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No matter where we live or what our income is, we’re all familiar with feelings of loneliness. And for all of us, God is inviting us to step out of our isolation into relationships, into His family the Church.
Discover the power of Christ-centered community to fight poverty and call us out of isolation into flourishing.
We can’t think of a better place to start the Faith Driven Investor Podcast than with the great story of Apartment Life, led by Pete Kelly. Since 2000, Pete and his team have helped apartment owners care for residents by connecting them in relationships, which pays incredible dividends for everyone. Listen in to hear how Apartment Life delivers a great return and an even greater impact. We think the work they are doing has the potential to revolutionize the way businesses interact with real estate across the world, and we think you’ll be glad you heard about it now!
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 you the opportunity to hear from a business leader about how his values affect his business and how everything he does serves other people. Tune in and enjoy!
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Today’s episode takes us to Silicon Valley connecting 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 exception. In this podcast, he talks about the different areas of theology and philosophy that inform his worldview. Specifically, he goes into detail about the innate tendency of all human beings to imitate something or someone. Here, he reminds us specifically of Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God…”
When Trae talks about his relationship with God, you’ll hear both his personal faith journey—what it means to imitate Christ as a venture capitalist and how Silicon Valley opens the door for him to share his faith—and what he thinks about the global Christian movement. He invites listeners to consider what it would look like to be co-creators alongside God, with references to how God and Adam interacted in the Garden of Eden.
Our team had a blast catching up with Trae, as it felt like he covered dozens of topics with the fluency of an expert. His intellect and skill are on full display in this interview, but so is his spirit and heart behind what it means to be a faith driven entrepreneur and what faith driven investors can do to create value, not only for themselves, but for the world.
We hope you enjoy this episode and pray that it encourages you on your journey!
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Image by Sharon McCutcheon
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by Rev. Robert A. Sirico
We have all seen the various stereotypes of the Wall Street tycoon grinding the little guy under his thousand-dollar dress shoes on his way to the top.
In the popular imagination, it is almost inconceivable to think that someone could obtain economic success or wealth without exploiting the vulnerable. And of course, greed is operative in the free market, just as it is operative wherever humans exist in this life. However, it isn’t the essence of a free and vibrant economy.
One often hears that businesspeople are only interested in earning profits—what they can make from the deal.
Set aside for a moment this claim and ask yourself, “Should one invest one’s time, energy, talent, and wealth into a business in order to obtain a loss on the balance sheets?” For that you could have stayed home.
Profit is an indicator to you that you are achieving what you set out to do in a sustainable way. The opposite of profit is financial loss, and any business that consistently loses money cannot survive long. Indeed, no business or society can sustainably function where more resources are wasted than created.
Earning a profit is an indication that things are going as planned in meeting the needs of clients, and conversely, that when a profit is not attained, something is going wrong.
The art and talent required for profitability is seen in those enterprises that discover creative ways to make products and services available at accessible and attractive prices, while covering their own costs and then some. These are the companies that serve their clients, the reward for which is built right into the process.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that one person gains in a market only if others lose and that if there are poor people, clearly it must be because the rich have taken more than their fair share of the pie, leaving the poor with the crumbs. If that’s the case, the obvious solution is to take the pie by force and divide it up equitably.
This is a zero-sum assumption that prevents people from ever asking whether the solution to poverty might be to grow the pie. In conversations with fellow clergy who take this view, I ask, if profits are morally dubious, are losses morally praiseworthy?
But consider that maybe the pie wasn’t always just sitting there—the exact same size from all eternity. Maybe some of those who are rich didn’t take more than their fair share; maybe they made more than their fair share.
If this is the case, profits aren’t inherently immoral any more than losses are a badge of saintliness. Profits suggest that a business is using its resources wisely; losses, that it is not. This isn’t to say that profits and losses are a business’s be-all and end-all, but they do serve as first-level indicators of whether a business is serving customers in an effective, sustainable manner.
So the next time you see the stereotype of the evil, exploitative businessman, remember that making a profit is actually a good thing that helps everyone, if done in an honest fashion.
Editor’s note: This post was adapted from Rev. Robert Sirico’s chapter entitled, “The Moral Potential of the Free Economy,” a chapter in For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty.
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Have you ever wondered what it looks like when HOPE invests in the dreams of families? This video will walk you through the process.