Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention:
① Faith-driven investing is growing: Will shares how the ecosystem has expanded from a small number of early players into a much broader community of investors, funds, founders, and networks thinking seriously about faith and private markets.
② Return and impact should be measured separately: Ambassadors Impact Network evaluates companies with two distinct scorecards: one for financial return and one for spiritual integration. Will explains why keeping those categories separate helps serve both founders and members well.
③ Christian investing is not charity: Will is clear that Ambassadors wants to bless founders, fund managers, employees, and communities. But the group is still underwriting real investments, reviewing deal terms, and looking for companies that can produce meaningful returns.
Will is an Air Force veteran, Harvard MBA, and co-founder of Ambassadors Impact Network, a Dallas-based investor group that has deployed more than $27 million into gospel-advancing companies and funds since 2018.
During our conversation, Will shares:
Why faith-driven investing has grown so quickly.
How Ambassadors Impact Network got started.
Why the group moved from only funding operating companies to also investing in fund structures.
How Ambassadors evaluates financial returns and spiritual integration separately.
Why the group focuses on post-revenue companies.
What founders should understand before approaching faith-driven investors.
How Christian investors can pursue impact without creating unhealthy workplace dynamics.
What We Cover:
0:00 Introduction
1:48 The growth of faith-driven investing
2:18 Ambassadors’ 70%+ hit rate
3:09 The broader faith-driven investing ecosystem
6:10 Why Ambassadors Impact Network started
8:31 Why Will chose to build an investor group
10:38 How Ambassadors has evolved
11:39 Why Ambassadors began investing in funds
13:01 The fund evaluation process
13:30 How analysts strengthen diligence
15:05 Why Ambassadors focuses on post-revenue companies
16:24 How Ambassadors evaluates fund investments
18:20 Returns versus impact in faith-driven investing
20:13 Why Ambassadors uses two separate scorecards
21:43 The financial return scorecard
22:18 How Ambassadors evaluates spiritual integration
24:29 Avoiding hypocrisy and unhealthy workplace dynamics
29:36 The question founders do not expect
32:07 What comes next for faith-driven investing
35:04 Stewarding capital with humility
36:03 The risk of ideology in business
39:09 Final thoughts on investing through a Christian lens
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All opinions expressed are personal and may not reflect the views of the individual’s organization or of The Diligent Observer. Not investment advice.
