long-time friend of both Henry and William, so it's true joy to have him on the program.

What's the lifeblood of a business? We would argue that customers are on the top of this list. Well, that's what Vic focuses on day in and day out. Customer acquisition and customer retention.

GenerosityFaith Driven TeamAugust 21, 2018customer retention, Victor HoComment

VLOG, behind the scenes of the FDE podcast at Duarte Design

Good morning all! To continue the practice of having Monday's blog be a bit more lighthearted, here's a quick 2 minute video on the making of the FDE podcast....though this is one without Rusty. The VLOG concept is, in part, a reaction to David Morken's insistence that I'm actually not a great writer, and that I write, like I speak (he's probably right).

Women EntrepreneursHenry KaestnerAugust 20, 2018Nancy DuarteComment

A Well-Designed Journal Can Change Your Life

Mica May, founder and CEO of May Designs, took in what she just heard. The stern instructions came to her from Tory Johnson, a regular contributor on ABC’s Good Morning America. She needed samples of May’s notebooks for a feature she was hosting on gift ideas.

At the time, May was a staff-of-one, a scrappy entrepreneur working from her home. Thrilled about this opportunity for increased publicity, she shipped off a few of her classic notebook designs.

But then the show aired.

Women EntrepreneursHenry KaestnerAugust 17, 2018creativity, May Designs, Good Morning America, Chris HorstComment

Every Christian is a Full-Time Missionary

Jordan Raynor explains why calling a Christian a full-time missionary is redundant.

A Scriptural Mashup...."You'll be Amazed"

The beauty of the Gospel is that it can be understood by a child at the same time that the wisest of people can spend their entire lives plumbing the depths of God's wisdom and knowledge and get nowhere close.

ScriptureHenry KaestnerAugust 15, 2018wisdom of GodComment

Podcast Episode 19 - How to Discern Your Calling: Interview with Dave Blanchard (CEO of Praxis)

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In this week’s episode, one of our listeners,, Marty, asked "how do you discern your calling". This is an incredibly light and easy to answer question that barely impacts an entrepreneur's journey, so this will be short. Of course I'm kidding, this is something we have all asked ourselves, and is something that is incredibly difficult to navigate alone ... so we had to phone a friend. We are super super lucky to have Dave Blanchard from Praxis join us on the podcast to help our listeners think through this issue.

Identity, Social Entrepreneurs, DiscernFaith Driven TeamAugust 14, 2018Comment

The Role We Have as Entrepreneurs in Co-Creating Great, Multi Generational Families

Dr. Hubert Morken tell us how the greatest gifts we can give to our employees is the opportunity to create, lead and love great families.

VLOG from Switzerland!

So, a bit on the lighter side on this, one of the last weekends of Summer....Alpenhorn by great friend of FDE: Wilf Gasser!

Henry KaestnerAugust 11, 2018Henry KaestnerComment

Praying for your company

Prayer has slipped William Norvell’s mind over and over throughout the years, but this anecdote has centered him ever since he read it.

Prayer, People ManagementFaith Driven TeamAugust 10, 2018William Norvell Comment

A Well-Lit Pathway Out of Poverty

Brian Rants never thought his contribution to the world would be a $15 lamp. But for schoolchildren in Swaziland and earthquake survivors in Haiti, these solar lamps have made all the difference. Rants's Denver-based company—Nokero, short for "no kerosene"—have allowed African students to read at night and increased safety for Haitian families living in tent cities. As vice president of marketing, Rants's job is to get these lamps into the hands of millions of families in the developing world.

Social Entrepreneurs, Business as Mission (Global)Henry KaestnerAugust 9, 2018Africa, Chris HorstComment

Beyond God Bless You & Merry Christmas

It wasn’t until Mike Sharrow sat around a table of entrepreneurs at a country club in Austin, Texas in the summer of 2010 that he found humble, hungry and faithfully smart peers truly wrestling with how to follow Jesus in the very fabric of business.

Company Culture, Servant LeadershipHenry KaestnerAugust 8, 2018Mike SharrowComment

Podcast Episode 18 - How to Do a Biblical Performance Review

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In the week’s episode Henry, Rusty, and William discuss how we can love on our team members through performance reviews. As entrepreneurs, it’s highly likely that you are overseeing a team. As Christ followers, how do we display Christ in the performance review?

People ManagementFaith Driven TeamAugust 7, 2018Comment

Honoring what is Eternal in our Team

Casey Crawford, the CEO of Movement Mortgage with more than 4,000 employees across 47 states, has done business with God at the core, and at scale. He can't recommend chaplaincy more.

ChaplaincyHenry KaestnerAugust 6, 2018 Comment

Do You Need to Tame the Lion? Entrepreneurial Liturgies for Relying on God

Missy Wallace’s Entrepreneur Support Group can occasionally seem like an AA meeting since the emotional vacillation of “entrepreneurism” can feel like something from which to recover. She has found that some “liturgical” practices can reduce the swings.

Yes, I Have Staff - and That Doesn’t Make Me Inferior

Brittany Norman looks “mommy guilt” directly in the eye and sends it packing (in Jesus’ Name).

Podcast Episode 17 - Grappling with the Ups and Downs of Entrepreneurship: Nashville Institute of Faith and Work Interview (Missy Wallace)

We have a SPECIAL GUEST! Missy Wallace, Executive Director at the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work (NIFW) joins us and gives us her insights into the convergence of faith and work. She tells us a bit about her own journey, how she developed her theology of faith and work, the founding of NIFW and how she is equipping entrepreneurs today.

My Daily Sermon - 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?

Henry KaestnerJuly 27, 2018anxietyComment

The Search Fund: an investor's take on encouraging faith in the workplace

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:

Financing, Competitors, StrategyFaith Driven TeamJuly 26, 2018search fundComment

Do You Know Why Switzerland is Beautiful? The Swiss Do.

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.

Practical, Expertly-Written Articles to Equip Faith Driven Entrepreneurs in Their Ventures and Spiritual Walks

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