Welcome to the Founders’ Guild

Hone your craft. Help your peers. Heed your call.

We are By and For Founders

Our Mission

To unite founders for solidarity in the struggle, tools for the journey, and inspiration to reach higher together

What We Believe

  • Founders should not feel isolated. Personal development is best done in a dynamic learning community that includes peers navigating similar challenges.

  • Holistic development and integrated leaders require an investment in personal, professional and spiritual development.

  • The workplace puts too much emphasis on autonomy, efficiency and superficial metrics. Founders need a base camp to reinforce supplies, lock arms, and galvanize a purpose that will ensure the reach greater heights.

  • Our world moves fast, our focus is fragmented, and it can be hard to tell what’s real and what matters most. We need  space to slow down, share best practices, and encourage each other to be better people in every sphere of life.

  • If Christian founders become better and wiser people, the organizations and communities they serve will flourish, Nashville will benefit, and their creative potential 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.

We ask only two questions:

  1. Are you a Founder?

  2. Are you a Christian?

We DON’T care about:

The tax structure of your organization, 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 really don’t care!

We DO care:

That you have a bold vision to add value for the greater good.

What is a Founder?

The founder’s journey, at its core, has two distinctive components:

  1. Vision, the creativity to imagine what others can't.

  2. Determination, the capacity to suffer more than others will to bring the vision to life.

Monthly Assemblies

Our peer-learning cohorts successfully curate friends, tools and inspiration to help you become a better builder.

  • Monthly, in-person, half-day gatherings for 6-10 members
  • Relationship-driven (not focused on curriculum or success metrics)
  • Holistic development for integrated people
  • 1:1 meetings between monthly Assemblies
  • Best-in-class tools and inspiration curated for Christian founders
Founders in a workshop discussion

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

Article featured image

Loading articles...

Fetching the latest from Substack...

Article featured image

Loading articles...

Fetching the latest from Substack...

Article featured image

Loading articles...

Fetching the latest from Substack...

Follow us on social media

Contact Us

Interested in honing your craft with us? Drop us a line with your info and we’ll be in touch shortly.