Loading articles...
Fetching the latest from Substack...
Welcome to the Founders Guild
Hone your craft. Help your peers. Heed your call.
What is Founders Guild?
Our Mission
To unite founders for friendship in the struggle, tools for the journey, and inspiration to reach higher together
What We Believe
Founders should not feel isolated. A dynamic, in-person learning community will include peers navigating similar challenges and celebrating victories together.
Holistic development requires an integrated investment in personal, professional and spiritual development
The workplace puts too much emphasis on autonomy, efficiency and transaction metrics. Founders need a base camp to reinforce supplies, lock arms, and galvanize toward a higher purpose
Our world moves fast, our focus is fragmented, and it can be hard to tell what matters most. We need space to slow down, deepen convictions, share best practices, and encourage each other to be better people
If Christian founders become better and wiser people, Nashville will benefit, and their pursuits will be imbued with the hope of eternity
Who Should Join the Guild?
We’re a little different.
Most peer groups screen for revenue, title, gender or headcount in the hope of recruiting privileged leaders. Instead, we invite humble, grassroots builders.
We ask only two questions:
Are you a Founder?
Are you a Christian?
We DON’T care about:
The tax structure of your organization (business or non-profit), your title or position, how many “exits” you’ve had, how much revenue you earned last year, or how many staff you’ve hired.
We DO care:
That you have a vision to add value for the greater good
What is a Founder?
The founder’s journey has two distinctive components:
Vision: the creativity to imagine what others can't
Determination: the capacity to suffer more than others will to bring the vision to life
Their work shapes communities. They lay the foundation on which new organizations are built. Founders shouldn’t feel they are alone.
By and For Founders
Our peer-learning cohorts build camaraderie and offer tools and inspiration to help you become a better builder.
- Monthly in-person, half-day gatherings for 8 peer members
- Relationship-driven (not focused on curriculum or success metrics)
- Holistic development for integrated people
- Monthly 1:1 meetings with Master Apprentice
- Best-in-class tools and inspiration curated for Christian founders
Carter Crockett, Ph.D.
Serial entrepreneur. Professor of Entrepreneurship. Mentor to founders on three continents
Storyteller and marketing manager for innovative ventures (Microsoft, Cranium, Talitha Coffee, etc.)
Co-founder of a venture-backed tech startup, an educational nonprofit, and Rwanda's first strategic advisory firm for business leaders
Former Executive Director of the Nashville Institute of Faith & Work (NIFW)
Novice in the Order of the Common Life (OCL), a dispersed contemplative community
Happiest when: playing soccer or mandolin with a band of others
Master Apprentice, Founders Guild
Get thoughtful inspiration for founders delivered straight to your inbox.
Recent Thinking
Loading articles...
Fetching the latest from Substack...
Loading articles...
Fetching the latest from Substack...
Contact Us
Interested in honing your craft with us? Drop us a line and we’ll be in touch shortly.
Follow us on social media