Welcome back, everyone! Today I’m recapping Thursday's events and learnings from Sent. Let’s dive in.
Morning Mass & Prayer
The day started with Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and Adoration. The sermon stood out, particularly because the priest had spent seven years working in the tech industry before entering the priesthood—he even co-founded a tech company back in the '90s.
The key takeaway from his sermon was this powerful insight: “Prayer is a time multiplier.” He explained that when we make time for prayer, God rewards us by helping us through things like better traffic or canceled meetings that weren’t necessary. It was an inspiring reminder to prioritize prayer in our busy lives.
Breakout Sessions
Once we returned to the hotel, we had three breakout sessions to choose from:
* Catholic Leadership
* A Journey to Space (featuring an astronaut’s story)
* The Need for FaithTech (which I attended)
This FaithTech panel was moderated by Andrew DeBerry from Google X and included Erich, the CTO of Hallow, Jamie, the founder of Exodus 90, and Sondre Rasch, the founder of SafetyWing. Here are some of my key takeaways:
* Jamie emphasized the importance of taking time to contemplate the direction of your tech or company—essentially, another way of thinking about Product-Market Fit.
* Sondre had a critical reminder: Ensure that what you're doing isn't harmful. It sounds simple, but it's easy to overlook. He also highlighted the importance of thinking through whether your success will bring about true good.
* Erich made a great point about avoiding technologies that become vices. Hallow doesn’t focus on time spent on the app because they don’t want it to become addictive—even if it’s centered on prayer. Too much app use, even for a good cause, can become unhealthy.
Finally, the panel discussed the necessity of finding value-aligned investors who won’t pressure you to compromise your Catholic values. They shared some valuable examples from their own journeys.
Scaling Startups: Beyond Survival
The next panel was on scaling startups, featuring Alex Jones, CEO and co-founder of Hallow, Thomas Lehrman, co-founder of GLG, and Tim Connors from Pivot North Capital. The panel was moderated by Zaz Floreani from FirstMile Ventures.
This was a powerful discussion, and Alex Jones’ story about their first fundraising round really struck a chord. They were almost out of personal funds, having been rejected by about 70 investors. With only a few more left to pitch, Alex prayed, essentially saying, "God, if you want this to succeed, You’re going to have to make it happen. If You want it to fail, I’ll leave that up to You."
Shortly after that prayer, they secured the entire round from the next investor. His big takeaway? “We are called to bring the loaves, and God will do the multiplying.” It’s a beautiful metaphor for giving your best and trusting God with the outcome.
Pitch Competition
Later in the day, there was a pitch competition. The winning team was Presidio Healthcare, led by Dan and Bob. The competition was fun to watch, and the biggest takeaway was the importance of strong stage presence. It makes all the difference in getting your message across.
Final Dinner & Networking
After catching up with a friend from Praxis, we ended the day with an awards dinner. It was a great opportunity to meet new people, and I’m grateful I arrived late and had to search for a table—ended up being a blessing in disguise.
The most insightful moment from the dinner was my conversation with Jeff Schieffelbein. He reminded me of the importance of setting goals, even when you're striving to live according to God's will. He also emphasized the significance of good parenting, a topic I plan to write more about in the future.
That’s it for now! I’ll have a full recap of the entire event, along with my overall highlights, ready for you by the end of the week.
Thank you, and God bless!
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